two queries

[George Hart]

I learned that the earliest reference to betel chewing is in the  
Cilappatikaram (about 400 CE?).  Don't know if that is accurate.   
George Hart

On Nov 24, 2008, at 11:31 AM, Allen W Thrasher wrote:

> There are several articles on the history of betel by the P.K. Gode  
> reprinted as part of his Kleine Schriften in Studies in Indian  
> Cultural History < http://lccn.loc.gov/70911825 >.  (There are some  
> problems in the proofreading of the t.c., which I had added to our  
> online catalog record.  I mean to get them corrected.)
>
> The subject headings to browse in the LOC or WorldCat catalog that  
> seem to pull up titles on the culture of betel chewing rather than  
> works on the nut and leaf as contemporary economic crops are:
>
> Betel chewing—Paraphernalia
> Betel cutters
> Betel nut
> Betel nut—Pictorial works
>
> A Google Images search on the Linnaean name Terminalia bellerica  
> (variant belerica) produces a good variety of images of Vibhitaka on  
> the tree, fresh, and dried.
>
> Allen
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> Allen W. Thrasher, Ph.D.
> Senior Reference Librarian
> Team Coordinator
> South Asia Team, Asian Division
> Library of Congress, Jefferson Building 150
> 101 Independence Ave., S.E.
> Washington, DC 20540-4810
> tel. 202-707-3732; fax 202-707-1724; athr at loc.gov
> The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the  
> Library of Congress.