Betel

(bē'tl.) [Fr. bétel.] A narcotic masticatory, originally chewed only in the islands of the Malay archipelago,but now used by every cla of people,men, women, and children, from the Red Sea to Japan, not only for chewing, but also for dyeing the teeth black, and imparting a deep red to the lips. It consists of a small quantity of lime, placed on a piece of betel-nut, or fruit of the Areca catechu (see ARECA), and inclosed in apiece of siri or betel-pepper (see CHAVICA). A Sanskrit poem enumerates the properties of betel as follows: " Betel is pungent, bitter, aromatic, sweet, alkaline, astringent; a carminative, a dispeller of phlegm, a vermifuge, a sweetener of the breath, an ornament of the mouth, a remover of impurities, and a kindler of the flame of love! O friend! these thirteen properties of betel are hard to be met with, even in heaven! " [s. 91]