566 Philippine Journal of Science 1919 
shown in Plate II, fig. 1. The strands are now stretched horizon- 
tally to their full length and the three free ends are united and 
jointly fastened to a single crank that turns in a vertical wooden 
pillar which is mortised in a sliding shoe resting on the ground. 
This is the rear laying appliance, details of which are shown 
in Plate I, fig. 1. In some localities the shoe is fitted with a 
OO. Ws 
Fic. 1. Typical cross-sectional profiles of ropes tested. Actual size. a, rope made of 
Cordia cumingiana bast; b, rope made of Kleinhovia hospiia bast; ¢, rope made of split 
bamboo (Dendrocalamus merrillianus) ; d, rope made of “F’’ grade abaca (machine laid). 
wooden wheel, or caster, to facilitate its movement over the 
ground, while in others the wheel is lacking and the shoe with 
its upright is simply dragged. 
After inserting a cylindrical block of wood with three grooves 
or flutes parallel to the long axis of the cylinder and at an angle 
of 120 degrees to each other, between the three strands just 
ahead of their point of juncture to the single twirler of the rear 
laying device, the strands are ready to be laid into rope. One 
man operates the three cranks of the forward laying device while 
another turns the single twirler at the rear in the opposite direc- 
tion in order to give the rope the necessary twist. Meantime a 
third operator advances the grooved wooden block sufficiently 
slowly so that the strands may be twisted into a tight rope. Such 
a block is shown in place in Plate I, fig. 2. The twisting is con- 
tinued until the grooved block is advanced to the three twirlers 
of the forward laying machine, at which point the operation is 
completed, and the rope is removed and coiled ready for use. 
MECHANICAL TESTS OF BAST ROPE 
Circumference and diameter.—The size of ordinary vegetable- 
fiber cordage of three or more strands is usually designated by 
its so-called circumference, which is actually its girth or perim- 
eter. The girth of the test specimens was obtained by en- 
compassing the rope with a strip of tough paper about two 
millimeters wide, and marking it at any convenient overlapping 
point. The paper was then straightened and the girth between 
the two marks measured. Due to the rough and nonuniform 
nature of the bast cordage the girth was not measured to frac- 
