596 Philippine Journal of Science 1919 
tenacity of this bast, together with its comparative scarcity, 
limit its usefulness as a cordage fiber. 
Sterculia foetida bast is light salmon-orange. The strands of 
the rope tested are eight strips thick, and the latter average 4 
millimeters wide, 0.30 millimeter thick, and 767 millimeters 
long. None of the five dry specimens ruptured in eye-splices; 
and the tensile-strength values are in close agreement, the maxi- 
mum variation from the mean being only 4 per cent. Of the 
four wet specimens broken one failed in an eye-splice, giving 
the minimum value. There was a wide variation in the tensile 
strength of the wetted pieces, the maximum from the mean 
value being 28 per cent. 
A summary of the tests made of this species in the Bureau 
of Science is given in Table XV. 
TABLE XV.—Physical tests of rope made from the bast of Sterculia foetida. 
[Rope made at Langiden, Abra Province. } 
Mean diameter: 
Millimeters , 7.0 
Inches 0.28 
Mean perimeter, or girth: 
Millimeters 22 
Inches 0.87 
True mean sectional area: 
Square millimeters 28.4 
Square inches 0.044 
Ultimate tensile strength (dry): 
Mean in kilograms 56.7 
Maximum in kilograms 58.9 
Minimum in kilograms 54.9 
Mean in pounds 125 
Maximum in pounds 130 
Minimum in pounds 120 
Ultimate tensile strength (wet): 
Mean in kilograms 56.7 
Maximum in kilograms 72.5 
Minimum in kilograms 48.1 
Mean in pounds 125 
Maximum in pounds 160 
Minimum in pounds 106 
Mean ultimate tensile strength per unit area (dry): 
Kilograms per square centimeter 200 
Pounds per square inch 2,840 
Mean ultimate tensile strength per unit area (wet): 
Kilograms per square centimeter 200 
Pounds per square inch 2,840 
Mean elongation at instant of rupture: 
Dry (per cent) : 6 
Wet (per cent) 10 
