XIV, 6 King: Philippine Bast-fiber Ropes 597 
TABLE XV.—Physical tests of rope made from the bast of Sterculia 
foetida—Continued. 
Mean weight per unit length: 
Grams per meter 28.8 
Pounds per foot ; 0.0194 
Average breaking length: 
Meters 1,964 
Feet 6,450 
Moisture (per cent) 8.88 
STERCULIA OBLONGATA R. Br. Malaboho. 
Local names: Bakan (Mindoro); banabd (Ilocos Norte) ; banilad (Min- 
doro, Rizal) ; baja, malabinga (Tayabas) ; hantak (Batanes) ; lapnit (Ca- 
layan, Babuyanes); malabého (Bataan); malakakao (Bataan, Laguna); 
malabanilad (Samar); sinaligan (Abra, Benguet) ; ués (Camarines). 
A small or medium-sized tree with oblong, glabrous, entire 
leaves; terminal panicles of small flowers; and oblong, bright 
red, inflated capsules; widely distributed in the Philippines at 
low altitudes. 
Most of the strips of Sterculia oblongata are salmon-buff, 
some are tawny, and others are salmon-orange. Each strand 
of the rope is from six to eight strips thick. Some strips are 
only 2 millimeters wide and 0.13 millimeter thick, and others 
are 14 millimeters wide and 0.77 millimeter thick; all are marked 
longitudinally with narrow elongated depressions that give them 
a grained surface not unlike wood. Some of the depressions 
extend through the bast. 
Tests show that rope made of Sterculia oblongata bast when 
dry possesses only medium tensile strength and breaking length 
When wetted, the strength is markedly decreased; the mean 
tensile strength of specimens saturated with water showed 
an average reduction of 27 per cent. The tests indicate that 
rope made of this bast is not suited for use in water. However, 
the information obtained in the field is quite the contrary. The 
residents of Disdis, Benguet, state that rope made of Sterculia 
oblongata bast is preferably used during the rainy season. Two 
of the five dry, and three of the five wet, test specimens failed 
in eye-splices, the maximum and minimum values in both series 
of tests being obtained from specimens that ruptured outside 
of eye-splices. The maximum variations from the mean tensile 
strength in the dry and the wet series were 9 and 17 per cent, 
respectively. 
A summary of the tests of this species made in the Bureau 
of Science is given in Table XVI. 
