620 Philippine Journal of Science 1919 
tinge and are coarse and hard. The strands average five strips 
thick, and the strips vary from 2 to 12 millimeters in width 
and from 0.36 to 1.2 millimeters in thickness. This bast is 
characterized by a fine fuzz. Plate IV, fig. 7, shows its peculiar 
nature. Numerous ragged spots and irregularities occur in the 
rope that give it a rough appearance. 
When dry, rope made of this’bast is very low in tensile 
strength and breaking length, perhaps in part due to the ragged 
spots. Wetting increases the mean tensile strength about 10 
per cent. Filipinos state that rope made from this bast is more 
durable during the rainy season than the average fibers used. 
The maximum variation from the mean tensile strength of the 
five dry test specimens was 15 per cent, whereas that from the 
mean of the five wet test pieces was 19 per cent. Four of the 
dry, and two of the wet, test pieces ruptured in eye-splices. 
Of particular interest is the extraordinary mean elongation of 
the wet specimens, 25 per cent, which is nearly double that 
given by the dry test pieces, 
A summary of the tests of this species made in the Bureau 
of Science is given in Table XXVIII. 
TABLE XXVIII.—Physical tests of rope made from the bast of Allaeanthus 
glaber. 
[Rope made at Disdis, Benguet Subprovince.] 
Mean diameter: 
Millimeters 12.4 
Inches 0.49 
Mean perimeter, or girth: 
Millimeters 39 
Inches 1.54 
True mean sectional area: 
Square millimeters 100.2 
Square inches 0.155 
Ultimate tensile strength (dry): 
Mean in kilograms 231 
Maximum in kilograms _ 265 
Minimum in kilograms 204 
Mean in pounds 509 
Maximum in pounds 585 
Minimum in pounds 450 
Ultimate tensile strength (wet): 
Mean in kilograms 253 
Maximum in kilograms 302 
Minimum in kilograms 209 
Mean in pounds 557 
Maximum in pounds 665 
Minimum in pounds 460 
