XIV, 6 King: Philippine Bast-fiber Ropes 645 
has a marked influence upon, and generally causes a slight 
decrease in, the tensile strength of most bast ropes. 
In Table V are recorded, in the order of their magnitude, the 
breaking lengths of the ropes tested, and the general order follows 
that of the relative tenacity. Of the bast ropes, the rope made 
of Gnetum sp. is the highest, with a breaking length of 8,450 
meters (27,700 feet), which closely approaches the values of the 
various abaca ropes tested. Despite its light weight, rope made 
of coconut fiber, which is sometimes considered a standard cord- 
age material, has a breaking length inferior to most of the 
bast-fiber ropes tested. The elongation of bast-fiber ropes is 
generally less than that of most standard cordage fibers. Wet- 
ting has the effect of increasing the mean elongation of nearly 
all of them. The minimum and maximum averages for dry and 
wet specimens are 6 and 16 per cent, and 9 and 25 per cent, 
respectively. 
