CULTIVATION OF RAFFLESIA ARNOLDI, 371 



Many G?'asses contain 30 to 50 per cent, of fiLre, not very strong, but 

 readily bleached. Of our indigenous Grasses, Rye-Grass gives 35 per 

 cent, of paper-pulp, Vhalaris 30, ArrJienatJierum 30, Dadylis and Carex 

 tlie same. Several Reeds and Canes contain 30 to 50 per cent, of fibre, 

 easily bleached. The stalk of the Sugar-cane gives 40 per cent, of white 

 paper-pulp. The wood of the Conifer^s affords a fibre adapted for 

 makhig paper-pulp, — an accidental discovery of mine, when manufac- 

 turing FJax cotton in my model establishment at Stepney, in 1851. I 

 remarked that the Piue-wood vats, in which I bleached, were rapidly 

 decomposed on the surface into a kind of paper-pulp. I collected some, 

 and sent it to the Great Exhibition ; but it failed to excite attention, 



% 



because the want of paper-stuff was not then felt. The leaves and top 

 branches of the Scotch Fir give 25 per cent, of paper-pulp, and the 

 shavings and saw-dust of its wood, 40 per cent. ^The expense of re- 

 ducing to pulp and bleaching the pine-wood, will be about thrice as 

 much as that of bleacbin«: ra^s. 



As none of the above substances or plants would fully satisfy, in all 



points, the wants of the papei'-makers, I pursued my researches, and at 



last remembered the Papynis (the paper-plant of the ancients), which I 

 examined, and ascertained it to contain about 40 per cent, of strong 

 fibre, excellent for paper, and easily bleached. The sole point which 

 was not quite satisfactory is the question of abundant supply, the plant 

 being confined to Egypt (?)*: I therefore turned my attention to the 

 plants of this country, and had the satisfaction to find that the Common 

 Rushes {Juncus effusus and others) contain 40 per cent, of fibre, quite 

 equal, if not superior, to the Papyrus fibre, and a perfect substitute for 

 rags in the manufacture of paper, and that one ton of Hushes contains 

 more fibre than two tons of Flax straw. 



A Letter from Mr. J. E. Teysman, Chief Gardener of tJie Botanical 

 Garden, Buitenzory, Java^ to Dr, De Vriese, etc. etc., on' the Cultiva- 

 tion (/B-AiTLEsiA Akkoldi, K. Br. 



In IS'ovember, 1854, I received from Bencoolea (Bangknhoeloe) a 

 plant, of Cissus scariosa, Bl., on the roots of which several plants, of 



* Travellers report it as scarcLly known in Egypt at the pr jit day. It is frc- 

 qtient in Sicily (iadi^onous ?) and abounds in ^Vciteru tropical Africa. 



