NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. xliii 



Mr. James Steel showed a specimen of an apparently new variety 

 of ITydrobia ulvce, Penn., found by him last summer on the Ayr- 

 shire coast near West Kilbride. 



Mr. Thomas King, Vice-President, exhibited specimens of Esparto 

 Grass (Stijm tenacissima, L.), Bitter Apple or Colocynth Gourd 

 {Cucumis Coloci/nthis, L.), and Barilla (Salsola sativa', L.), from 

 the South of Spain ; and he made the following remarks on these 

 plants and their economic properties : 



EsrARTO Grass, Stipa tenacissima, L. — In the South of Spain, 

 and along the North Coast of Africa from Morocco to Tripoli, this 

 grass grows more or less thickly in hassocks, on great tracts of 

 hilly stony ground, where nothing else but short brushwood is found. 

 It flowers in April and May, but the leaves are not ready to be 

 gathered for commercial purposes till later in the year. The season 

 for gathering extends from July to October, according to the 

 locality. The leaves are not reaped, but are pulled out of the 

 socket. The plant is perennial, and the roots are not injured by 

 the pulling out of the leaves. It is very difficult to raise from 

 seed, and accordingly the hassocks on the hills may be regarded as 

 entirely due to natural growth. 



After the leaves have been gathered, they are tied up into small 

 bundles, and are dried by being exposed for a few days to the rays 

 of the sun. They are then made up into large bundles weighing 

 about 75 lbs,, and brought down in carts, or on the backs of 

 donkeys, to the shipping ports. There they are all opened out, 

 carefully cleaned from roots, weeds, etc., and assorted into various 

 qualities, after which they are made up into press-packed bales 

 ready for shipment. The process is simple, but requires great 

 care ; and now that prices are low, buyers are ready to find fault 

 with the least defect. 



The plant has been known and used in the South of Spain, 

 from at least the time of the Romans, for making matting, baskets, 

 ropes, etc. Coarse ropes, somewhat like our straw ropes, are made 

 from it in the raw state ; but for the manufacture of finer sorts the 

 grass is treated like flax or hemp, and the fibre only used. 



It was first used as a raw material for paper-making about the 

 year 1858. For its introduction we are indebted to Mr. Routledge 

 of Sunderland, a gentleman who still takes a lively interest in fibre- 

 yielding plants, especially those of India. 



Since 1858 its use has gone on increasing, till now considerably 



