1897' 



NOTES AND COMMENTS 373 



the men at the head of the different divisions of the department, 

 who should unite to a great experience of administration profound 

 technical knowledge and an incontestable authority in the questions 

 with which they have to deal, and whose office should be of a per- 

 manent character. Such a director must have the choosing of the 

 stal't' placed under his orders. He must be their master, and be 

 able to reward those who show merit and zeal, and to remove or 

 punish those who cannot or do not properly discharge their duties. 

 " Let the director himself be absolutely responsible for the good 

 working of his department, and let him be replaced if he proves 

 inefficient." Finally, M. Tisseraud suggests the appointment of 

 scientific counsellors selected from the most distinguished agricul- 

 turists and men of science, and technical committees of professional 

 men, specialists, and practical experts, from whom the Minister may 

 obtain " trustworthy advice and indispensable light for rightly 

 seeing, and judging, and forming in full security the decisions 

 which concern the department over which he presides." 



Catalogue of Fibre Plants 



ANOTHER excellent specimen of the work of the United States De- 

 partment of Agriculture comes to hand almost while writing the 

 above. It is a descriptive list of useful fibre plants of the world by 

 C. E. Dodge, special agent in charge of fibre investigations. More 

 than a thousand kinds are enumerated under the botanical names of 

 the plants producing them, while common and native names are also 

 included in the alphabetical arrangement. The book is a large 

 octavo of 360 pages; there are more than one hundred figures 

 in the text, and thirteen excellent photographic plates showing the 

 habits of the various plants. Much information is given about the 

 more important kinds, including the structure and properties of the 

 actual fibre, the source and method of cultivation of the plant, the 

 preparation of the fibre, and references to the literature. The great 

 number of native names possessed by some species is evidence of 

 their long use. New Zealand flax (Phormium tenax), a liliaceous 

 plant, has nearly sixty native names. Captain Cook, who first 

 brought it to the notice of Europeans, found it in common us< 

 among the aboriginal New Zealanders ; he speaks of it as " a grass 

 plant like flags, the nature of flax or hemp, but superior in quality 

 to either, of which the natives make clothing, lines, etc." Mr Dodge 

 gives in a useful introduction a general account of the history, 

 chemistry, and structure of fibres, and suggests also a classification. 

 His system of arrangement serves to show what very various parts 

 of the plant are used for the purpose ; for it includes not only true 



