84 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE BOTANY OF [Malvacee. 
The Malvacee, and the other orders which have been mentioned as being allied to it, 
are not more remarkable for general accordance in structure, than for the possession of 
similar properties, as will be seen in the remarks on each of the orders. The greater 
number of species abounding in mucilage, which is of an innocuous nature, may 
all, almost indifferently be used as demulcents in medicine, as mallows and marsh- 
mallows have been from the earliest times in Europe, and as Sida indica, asiatica, 
and populifolia, ave in India. The mucilage of some being abundant and wholesome, 
they are much used as food, as the fruit of Hibiscus esculentus, or the ochro (Gombo Fée) 
is in America; and as H. longifolius, or ram turai, replete with mild mucilage, is in 
India; and as other species, though less nourishing, have been in other parts of the 
World, The Malvacee are still more remarkable, for many of them having the bark 
abounding in flax-like fibres, which, from their tenacity, are manufactured into cordage. 
In the West Indies, whips are manufactured from Hibiscus arborcus. Malva crispa 
was found by Cavanilles fit for making cordage. Sida abutilon is said to be cultivated 
in China, as we know Hibiscus cannabinus, or sun, is in India as a substitute for hemp. 
Several other species have been recommended for this purpose, as well as for conversion 
into paper. Sida rhomboidea and rhombifolia, Urena lobata and sinuata, Hibiscus tortuosus, 
Surcatus, and collinus, are all described by Dr. Roxburgh as abounding in strong and. 
serviceable flaxen fibres. Sida periplocifolia and Hibiscus strictus, from the plants 
shooting into long single twigs, particularly if closely sown, are especially recommended 
for cultivation. The fibres of the last are described as being long, fine, and strong, of 
a beautifully glossy white, and therefore well worthy of experiment, whether it might 
not be profitably substituted for some of the plants which now engage the Indian 
agriculturist’s attention. Abelmoschus moschatus, long known for its musk-scented seeds 
(hub-ool-mooshk) which, in Arabia, are said to be added to coffee, and in India are used 
as a cordial medicine, abounds in mucilage, which, in the Saharunpore district, is 
employed in clarifying sugar, A few Species of this order are remarked to be possessed. 
of anomalous properties, as Hibiscus Sabdariffa, cultivated for the pleasantness.of the 
acid of its red calyxes, while the flowers of a few have astringent properties, as AZalva. 
alcea, and Hibiscus rosa sinensis, which in India, as in China, is employed for blackening 
the eyebrows, as well as the leather of shoes, | 
But Corron is by far the most important product of the plants of this family ; it 
was known in very ancient times ; its consumption has increased in proportion to-the 
progress of the arts and of civilization, It appears to have been originally known 
only as a product of India, the country which at the present day is supposed by many 
incapable of producing any but the inferior kinds. As this is an opinion which ap- 
pears to me to have been hastily formed from the results of experiments in a few situ- 
ations, instead of after an investigation into the nature and variety of the soils and 
climates of. the different provinces of this extensive country, it will not be perhaps; 
irr elevant to enter into a few details on the subject. 
That cotton was originally introduced from India into Egypt, seems probable from 
Herodotus 
