100 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



THE IXTLE FIBITE. 



The following is a letter from Hon. J. McLeod Murphy to the 

 Commis-sioner of Agriculture, accompanied with 3 skeins of 

 the ixtle fibre, Bromelia sijlvestris, each produced from a single 

 leaf, of which a single ])lant might average 20. We extract tlie 

 substance of this letter from the " Report of Department of Agri- 

 culture " for May and June. 



*' First of all, before I describe the j^lant and the method of its 

 cultivation, I beg to call j'our attention to the extraordinary 

 length and strength of the individual fibres, their susceptil^ility 

 of being divitled almost infinitesimally without breaking, their 

 flexibility without kinking, and the readiness with which tliey re- 

 ceive and hold vegetable or chemical dyes without being im- 

 paired. Since my return from Mexico, I have had little or no 

 opportunity of testing this i)lant practically ; but some samples, 

 such as I send you, were given to an old and experienced maker 

 of fishing-tackle, and he does not hesitate to pronounce the ixtle 

 fibre as superior, in every respect, for the manufacture of trout 

 and other fishing lines, not only on account of the readiness with 

 which it can be spun, its extraordinary strength, but its perfect 

 freedom from kinks when wet. The only secret, if there is one, 

 consists in the preliminary precaution of boiling the fibre (as you 

 have it here) before twisting it. In this one respect it will super- 

 sede the use of silk. 



'* Apart, however, from its use as a thread, I hazard nothing 

 in saying that it forms the best paper stock that can be obtained. 

 I speak now in reference to the imperfect, withered, rejected, 

 and dried leaves, from which the fibre cannot be conveniently 

 extracted by the indift'erent mechanical means that the Indians 

 employ. Although I have no samples of paper made from this 

 source just now at hand, yet I can assure the department that 

 several magnificent samples of jiaper for banking and commercial 

 purposes have been made by manufacturers in the Eastern States, 

 from the dried leaves of the ixtle plant, brought from the neigh- 

 borhood of Tabasco. 



*' The samples of fibre I send with this were obtained by the 

 most primitive means, namely, by beating, and at the same 

 time scrai)ing, the leaf of the plant (in a green state^ with a dull 

 machete. Then, after the removal of the glutinous vegetal)le 

 matter, it is combed out and rubbed between the knuckles of the 

 hand until the fibres are separated. The next step is to wash it 

 in tepid water and bleach the skeins on the grass. This is the 

 method pursued by the Indians on the Isthmus of Tehuantej^ec ; 

 and the average product for the labor of a man is from 4 to 5 

 pounds per day. 



" It is scarcely necessary to tell one so well informed as your- 

 self that this spontaneous product is the Bromelia sylvestris, 

 which difiVrs, in some respects, from the Agave Americana, the 

 pulque de virujupij, and Agave sisalana, of Campcehe ; a difierence 

 ari-ing solely from soil and climate infiucnees. The name ixtle 

 is given to that species which is characterized by the production 



