34 THE BUREAU OF SCIENCE 



is of sufficient economic importance to justify investigation as 

 soon as time and opportunity will permit. The literature relat- 

 ing to fire protection is being collected, and that on hand should 

 enable us to develop a local standard promptly. 



The correct classification of the climbing palms, which produce 

 the commercial rattans of the Philippines, depends on a combina- 

 tion of characters that cannot be determined from the data and 

 collection available. The many species in the Philippines belong 

 to three genera. Some of these are small, the canes being 1 

 centimeter or less in diameter, while others have canes up to 

 5 centimeters or more in diameter. There is a great variation 

 in the character of the rattans. The stripped material of some 

 species is very tough, has great tensile strength, does not readily 

 break in bending, and can be readily bleached. The rattans are 

 notoriously difficult to classify from a botanical standpoint, be- 

 cause it is exceedingly difficult to prepare good herbarium 

 specimens. In spite of this the Director of Forestry has at the 

 suggestion of this Bureau issued a circular letter to all forest 

 officers in charge of stations to send in proper material for this 

 work. When the material arrives, further efi'ort will be made 

 to determine the differences that control the commercial product 

 and to devise means by which well-bleached, or white, split 

 rattan of standard commercial lengths can be supplied from 

 Philippine materials. 



Frequently maguey and other fibers are cheaper than abaca 

 (Manila hemp) and are used as diluents in so-called Manila 

 hemp rope and similar materials. Color tests to distinguish 

 between abaca and other fibers have been developed. A satis- 

 factory method of staining has been devised, which gives dis- 

 tinctive colors, such as golden yellow for abaca and pink for 

 maguey. 



The present method of extracting the fiber from the petiole of 

 the buri palm, used for buntal hats, is slow and expensive. 

 [See Bureau of Education Bulletin (1910), No. 33, pp. 33-41.] 

 The Bureau of Science has undertaken to improve this method 

 with the result that the quantity of fiber extracted in a given 

 time by one individual is several times larger than the quantity 

 obtained by the method at present in use. The results are being 

 prepared for publication. 



According to the Bureau of Customs 10,520,233 kilograms of 

 galvanized iron, valued at 1P1, 540,622 and used as a roofing 

 and building material in the form of corrugated sheets, were im- 

 ported during 1914. From 80 to 90 per cent of this is from 

 the United States. Not all importations have given satisfactory 



