SKETCH OF DR. CHARLES F. CHANDLER. 833 



lindens worthy of notice for their textile value are the aubletia pe- 

 toumo, of Guiana, and several species of triumphetta. The mallow 

 family, to which the cotton-plant belongs, affords a great many textile 

 plants of the genera abutilon, hibiscus, sida, lavatera, malva, althea, 

 abelmoschus, etc. 



Passing by the hemp, the value of which is generally recognized, 

 we come to the nettle family, to some of the members of which an in- 

 creasing degree of attention has been directed at all the great exhibi- 

 tions since 1851. The common stinging-nettle has been used in Europe 

 for a long time in making the nettle-cloth ; the fibers of other species 

 have recently been made into a handsome hair for dolls' heads, and 

 might be put to more practical uses. Some twenty-four species of XJr- 

 tica, Bohmeria, Puya, and Wood-nettle are enumerated as more or less 

 valuable, besides the Nerandia melastomcefoUa, which is used in the 

 Sandwich Islands. Of the whole number, Urtlca nivea stands in the 

 highest estimation as the plant from which the well-known China-grass 

 or grass-cloth is made. It is cultivated extensively in the provinces of 

 China south of the Yang-tse-kiang, the export from which had reached 

 about thirty-five hundred tons in 1872, and is now estimated at about 

 eleven thousand tons. The fiber is used in Japan for the finest threads 

 and cloths, and an active manufacture has been carried on since 1660, 

 hemp and jute having been used before that time. The Puya and the 

 Neilgherry nettle ( JJrtica heteropliylla) are also highly valued for their 

 fibers. Another family, allied to the nettle, the Antidesmea?, is repre- 

 sented in the Malabar flax {Antides7na alexiterium), which is employed 

 for spinning and in ropes. Among the monocotyledonous families 

 that afford useful fibers are the lilies, irises, amaryllises, bromeliaceae 

 (or pineapple family), palms, pandanus (or screw-pine), rushes, grasses, 

 reeds, and sedges. Of the plants of these orders most famous for 

 their fibers are several species of agave and fourcroya, which afford 

 the strong pito hemp, several species of anana (bromeliaceae), and the 

 bananas, one of which, the 3fusa textilis of the Philippine Islands, pro- 

 duces the Manila hemp, one of the handsomest and most valuable of 

 all the fibers. 



SKETCH OF DR. CIIAELES F. CHANDLER. 



PROMINENT among the men who have won large distinction by 

 varied and valuable labors in the field of science in this country, 

 stands the name of the subject of the present notice. His career has 

 been one of such eminent public usefulness in several departments of 

 activity, which he has efiiciently promoted both by his scientific 

 attainments and his marked executive ability, that no biographical 

 sketch of him can be given that does not involve some account of the 

 VOL. XVI. — 53 



