USES OF THE COMMON EUSH IN CHINA. 107 



of " sun hats," universally worn in summer by foreigners in the East 

 and which, though not quite as firm in texture or as durable as the 

 Sola^ hats of Calcutta, are perhaps not inferior in lightness and as 

 non-conductors of heat. I had always been under the impression that 

 these hats were manufactured from *' rice paper" {Fatsia papyrifera^ 

 Benth. & Hook, f.), but the dissection of a hat at once disproves this. 

 In making these hats the modus operandi appears to be as follows. 

 The interior shell is first formed of pasteboard, then four or five pieces 

 of pith, in lengths of between two and three inches, are taken and 

 rolled up in a piece of the extremely tough paper always used by the 

 natives for deeds and other legal documents, and which is made from 

 Brousso7ietia. These rolls are packed on the shell until the required 

 thickness is attained, the outer case is added, and the whole covered 

 with silk or cotton. It might, I should think, be worth while for 

 some of our manufacturers at home to utilise this very abundant weed 

 in the same way. The manipulation is, as will be evident, of the ut- 

 most simplicity, and the demand for hats at once so extremely light 

 and so efiective in protecting against the rays of the sun would be prac- 

 tically unlimited. 



Juncus effusus has not hitherto been gathered in Hongkong, is 

 omitted from M. Maximowicz's list of the Peking Flora, and was not 

 met with by any of the Russian collectors in Manchuria or Mongolia. 

 But I have little doubt that it is really generally diff'used through- 

 out the eastern districts of China, for Mr. Sampson found it in marshy 

 spots amongst the Amoy Hills, and I have a specimen gathered by 

 Mr. Swinhoe, in the mountainous country near Kingpo, and another 

 on the Liau-tung peninsula, forming the eastern boundary of the 

 Gulf of Pechele ;f whilst it occurs in Siberia and the island of Sacha- 

 lin, and is said to be quite common in Japan. E. Meyer, Bentham, 

 and others combine this unhesitatingly with J. confflomeratus, Linn., 

 but the majority of European florists seem disposed to keep the two 

 apart. Of the two botanists who have recently made a critical exa- 

 mination of the genus, in relation to the grouping and limits of the 

 species. Dr. Engelmann, of St. Louis, adopts the former view. Dr. 

 Buchenau, of Bremen, the latter. It is perhaps worth remarking that, 

 according to the note by Mr. Borrer above referred to, J. effusus is alone 

 used in Sussex for rush-wicks, to the exclusion of J. conglomeratus. 

 This should apparently imply some esseyitial distinction between the 

 two, notwithstanding their extreme outward resemblance, and Grenier 

 says that the soft rush is " tres-differente a I'etat frais." 



♦ Frequently spelt Solar, under the notion that the name is derived from 

 tlieir protective power against the sun. This is an error ; Sola or Shola is the 

 Hindustani name of Aeschynomene aspera, Linn., from the stem of which these 

 hats are made in India. See a paper by M. Lepine, " Note sur 1' usage de 

 V Aeu-h ynomene aspera, Linn.'" (Ann. sc, nat. 4e ser. xviii., 254), who is however 

 mistaken in stating, " A peine commencait-on alors [the end of 1838] a fabriquer 

 de ces chapcaux." Koxbur^h, who died in 181o, though his " Flora Indica " 

 was not published until seventeen years later, mentions (vol. iii., p. 365) the 

 employment of the plant for making "gentlemen's hats." 



t According to Mr. Kurz (Trimen, Journ. Bot.,'xi., 193) it also occurs in tha 

 province of Yunnan. It is not in Hooker's list of British plants extending into 

 India. (Introd. Ess. to El. Ind., 111.) 



