300 



As it was impossible at the time to obtain a selection from these 

 for the Museum the good offices of Prof. H. H. Pearson, M.A., 

 F.L.S., Hon. Curator of the Government Herbarium, Cape Colony, 

 were requisitioned, and he very kindly undertook to obtain the 

 necessary material, which has recently come to hand and has 

 been placed in Case 57, Museum No I. 



The identification of the plant furnishing the fruit from which 

 these pipes are manufactured is not quite clear, but they are 

 certainly not made from the common Calabash (Grescentia Cujete), 

 a tree of the West Indies and South America. Judging, however, 

 from an illustration and from some seeds kindly forwarded by 

 Prof. Pearson, it appears almost certain that they are made from 

 the fruits of one of the forms of the Bottle Gourd (Lagenaria 

 vulgaris) which is employed in various parts of the world for a 

 great variety of purposes, well illustrated by examples in the 

 Museum Case mentioned above. 



The following note on this industry appeared in " Industries of 

 Cape Colony," compiled by the Dept. of Agriculture, 1907, 



"The making of Calabash pipes is entirely a South African 

 industry which has only grown to considerable proportions within 

 the last couple of years or so. The Calabash is grown in certain 

 districts in the south of Cape Colony, and in every town of 

 importance there are several factories. The pipe has become a 

 tavounte with tobacco smokers for various reasons, and appears to 

 have won the place in public estimation for years held by the 

 meerschaum. The price of the article varies according as it is 

 mounted in gold, silver or a base metal and whether the mouth- 

 piece is either vulcanite or amber. Employment is afforded a 

 iair number of practical pipe makers. The Calabash pipe has not 

 yet appeared as an article of export, but still a great many are 

 oougnt by tourists and other visitors, while residents send them as 

 presents to their friends. 



f »l Tlie ,9 alab . a « h P^e gives every promise of becoming as 

 tashionable with smokers in South Africa as the corn cob is in 

 America with the additional recommendation that the Calabash is 

 a pipe that lasts, and which smokers take as much delight in 

 colouring as used to be the case with the meerschaum." 



J. M. H. 



Guide to Museum I.-A third edition of the "Official Guide to 



n,w M , US ! U T ° f Ec °nomic Botany, No. I." has recently been 

 published During the twenty years that have elapsed since the 

 is=ue ot the second edition the accessions to the Museum have 



( i? Q e ^oT ery rr^ merOUS ' re 1 uiri ng much additional space for their 

 onnll-' r ^"L was Provided in 1904 by the transfer of the entire 

 ^n ttt°V D y ^? 8perms to a new g all ery attached to Museum 

 th« tV™ /•' 9 °t> p * 14 )* The consequent rearrangement, and 

 rtviainn P f ??°V f new exh ibits have necessitated a thorough 

 w^'L^^ 1 ^- The system of grouping the exhibits 



nrnipi. ti,« v 7 wt , xue system ot grouping the exniou» 

 retafnU ^^ ° r ? erS of the plants producing them has been 

 retained. In the Guide, under each Natural Order is given a brief 



