338 



Canhamo Braziliensis Perini The Board of Trade Journal for 



7th September, 1905, records the receipt by the Board of a 

 pamphlet describing, under this name, a Brazilian fibre plant, 

 together with a sample of its fibre, forwarded by H.B.M. Consul at 

 Rio de Janeiro. Subsequently, Messrs. Knight, Harrison & Co., 

 of Rio de Janeiro, kindly forwarded to Kew copies of this 

 pamphlet which was written by Dr. V. A. de Perini for the 

 Brazilian Review in 1905, and is entitled " Canhamo Braziliensis 

 Perini or Brazilian Linen " ; with these were sent samples of the 

 fibre and of cloth woven from it in Italy. 



The pamphlet states that the plant was discovered by 

 Dr. de Perini in the northern part of the province of Minas 

 Geraes at about 1,000 feet above sea-level. The writer of the 

 pamphlet claims that the plant possesses the qualities of European 

 Hemp or Flax ; that it is quite hardy both in the dry and in the 

 rainy season ; that it thrives alike in dry and in wet soil, and that 



am 



^ m No care 



or special cultivation is needed ; a crop can be gathered three 

 months after sowing, and three crops can be harvested in one 

 year. The fibre possesses the desirable qualities of strength, 

 fineness, flexibility, and adaptability for bleaching or dyeing. 

 *rom it a fabric can be prepared which is equal to European 

 imen ; this so far has not been possible in America. 



From the illustrations given in the pamphlet referred to and 

 from a comparison of the fibre with the material in the museum at 

 Kew it Avas clear that the plant 

 {Malvaceae), nearlv allied to H 



H 



widely grown in most warm countries, and is best known as the 

 source of Deccan or Ambari Hemp, the fibre of which has 

 been exported to England from India for over a century. The 

 differences however, were such as to indicate that the Brazilian 



H 



>f 



following note on the subject : 



With 



« «S« * STS 1 t Rl -° de Janeiro ( Mr - D - & O'Sullivan Beare), 

 reports that the Brazilian Legislature have voted the grant of an 

 annual subsidv of t.hirf^ r»™<™ „* _„:_ /•-!.-_* «i ««% i • 



£1,«75) 



period of five years to Dr. Perini, the discoverer and the holder 



of he patent rights for Brazil in connection with the utilisation 



t or the plant in question. The Bnbeidy will be paid as soon as 



« a ^ni i * inaugurated the manufacture in Brazil of 



« fw? n • ti r ° m the P lant - Dr - Perini Proposes to form 



(£ 75 



« in fi nfin T l ^^P 18 " 1S l0 ,x " W<iW contos of reis 

 in b } 000 shares of the value of 200 milreie each." 



J,! tSSl ^J? 7 ' specimens of the dried plant and of its seeds 

 from Zlf fr0r r\ th0 Board of Trade - ™nte h»™ been raised 



tw!il fl '^Z 1 fr ' ,m tll,s ' i( haa been P°^We toasceHain that 

 me species is Hthsem radiatus, Sims, not of Benth., doubtfully 



.1. M. II. 



