14 Brigade-Surgeon J. E. T. Aitchison's Notcfi on Products 



has a very wide range of haliitat, extending from Venice on 

 tlie Adriatic eastwards through Persia, Southern Russia, 

 Songaria, Afghanistan (where I collected it), eastwards through 

 Western Thibet, and in China. Messrs Cross and Bevan, 

 consulting chemists, report very highly on the quality of the 

 fibre, in a letter addressed to the director of the Royal Gardens 

 at Kew. They state : " The ultimate fibres of Apocynum 

 VENETUM vary from 20 to 45 mm., making the average length 

 a little more than flax; " and again, " this cellulose is peculiarly 

 lustrous and very strong." Supposing the fibre to prove 

 sufficiently valuable for the cultivation of the plant, a further 

 inducement for doing so would be, that once planted in a 

 fitting locality, little further trouble or outlay would be 

 required than that expended in the original raising for several 

 years. It would be raised by planting out portions of the 

 underground stem, and not, as is the case with most fibres, by 

 annual sowings. The annual shoots would yield stripes of 

 bast and bark on an average over two feet in length. Besides, 

 the plant prefers a wet clay soil, permeated with saline or 

 brackish water; it could thus be raised in localities which at 

 present are barren, owing to the presence of salt, as at the 

 mouths of rivers where the land is occasionally flooded by the 

 sea. Whilst in Afghanistan, I sent portions of the underground 

 stems to the Botanical Gardens of North-Western India at 

 Seharanpore, from which Mr Duthie raised the plant and 

 subsequently supplied me with flowering specimens for the 

 Herbarium at Kew. 



Apple — the fruit of Pyrus Malus. 



Apricot — the fruit of Prunus Armenaiaca. 



Arak — oj-c — a strong spirit prepared from raisins. 



Archa — the tree Juniper, Juniperus excelsa. 



Ard — :ij\ — or aurd. Flour. 



Ard-i-amruclia — flour made from the dried fruit of 



the indigenous Pear, Pyrus species. 

 Ardij — g.^! — the tree Juniper, Juniperus excelsa. 



Areca Catechu. Palmes. 



From this palm is obtained the areca nut supari, called 

 here scpdric ; imported in quantity to be employed with oak- 



