VEGETABLE FIBERS. 499 



ing consideration, as their mode of growth and preparation, as well as 

 the appearance of plants and fiber, are matters with which the majority 

 of our readers are more or less familiar. 



The aim has been to give, first, a hst of plants producing these fibers, 

 with the scientific and common English na mes by which they are desig- 

 nated, and the native names by which they are known in countries 

 where they are indigenous; habitat of the plant, and geographical dis- 

 tribution; mode of cultivation, where cultivated, preparation and uses; 

 appearance of the fiber, and comparisons of tenacity with other well- 

 known fibers, hemp (Cannabis sativa) having generally been taken as the 

 standard ; general remarks as to production, «SjC., where such data have 

 been thought of interest, or the fiber produced has any commercial im- 

 I)ortance. 



As to classification, for convenience of reference, in a report of this 

 nature — which is intended as a partial descriptive catalogue — the plants 

 have been arranged by families. This enables the reader to note their 

 relations to each other in the vegetable kingdom, and gives a botanical 

 interest to the report in addition to its economic bearings. A few pages 

 farther on an economic classification has been given, based upon the 

 value of the fibers in relation to the uses for which they are adapted. 

 This classification is recommended as a basis of museum arrangement, 

 as the economic value of the various fibers in an industrial museum is a 

 matter of far more interest to the general visitor than their scientific 

 relations. This classification or arrangement has been partially followed 

 in the museum of the department, and in its practical aspects is the only 

 useful one that could be adopted. 



The scientific name of the plant producing the fiber has been deter- 

 mined in nearly every instance — but two or three species only remaining 

 unnamed — and it designates the species in the descriptive list. In this 

 way only can confusion be avoided, for these names are known to all 

 countries, while the common names are more numerous than the coun- 

 tries xDroducing the plants, and differ in various sections of the same 

 country. The commercial nomenclature has been very much confused, 

 and to such a degree that several fibers may be known by the same 

 name, while perhaps each fiber at the same time has half a dozen other 

 names. A great source of confusion is the extended use (often indis- 

 criminate) of the word liem]), which in some cases even is made sy- 

 nonymous with the word,/t&e/', as "Jute hemp," several specimens having 

 been received into the museum with this labeling. There is but one 

 true liemp^ and that is the product of Cannabis sativa ; it is known how- 

 ever as "Russian" or " Petersbui'g hemp," "Europe hemp," "Himalayan 

 hemp," " Deyra" or "Arracan hemp," " Kota Kangsa hemp," &c. Other 

 fibers bearing this name are: " Sunn hemp," CrotalariajmiGea, which is 

 known in the markets as " Calcutta hemp"; " Madras hemp," " Conka- 

 nee hemp," " Bombay hemp," and " Brown hemp," wliile the true 

 "Brown hemp" of Bombay is Hibiscus cannabinus, also called "Deck- 

 anuee hemp." "Jubbidpore hemp" is the product of Crotalaria tenui- 

 folia, and " Bowstring hemp," Sanseviera Zeylanica, also known as "Afri- 

 can hemp," while Calotropis gigantea is also called " Bowstring hemp " 

 in India. "Manila hemp" is the well-known fiber of Musa textilis, and 

 " Eosella hemp " of Hibiscus sabdariffa — without synonyms. One of our 

 indigenous iilants, Apocynum cannabinum, produces " Indian hemp," 

 while Indian hemp in the East Indies is Crotalaria juncea, named pre- 

 viously Agave Sisalana — a plant that might be grown in our own coun- 

 try — produces " Sisal hemp," which, to make still greater confusion, has 

 been called "hemp grass" (also " Mexican grass " and "silk grass"), 

 when it is not a grass iu any sense of the word. * 



