VEaE^ABLE FIBERS. 519 



don and Gibbou wlien exploring the Valley of the Amazon, and the 

 more recent obtained from various countries in South America repre- 

 sented at the Philadelphia Exhibition. The " fiber" is soft and fioccu- 

 lent, Uke thistle-doTvn, and is formed in a pod somewhat similar to that 

 of Asdepias. The filaments are short, straight, and smooth, and have no 

 felting properties whatever ; nevertheless,"the fiber has been spun and 

 woven in India, experimentally, a very good coverlet having been made 

 out of it. It has also been made into cloth, but nothing could be done 

 with it upon cotton-spinning machinery, from the shortness of its staple 

 and its great elasticity. In Brazil and the Argentine Eepublic it is 

 used for upholstering purposes. Eoyle suggests that it might be con- 

 verted into half-stuff" for paper making, or perhaps used in the manufac- 

 ture of gun-cotton. 



The species of Bomhax, of which there are about a dozen, are soft 

 wooded trees confined to the tropical portions of the American conti- 

 nent. The fruit is a large woody capsule, containing numerious seeds 

 arranged in five cells, each seed being surrounded by a quantity of soft 

 silk-like hairs. When ripe the pod bursts into five sections, and the 

 seeds are carried away by the winds. 



Bomhax munguba is found on the Amazon, and is a tree of 80 to 100 

 feet in height, while B.ptihescens, called Embirussu, found in the province 

 of Minas Peraes, attains a height of 25 to 30 feet. It is worthy of note 

 that the last-named species has a tough, fibrous bark, which yields quite 

 a strong fiber resembling jute in color, which is very useful for making 

 ropes and cordage. In a small "Catalogue of the Products of Brazilian 

 Forests," by Jose de Saldanlia da Jama (Exhibition, 1870), it is stated 

 that the bark of the trunk of B. munguba furnishes fibrous material for 

 coarse rope, as weU as vegetable silk from its pods. Chlorisa sjpeciosa 

 and Eriodendron samahuma are also mentioned as producing vegetable 

 silk. The last named is " the largest tree of the Amazon, and the fruit 

 contains a silk much sought for mattresses." 



Commersonia Fraseri. — " Tye plant" of Australia. — The plant produc- 

 ing this bark fiber is a native of Victoria. It is a tall shrub or small 

 tree, and abounds on the banks of rivers and creeks. The bark is used 

 extensively by the settlers as a tying material. It yields a fine fiber suit- 

 able for matting and cordage, and a good quality of paper could doubtless 

 be made from it. The specimen was obtained from the Victorian collec- 

 tion (Exhibition, 187G), and was prepared by Dr. Guilfoyle. The fiber is 

 quite dark, due probably to insufiiceut bleaching, but is strong and not 

 very brittle ; and, although the filaments are stiftl, they exhibit under the 

 magnifying glass a very fibrous nature, some of them being fine and 

 lustrous ; is inferior to Hibiscus fiber. The sample measures between 

 2 and 3 feet in length. 



Commersonia ecMnata. — A sample of this fiber was secured from the 

 Kew South Wales Exhibit (Exhibition, 1876), labeled " Brown KiuTa- 

 jong," by which name it is said to be known to the colonists. The name 

 has been applied by other authorities to G. platiphyUa. "The fiber of C. 

 ecMnata is of a very tenacious nature, and is preferred to all others by the 

 aborigines for making nets." The fiber is quite dark, and does not ap- 

 pear to be quite as strong as the first-named species in our list. 



Dombeya Natalensis. — The plant is a native of llTatal, and the speci- 

 mens are from Victoria, collection of Dr. Guilfoyle (Exhibition, 1876). It 

 forms a most beautiful flowering shrub or small tree, of quick growth in 

 Victoria. Its fiber is suitable ibr cordage or for paper stock. The plant 

 belongs to a genus of African shrubs, abounding in Madagascar and 

 Mauritius, and extending as far north as Abyssinia. The bark of D, 



