MAMT\< Tn;i:s OK SOLA i-mi 



^ESCHYNOMENE 



ASPERA 



Sola Pith 



utspeciesis often designated in Bengal and Assam, bhat (white or i 

 uke)-*0fa or phnl (flower or soft)-W//, in order to distinguish it from 



yE. indlca, Linn. : the Lnl or hulk (hard)-02a, kuhila, kathia- 

 ilfn'nilor, etc. The i-hinnilli or sinnilll is St-slmnin mid not . /.'*r/*//- 

 inmu'iu- -a plant often used as a substitute for oto. 



Tin- former speeies is a floating bush, with sensitivn leaves, found mi land 

 amiualls immdated or \\ithin the margins of tanks or lakes throughout Bengal 

 ami Hi.- greater part of Assam; is frequent in r.urma and also present in South 

 India. The latter, a taller mine Inishy plant and much less aquatic in habit, 

 ids the genus in the other provinces, is found in Bengal, Assam and 

 Hunna only above water-level, or on land temporarily flooded. Neither species 

 is system a tii -ally cultivated, but in November and December the upper portions 

 of i . a-.,,, ,n bearing pods are severed and thrown on the water and the Distribution. 

 seeds thus become self-sown. The roots also are perennial. By February- Seasons. 

 Man-h the pods are ripe and the pith-yielding shoots over-ripe; the stem then 

 becomes dry, shrunk and discoloured, whilst a large cavern forms along the 

 rontre. The plant usually grows in from 2 to 4 or 6 feet of water, and when 

 found living above water-level it appears to be unhealthy. It is often seen 

 in the corners of rice-fields, but as a rule is viewed as a pernicious weed, and 

 aeronliiiL'ly uprooted. 



IJoxliiirnli \\ould appear to have been the first person to draw attention 

 to this plant and its economic uses. He recommended its adoption as a sub- 

 st it uto for cork in the manufacture of swimming-jackets and lifeboats. But Cork Substitutes, 

 it is curious that he makes no mention of its use in the construction of hats 

 (sola-topis). In Bengal and Assam the workers in PITH usually belong to the Manufacturers. 

 Malakar or Mali caste of Hindus, who as a rule acquire the hereditary and 

 exclusive privilege of manufacturing garlands for ceremonial use in certain 

 districts. The thicker portions of the stems only are cut into lengths of 2-3 feet. Preparation. 

 These are tied into bundles and stored until dry, when the brown bark is re- 

 moved and the pith cut up as required. If intended for the manufacture of 

 hats, caps, or frames of puggries, it is split into thin sheets. For this purpose 

 the stem is held in front of the operator and with a long thin, sharp knife 

 is stripped spirally, the knife being made to travel round and round Stripping, 

 within the thickness until the whole stem is reduced to a sheet not 

 much thicker than note-paper. Hats, etc., are worked up on wooden or clay Hats, etc. 

 moulds, and, if honestly made, are built up layer upon layer of sola sheets 

 pasted one on the top of the other. By dishonest makers a large proportion 

 of paper is intermixed with the pith, thus adding greatly to the weight of 

 the hat and lessening very materially its insulating power (to the rays of the sun) 

 \\ hen-ill lies the superiority of the pith hats (sola-topis) over all others used in 

 the East. 



In the Roorki district the pith from <K. tinticn is very largely used for 

 sola-topis with a surface-dressing of Bengal pith. Owing to its hardness, this 

 form of pith cannot be split into the very thin sheets needed for flower rnanu- Flower 

 facture. If pith be required for this purpose, or for weaving into mats, the 

 debarked stalks of M. je- are drawn between bamboos fastened upright 

 in the ground at various distances apart, or are flattened by means of smooth 

 stones. By either of these methods the pith is compressed, and will retain the 

 form thus given it until moistened, when it again expands. To make a flower, 

 the strips of sola are compressed in such a manner that in transverse section 

 they are more or less triangular in shape, and along the surface, corresponding 

 to the base of the triangle, parallel lines are cut. The strips are then sliced 

 transversely with a sharp knife into very thin pieces. The pointed ends of the 

 triangles are inserted into slits made on another stick of sola, intended as the 

 stalk of the flower. When the required parts have been thus inserted into 

 their places a brush, moistened in green-coloured water, is made to touch the 

 outer whorl of triangles. These instantly expand and become the sepals of 

 the rose or other flower. A brush, moistened in pink or other coloured water, 

 next touches the inner whorls, and these, obeying the magician's wand, expand 

 into petals, and are bent while still flaccid, into the desired positions. The slits 

 cut lengthwise along the compressed sticks of sola are now seen to open out 

 into petaloid teeth. Stamens are formed of thin strips of pith, upon the ex- stamens or 

 tremities of which, particles of sugar (from a coloured saccharine fluid) have 

 been made to crystallise, thus forming glistening anthers. Floral buds are 



29 



Manufacture. 



Swell when 

 moistened. 



Buds. 



