AGAVE 



Fibre 



Local 

 Manufacture. 



Medicine. 

 Chemistry. 

 Food and Oil. 



Trade. 



Substi- 

 tutes. 



D.E.P., 

 iii., 18. 



Dammar. 

 Varnish. 



D.E.P., 

 i., 133-44. 

 Aloe and 

 Sisal Fibre. 



SOLA AND SOLA SUBSTITUTES 



constructed of stained grains of rice fastened within green leaflets of sola. [Cf. 

 2nd. Art at Delhi, 1903, 169.] 



The three great centres of this art may be said to be Dacca and Man- 

 dalay for small and -large flowers respectively, and Tanjore for models ; 

 but the ceremonial craft of the Malakars is practised all over India. The 

 introduction of matches has practically rendered obsolete the domestic 

 use of sola as a tinder with flint, but the pith is now made into covers 

 for water-bottles, stoppers for medicine-bottles, and plugs to widen ear- 

 ring holes in the ears. It is also employed as a lining for the tops of 

 palanquins and for seats and cushions, as also for the ornate Muhammadan 

 tazias used at the Muharram. The cheaper pith of &. indica is usually 

 employed for fishing-floats, fishing-baskets, rafts and swimming-belts, as 

 it is supposed to be specially durable in water. Where procurable in 

 abundance it is said to be especially useful in firing pottery, and the 

 charcoal made from it is highly prized in the manufacture of gunpowder. 

 The soft sola (IE. j>ei-) is used in surgery for insertion into the opening 

 of a sinus or abscess since it rapidly absorbs moisture, expands, and thus widens 

 the opening. A long article on the Chemistry of Sola by Hanncock and Dahl 

 will be found in The Chemical News (July 12, 1895). The leaves of the sola 

 plant are sometimes used as a POT-HERB, and an OIL is extracted from the seeds. 

 [Cf. also Hanausek, Micro. Tech. Prod. (Winton and Barber, transl.), 1907, 253-5.] 

 There is practically only a local demand for soZa-pith, and in its un- 

 manufactured condition it is hardly ever exported. The best quality is 

 obtainable in Bengal, and is carried thence all over India. To this day 

 the centre of the TRADE may be said to be in Calcutta, where the manu- 

 facture of sola-topis appears to have originated. No information is avail- 

 able as to the trade in the harder pith of JE. indica, but it may be 

 recognised by the circumstance that the stem is curiously striated on 

 the thin bark and has wart-like formations along the striations. A 

 central pith is always present in the form of a hollow surrounded by 

 a slightly hardened layer. In JK. aspera the bark is not striated ; 

 the stem unless over-ripe is quite solid, very soft and of a pure white 

 colour. [Cf. Acosta, Tract . de las Drogas, 1578, 241 ; Journ. Soc. Chem. 

 Indmt., 1903, xxii., 198 ; Der Tropenpflanzer, v., 598.] 



Sola Substitutes. The following are the chief substitutes : 



Aralia armata. Pentapetes phoenicea. 



Cassia mimosoides. Sesbania paludosa. 



Cephalanthus occidentalis. Sonneratia acida. 



Heptapleurum hypoleucum. Trevesia palmata. 



Mimosa pudica. 



AGATHIS LORANTHIFOLIA, Stilittb. ; Gamble, Man. Ind. 

 Timbs., 703 ; CONIFERS. A lofty tree met with in Burma and the 

 Malay Peninsula and islands. 



It is in Burma known as theet-men and is generally spoken of as the Amboyna- 

 or White Pine. It affords a large quantity of transparent resin known as 

 DAMMAR, which is used like that of the New Zealand cowdie or kauri dammar 

 (Agnthis nstrniid, Salisb.) in the manufacture of VARNISH similar to Copal and for 

 waxing and polishing fabrics. [Cf. Roxb., Trans. Soc. Arts, 1805, xxiii., 412-3.] 



AGAVE, Linn., Gen. PL n., 431 (ed. vi.), 1767, 171 ; Thurston, 

 Extract, of Fibre, in Bull. Dept. Land Rec. and Agri. Mad., 1903, No. 

 30 ; Drummond and Pram, Notes on Agave and Furcrcea, in Bull. Dept. 

 Land Rec. and Agri. Beng., 1905, No. 8 ; reprinted in Agri. Ledg., 1906, 

 No. 7 ; Fl. Br. Ind., vi., 277 ; AMARYLLIDE.E. 



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