AKALBIK 



Nepal 

 Paper. 



Jn.j.i.rtH. 



DATISCA 



CANNABINA 



Akalbir 



of Nepal paper than />. ,,,,,,,,,1,,,,,, \\ \ a large elegant bush of the 

 ntral ami K.iMorn II imalaya from Nopal to Bhutan, Manipur and Murma 

 .-trihuted to China and Japan. It is known in Imlia as tin kmjhuti, nrytli. 

 nl ini-lii he called the true Nopal p,ipi-r plant. The mitiumaia of .Japan, and, 

 nliiiL' to Id -iu-1. -\ (Journ. Linn. Soc., xxvi., 401), in mgvtrurtiun ,i, ,,,<,,, tint. 



cultivated in that country for its paper bark. 



PAPBR. Quite recently Stein (Awient Khotan, 1907, 426) has an- 

 nounced the discovery of an actual specimen of Daphne paper, the date of 

 which ha* been determined as the middle of the 8th century. This was found 

 in tin- ruins of Endere and was examined both microscopically and chemically 

 h\ I'n.f. .1. \\ i<>sner. The material was found to be a well -macerated fibre of 

 tho ii,ti,i,,-i,i,-rif, presumably i>/in-. From the fact of no i>*//<i- l>eing 

 own to occur in Eastern Turkestan, it has been inferred that the paper had 

 n made in Tibet. [Cf. Wiesner, Denkschr. Akad. Wiss. Wien., Math.-Nat., 

 17-8.] It is thus permissible to regard this as the oldest recorded sample 

 what is commonly spoken of as " Nepal Paper." But even during the be- 

 ginning of the 19th century, Nepal did not produce enough Daphne paper to 

 tho demands of India. Buchanan-Hamilton (Ace. King. Nepal, 1819, 

 ) tells us that the local supply did not suffice and that Nepal hod to import 

 hnth the paper and the raw material from Tibet. Kirkpatrick (Ace King, 

 epaul, 1811, 80) speaks of one of the two species seen by him as being the 

 -plant of Tibet. It would thus be more correct were the paper in question 

 ied " Tibet Paper," and this change in name would be in direct accord with 

 discovery narrated by Stein. [See Paper and Paper Materials, p. 862.] 

 It is perhaps hardly necessary to repeat that there are two important plants 

 om which the so-called Nepal paper is made: (a) *.'. variinti'i and (6) 

 ritniuihinn. IVrhaps the earliest account by a botanist of this paper-material 

 that given by Wallich, who figures and describes three species and tells us 

 at Kituf trot-thin was regularly cultivated in Nepal for its paper-yielding bark. 

 In 1837 Lord Auckland, while Governor-General of India, called for further 

 information, and various reports were in consequence prepared and submitted 

 the Government of India. Atkinson and other more recent writers repeat 

 ie statement that the Bhot country sends to this day large supplies into 

 epal. Still, however, no material progress has been made, and Nepal 

 paper is no nearer than it was a hundred years ago to becoming a commercial 

 commodity. In fact it may be doubted whether any bark fibre is ever likely 

 to be of value, unless for very exceptional purposes ; it is too expensive as a 

 modern paper-material. Nepal, Kumaon and Sikkim are the chief regions where 

 India's supply of the so-called Daphne or Nepal paper is obtained. The reader 

 should consult Broussonetia, p. 186, and Paper Materials, p. 868, for further 

 particulars. [Cf. Wallich, As. Res., 1820, xiii., 383-90 and 3 pi. ; Lace, Journ. 

 Linn. Soc., 1891, xxviii., 312; Morris, Cantor Lect. in Journ. Soc. Arts, 1895, 

 Ixiii., 938 ; Dodge, Useful Fibre Plants of the World, 1897, 146 ; Kanjilal, For. 

 ~"l. U. Prov., 1901, 281 ; Wiesner, Die Rohst. des Pflanzenr., 1903, ii., 432 ; 

 usek, Micro. Tech. Prod. (Winton and Barber, tronsl.), 1907, 121-2. 



D.E.P., 

 iii., 28-9. 

 Akalbir. 



Botanical 

 Account. 



DATISCA CANNABINA, Linn. ; 'II Br. Ind., ii., 656 ; Phar- 

 macog. Ind., 1891, ii., 98 ; Bentham, Rev. Cenni Storici of Targioni- 



DATISCACE.S:. The akalbir, 

 (waft-tanj), drinkhari, sida 



Tozzetti in Journ. Hort. Soc., 1855, ix., 152; 



akalbar, kalbir, bhang-jala, bajr, waftangel 



atsu, etc. 



A tall erect herb resembling hemp, met with in the temperate and sub-tropical 



Western Himalaya from Kashmir to Nepal. Root extensively used in India 

 a yellow dye for silk. It is largely exported from Kumaon, Garhwal, Bashahr 

 id Kashmir, and is mentioned in 1694 as a useful plant found in Crete. 



[Cf. Hummel and Perkin, Journ. Soc. Chem. Induat., 1895, xiv., 458; Imp. Inet. 



~?ech. Repta., 1903, 215-6.] 



DATURA, Linn. : Fl. Br. Ind., iv., 242-3; Pharmocog. Ind., ii., D.E.P., 

 584-624; iii., 182-90; Pram, Beng. Plants, ii., 751; Cooke, FL Pres. iii., 28-43. 

 Bomb., ii., 273 ; SOLANACEJE. Datura. 



History. The vernacular names given to the species of this genus can 

 hardly be said to distinguish the various forms that exist. The Sanskrit names 



is 7 



