CHI I ! INDIAN MATERIALS 



MATS 



Materials 



species, un<l mentions MIHIIV other ol.snire form*. Tim only specie* of ec<>- 

 vuluo may be suid to be : 



P. odoratlsslmus, LI,,,,./. (P. fatieularis, Lam.); th krura, km, ketuki. 

 keori, nui-i'iiik, thalay, talai, kaida, tatthapu, etc. Common on the naiidy coa*t 

 .ill India. Mnrm. i ami tin- An< IIIIHIIMH. It furma dense impem i r.iM.- t liicket 

 in the ti'lal forests, ami is extensively grown a* a hedge plant. It is also 

 specially .-uli i\ ,ii.- . ns in South India <>n account of the fragrance of 



its spikes of flouers. These, tied up within the few adjacent leaves, are sold 

 in tin- ninrkot towns, ami may be seen in shops and at the) railway station*. 

 Tin- \\Minon wear the n-.- h tloworH in thoir hair and use them as offerings ui tin- 

 temples. KI..IH (h, 'in is also prepared keura, perhaps the most characterist : 

 in..-! \\ idely us<>il |)i>rfniiio of India. The soft floral leaves and pulp of the fruit 

 are also eaten. The leaves afford an excellent fibre which in employed f r 

 . sacks, brushes, mats, etc. [Cf. Marco Polo, TraveU (ed. Yule), ii., 2~U ; 

 ( '11181118. Ananas silvestris, Exot. PI., 1605, 285; Ain-i-Akbari, (Jarrott, traiul.). 

 ii.. I2t> ; Forster, PL Eac., 1786, 38-41 ; Taleef Shereef (Playfuir, transl.), 141 ; 

 Rept. Ind. Hemp Drugs Comm., i., 156.] 



Phoenix, several species (see pp. 8S4-5) ; also Basket- and Wicker-work (p. 115). 



Phragmltes ; of the reods proper there are two species, f. -........<. 



(dila or ddmbu), mot with in the marshes and on the margins of lakes in North- 



West India up to altitude 10,000 feet, and ' /./.< (nala, nal, nar, ur, kaing, 



karka, etc.), found in the swamps of the more tropical India. 



The former is employed on the Dal Lake of Kashmir as the radhs that con- 

 stitute the foundation of embankments and floating islands. The culms of 

 both species are extensively utilised all over India in the construction of chairs 

 (morhas) and baskets ; they are also largely used for lutes and the tubes of 

 smoking-pipes (hukaha). Split open they are made into mats, and thus con- 

 stitute one at least of the sources of the darmd mats of Bengal. These are pro- 

 duced cheaply and in great abundance, being universally employed in house- 

 construction. They are also utilised as lining (dunnage) of ships to protect 

 and isolate cargoes, and they might with advantage be used to line the 

 inside of iron roofing. The flowering stalks are beaten out and afford a useful 

 rope-fibre. [Cf. Lisboa, Bomb. Grass., 116 ; For. Admin. Repte. ; Rec. Bot. Surv. 

 Ind., ii., 155, 240, 247, 360.] 



Pseudostachyum (see Bamboo, p. 104). 

 Saccharum arundinaceum, Retz. (see pp. 929-30). 



Tachardia lacca, Kerr. ; for mats made of lac, confer with account given by 

 Birdwood (Indust. Arts Ind., 1880, ii., 223-4). A thread of lac is wound around a 

 stick, and, after drying, is drawn off and broken into sections of three or four 

 turns each. These are then linked together into mats of all sorts of variegated 

 colours. 



Typha ; Fl. Br. Ind., vi., 488. There are three species of Reed Mace, 

 Elephant Grass or Cat's tail Bullrush, between which, for the present purpose, 

 it is hardly necessary to draw distinctions since their properties and uses 

 are practically identical. These are known as T. ang*tntH. the hikh of 

 Upper India ; T. fiephantina, the pater, hogld, bora, dib, pun, rdmabdna, etc. ; 

 and T. I.H., ,,,,,,,,. the pitz of Kashmir. 



The culms, as also the leaves of all three forms, are extensively used in making 

 sieves, thatching huts and house-boats, and in the manufacture of mats, ropes and 

 baskets. In Sind they are also employed in the construction of crude boats 

 called tirbo, also floats and buoys to support swimmers. They are much valued 

 for their long roots, which bind loose soils and embankments. The pollen is 

 regularly collected, and on the Indus forms a fairly important article of food, 

 being baked into cakes. Bhaduri (Rept. Labor. Ind. Mus. (Indust. Sec.), 1902-3, 

 27) has given the results of his chemical analysis of this article of food. It 

 contains carbohydrate, 44-50 ; albuminoid, 19-75 ; cellulose, 17'80 ; oil, 2-70 ; 

 the balance ash and water. The young shoots and tender roots are also eaten, 

 and the lower succulent parts of the fruiting spike, soaked in oil, are used as a 

 torch, whilst the down of the ripe fruit is mixed with mortar as a binding material. 

 The rushes are split and woven into coarse mats for covering boats and for 

 making walls or partitions of houses. The leaves also find a purpose in the 

 construction of soft matting as, for example, in Kullu, Kumaon, Sind and else- 

 where. In the Punjab, 'I'ypim is generally adopted as a matting material when 

 mazri ( .v*io-/ip) is not available. [Cf. Ain-i-Akbari (Jarrett, transl.), ii., 123 ; 



777 



Pvftunr. 



Date. 

 D.E.P., 

 vi., pt. i., 

 216. 

 Reeds. 



01 tit-. 



Danst 



Munj. 

 Lac. 



D.E.P. 

 vi., pt. iv., 

 207-8. 

 Elephant 

 Grass. 



sra, 



r. ::.:;. 



MorUr. 



MaU. 



