162 COMMERCIAL BOTANY. 



socks to place in boots, to keep the feet dry and warm in 

 winter and cool in summer, are among the most important. 

 They are elastic, and easily washed with soap and water. 

 Saddle undercloths are also made from Luffas, and are 

 intended to supplant the felt cloths hitherto used. They 

 fit the saddle perfectly to the back of the horse, and they 

 prevent the animal remaining wet under the saddle after 

 sweating. Surgical bandage stuffs are also made from 

 Luffas, and are competing with the wood-wool kind intro- 

 duced some years ago. 



The uses to which the Luffas or Loofahs may yet be put 

 are very numerous when we consider that they are obtain- 

 able in almost any quantity and at a very low rate ; some 

 bales received in the London market a few years ago 

 having been sold at five fruits a penny. 



A new kind of paint or composition, especially intended 

 for coating ships' bottoms to prevent corrosion, was brought 

 to notice, and experiments made with it in Chatham dock- 

 yard in 1873, when a sheet of iron coated with the paint 

 was lowered into one of the basins, and after two years' 

 immersion was found to be practically as clean as when 

 first put down. In 1877 a company was formed, under the 

 title of the Protector Fluid Company, for manufacturing 

 this paint on a large scale. The fluid, with which any 

 colour can be mixed, is prepared with the juice of one or 

 more species of Euphorbia, collected, it is said, in Natal. 

 The discovery of this property of the Euphorbia juice is 

 said to have been made accidentally when cutting plants of 

 Euphorbia in Natal. It was found that the juice adhered 

 firmly, and coated the blades of the knives, thus preserving 

 them from rust. The value of a preservative against corro- 

 sion and the attacks of barnacles will be apparent in saving 

 the cost of frequent cleaning, and in maintaining the speed 

 of fast-going vessels. 



