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appreciate the intricacy of confusion that besets the local and 

 vernacular terminology, as well as the loss and inconvenience 

 due to it. 



The chief difficulty is to keep the list within manageable 

 bounds. In his catalogue of Fibre Plants of the World, from 

 which we have derived much help, Mr. Dodge has observed 

 (under " Grass fibres ") 



while fibrous substance is extracted from many species 

 of Qramineae the family of true grasses, the term is 

 frequently applied to fibres derived from plants that 

 are grasses in no sense of the word, and it is therefore 

 misleading. Examples : ' China graxs ' the fibre from 

 a tall shrub (Boebmeria) ; ' Sisal grass ' the fibre from 

 a fleshy leaved Agave; and 'Silk grabs' which may 

 mean Bromelia fibre, or almost anything." 

 We must plead guilty to having omitted " Sisal grass " 

 and would gladly have passed over a good many more that 

 figure in our list, as it is ; but it seemed better for the present 

 to err rather on the side of inclusion. 



We have not attempted to expound any purely botanical 

 terms. Those employed in the text of Part I should not 

 be found very difficult, and in any case, where a reader not 

 versed in the botany of the Agaveae may want a decision, his 

 best course would be to send an inner and an outer leaf, with 

 some flowers in spirit (if the plant is poling), also a few pods 

 if available, to a competent botanist for identification. 



The column in the Glossary of references to Parts I and II 

 of the Bulletin is meant to assist in finding matter bearing 

 on the botanical history of the plant or plants to which the 

 commercial or vernacular name is believed to refer. For econ- 

 omic or industrial details the Dictionary of Economic Products 

 for India, or in case of other countries works such as Spon's 

 Encyclopaedia, should be consulted. Where only the author's 

 name appears in the second column fuller references will be 

 found under Bibliography (Part II, p. 72 and foil.) or on 

 the pages quoted in the sixth column. 



