58 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



likewise thus applied : we are told that in France they 

 have been converted into a very fine fabric, and the 

 dead nettle is, according to Staunton, manufactured 

 into cloth by the Chinese. 



The bean stalk, which is thrown away by us as 

 useless, can, in like manner, be made subservient to 

 these purposes. Every bean haulm contains from 

 twenty to thirty-five filaments running up on the 

 outside, under the thin membrane or epidermis, from 

 the root to the top. After maceration these fibres 

 are readily separated from the stalk by slightly beating, 

 rubbing, and shaking, and ultimately by the use of 

 the heckle. The Rev. James Hall has made many 

 calculations to show how advantageously these fibres 

 might be brought into use. He found that on aver- 

 aging the produce from a number of acres, about 

 two hundred weight of fibres could be obtained from 

 one acre of ground planted in beans. That there 

 are at least 200,000 acres of tick, horse, and other 

 beans planted in Great Britian and Ireland, and that 

 therefore, from what is now disregarded as refuse, 

 400,000 cwt. of good fibrous material might be 

 obtained, and that by means which would furnish 

 healthy employment to the cottager's wife and chil- 

 dren. 



Several species of mallow, if macerated like hemp, 

 will afford a superior thread for spinning, and are 

 said to make textures surpassing in beauty those 

 manfactured of flax. 



The bark of a species of mulberry-tree, the same 

 from which paper is made in Japan, and which has 

 been noticed in the volume on timber trees in this 

 series, is made not only to furnish cordage, but such 

 a degree of fineness can be given to its fibres, that 

 they are capable of being woven into a very beautiful 

 description of cloth. M. de la Rouverie, who made 

 many experiments with regard to the capabilities of 



