146 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



Under the native government of Ceylon this 

 gigantic leaf was made a distinctive mark of the 

 gradations of rank, each person being allowed, ac- 

 cording to his station, to have a certain number of 

 the talipot leaves folded up in the form of fans borne 

 before him by his servants. These leaves are like- 

 wise used by the common people as umbrellas, one 

 outspreading leaf affording sufficient shelter for seven 

 or eight persons. This gigantic production of nature 

 is likewise adapted to many other useful purposes, 

 being very substantial and durable. 



The Japanese make an excellent paper from the 

 bark of a species of mulberry-tree ; an account of the 

 process pursued by them for this purpose has been 

 already given in the history of timber trees in this 

 series. The Tonquinese manufacture paper from 

 silk and from the rinds of different trees. 



The Persians draw materials for their paper from 

 a mixture of cotton and silken rags, which they manu- 

 facture into a smooth soft surface, and afterwards 

 polish with a stone or shell. It will not bear ink 

 without polishing. 



The Aztecs or aborigines of Mexico prepared a 

 kind of paper from the pulpy part of the leaves of the 

 same aloe which yielded them a grateful beverage 

 and afforded them a strong cordage. Their hiero- 

 glyphics were written on this paper, pieces of which 

 of various thicknesses are occasionally found in that 

 country *, whose unfortunate aborigines have been 

 long exterminated, while there are thus still to be 

 discovered vestiges of their advancement in the 

 peaceful arts. 



The widely spreading demand for paper through- 

 out Europe renders the material from which it is 

 manufactured a matter of no small importance. 

 Some years back serious apprehensions were enter- 

 * Ward's Mexico. 



