163 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



bone. The warp of this texture is formed of whale- 

 bone and willow chips, one of the former and two of 

 the latter alternately, and the woof is entirely com- 

 posed of willow chips. Hats made of this mixture 

 are found much more durable than those made 

 wholly of wood shavings. 



Platting of straws, grasses, and chips into hats, 

 and different articles for wear, is far from being con- 

 fined to Europe, or to civilized countries. The art is 

 indeed found to obtain in different degrees of extent 

 and excellence in nearly every part of the world. In 

 the southern provinces of China, where, in summer, 

 the population use no other head covering, and where 

 the Mandarins wear these hats with tremendously 

 wide brims, the quantity of straw platted is prodigious. 

 In Japan, in proportion to the population, the con- 

 sumption is almost equally great. " When on a 

 journey,'' says Thunberg, " all the Japanese wear a 

 conical hat, made of a species of grass platted and 

 tied with a string." He also observed, that all the 

 fishermen wore hats of the same material and shape. 

 But in addition to this extensive use the Japanese 

 hardly ever wear any shoes or slippers but such as 

 are made of platted straw. " This," remarks the 

 same excellent traveller, ** is the most shabby and 

 indifferent part of their dress, and yet in equal use 

 with the high and the low, the rich and the poor. 

 They are made of rice-straw platted, and by no 

 means strong." They cost, however, a mere trifle ; 

 they are found exposed for sale in every town and in 

 every village, and the pedestrian supplies himself 

 with new shoes as he goes along, while the more 

 provident man always carries two or three pair with 

 him for use, throwing them away as they wear out. 

 " Old worn-out shoes of this description are found 

 lying every where by the sides of the roads, especially 

 near rivulets, where travellers, on changing their 



