200 



KNOWLEDGE. 



[Septembeb 1, 1898. 



deleterious properties. Their geographical range is wide, 

 though they are most abundant within the Tropics. The 

 forms of the plants included in the order vary considerably, 

 from small herbs, as in the marsh mallow, to the baobab 

 {Ailansiiniit (Uijitntu), or the giant silk cotton trees [Erio- 

 denihon anfractunsum). 



The order is divided into four groups or tribes. Malveae, 

 which includes the mallows and the species of Sirla and 

 AhutUon, well-known fibre plants of India and China. 

 Ureneae, of which the principal products are fibres furnished 

 by species of Urena, Malarlira, and Malrariscux. Hibiscefe, 

 containing the several species of Hibiscus, Gossupimn, and 

 Thrspesia : and Bombaceas, which includes Adamonia, 

 Bombax, Eriodendron , and others. 



The following are the most important species of Hibiscus 

 from an economic point of view : — 11. esculentus. This is 

 a large annual herb growing to a height of five or six feet, 

 the native country of which is uncertain, though opinion 

 inclines to some part of Africa. At the present time it is 

 cultivated all over the tropical and warmer parts of the 

 world, chiefly for the sake of the mucilaginous fruits which 

 are known under the various names of okro, gombo, or 

 bendikai. These fruits are narrowly oblong or fusiform, 

 from three to ten inches long, and dehiscing, when ripe, 

 by longitudinal sutures. In the young green state the 

 fruits are extensively used as an article of food, particularly 

 for the purpose of thickening soups. In the very young 

 state they are sometimes pickled like capers. The seeds 

 contain oil of good quality, and is expressed in some coun- 

 tries and used for culinary purposes. They are also 

 roasted and used as a substitute for coffee. The fibre from 

 the stem is used for ropes and cordage. Another annual 

 largely cultivated in India, Ceylon, and in other tropical 

 countries is the roselle {H ibiacus snbdari^a) . This is grown 

 both for the fibre, used like the last-named, and for the 

 fleshy calyces of the fruit, which are of a reddish colour 

 when fresh, and are made into a kind of preserve. Other 

 species of Hibiscus yielding fibres of equal quality are 

 H. caniuddnu^, H. abelmoschus, and //. clattis. The first 

 named is an Indian species, while the two latter are West 

 Indian. //. abelmosclnis is known as the musk mallow, in 

 consequence of its seeds possessing a strong, musky odour, 

 for which reason they are frequently used in perfumery as 

 a substitute for animal musk. //. clatus is the tree from 

 which Cuba bast is procured, a substance better known 

 twenty years ago than at the present time. It consists of 

 the inner bark of the tree, and was at one time largely 

 used in gardens for tying up plants as well as for tying 

 bundles of Havanna cigars. In gardens, however, it has 

 long been superseded by raflia, and in the Cuban cigar 

 trade by ribbon. Even now Cuba bast occasionally finds 

 a use in this country, and not long since it was adopted, 

 after bleaching or dyeing, for the manufacture of ladies' 

 hats in consequence of its hghtness and lace-like appear- 

 ance. 



By far the most important plants in the whole family 

 of Malvaceffi are those species of (rossi/pium which 

 furnish cotton of commerce, the chief of which is (J. barbn- 

 dense, a large herbaceous or shrubby plant growing to a 

 height of nine or ten feet, with numerous widely-spreading 

 branches, and bearing capsular fruits dehiscing into three 

 or five valves, and containing numerous closely-packed 

 seeds entirely ouried in a mass of long, very delicate white 

 hairs, varying in length from a quarter to an inch or more. 

 The commercial value of cotton is judged by the length 

 and strength of the fibres, or staple, as it is termed in 

 trade, and the clean separation of them from the seeds, 

 and it is these two essential qualities that cause the cotton 

 produced by G. barbadcnst to be of a much superior quality 



to that produced by other species, or indeed by some 

 varieties of the same species. The separation of the fibre 

 from the seed is so marked in the different qualities that 

 in the Sea Island cotton of commerce the mass of fibres 

 can be readily removed from the seed by the fingers without 

 breaking the fibres and leaving the seed perfectly clean, 

 while in others, and inferior qualities, the fibres break 

 away, leaving the seeds thickly clothed with the woolly 

 bases. G. barbadense is supposed to be a native of the 

 West Indies, as its specific name would imply. Its culture 

 at the present time is spread over a large portion of the 

 warmer regions of the globe, and, as is commonly the case 

 with plants so long and widely cultivated, it has numerous 

 varieties, known in commerce under distinct names, such 

 as Sea Island, Kidney, Peruvian, Bahia, Brazil, and 

 others. These varieties are cultivated in the West Indies, 

 the Southern United States, Central and South America, 

 and other countries. G. herbarium and G. arhoreum also 

 furnish some of the cotton of commerce. 



In a brief resume of the economic plants of the several 

 natural orders like the present it is impossible to detail the 

 processes employed in the preparation of cotton for the 

 market ; or even to speak of the numerous uses to which 

 this most important product is put, but as a proof of the 

 value of a single vegetable fibre we may quote the 

 following returns of the imports and value of raw cotton 

 into the United Kingdom during the year 1897 : — 

 Cnts. £ 



From I'nited States .12,323,090 value 24,5,=>7.513 



„ Brazil 150,129 ,, 303.425 



„ Egypt 2,-147,616 .. 6,4S4,450 



„ British India ... 375,777 ., 636,267 



„ Other Countries 97,5:2 „ 213,077 



15,394,234 



32,194,732 



Besides the fibre another useful product is the seeds, 

 which at one time were considered of no value, and 

 were used as manure for the land ; for some time past, 

 however, they have been largely used for the expression of 

 oil, which has been applied for illuminating purposes, oiUng 

 machines, and in the preparation of woollen cloth and 

 morocco leather, also for soap making, and, when highly 

 purified, for mixing with olive or almond oils, or as 

 substitutes for them. After the expression of the oil the 

 cake is much used for feeding cattle. 



The baobab, or monkey bread-tree (Adansvnia di/jitnta), 

 which belongs to the tribe Bombacefe, is a tree of consider- 

 able interest, if not of high value, from an economic point 

 of view. It is a native of west tropical Africa, but is 

 found cultivated in many parts of India and Ceylon. It 

 grows to a height of forty to sixty feet, with a diameter of 

 trunk of thirty feet, and attains a great age. Humboldt 

 speaks of it as " the oldest organic monument of our 

 planet.' The trunk is covered with a very thick fibrous 

 bark, from which the natives make ropes and nets. It 

 has been proposed as a material for paper making, and 

 paper of good quality has been made from it ; but as the 

 supply must necessarily always be limited, its future as a 

 paper material is very doubtful. On the other hand, where 

 the quantity required would be less — such, for instance, 

 as the plaiting for ladies' hats — it might, and indeed has 

 been found an useful article, for a few years ago it was so 

 used, after being bleached or dyed in various colours. The 

 remarkably large fruit of the baobab (often two feet long 

 and one foot diameter in the middle) contains a quantity 

 of pulp which is of an agreeable acid taste, and is used by 

 the people for making a refreshing cooling drink, besides 

 which the fruits are used as floats for fishing nets. Bomba.r 

 malnbfirieum, a large soft-wooded Indian tree, has a coarse 

 fibrous bark, from which rough ropes are made in India. 



