September 1, 1898.] 



KNOWLEDGE, 



201 



The seeds are buried in silky floss, generally known as 

 silk cotton, which, however, has little or no strength, and 

 is not capable of being spun into fabrics. Another kind 

 of silk cotton of very similar character is obtained from 

 the capsules of F.rimli lulrun inifnirtKnsiiiii, also a large, 

 soft-wooded tree, native of the tropics of the old and new 

 worlds. Under the name of '■ Kapok ' this substance has 

 been exported from Java to various parts of Europe for 

 many years past in large and increasing quantities, for the 

 purpose of stuffing mattresses, cushions, &c. Like the silk 

 cotton of Homliii.r, it is quite uusuited for spinning. One 

 of the most remarkable edible fruits of Malacca and the 

 Malay Islands is that known as the durian, the produce 

 of Ihtrio Zilnthinux. It is a large globular fruit, dehiscing 

 when ripe, and covered with strong spines or prickles. 

 The pulp is described by those who have become accustomed 

 to it as one of the most delicious of tropical plants, but 

 by those tasting it for the first time it is said to have a 

 flavour of civet, turpentine, and garlic. 



Sterculiace i:. — The plants constituting this order are 

 trees and shrubs, mostly of tropical countries. The woody 

 stems, though soft, are for the most part stronger and 

 somewhat harder than those of the silk cotton group, to 

 the properties of which, in many respects, they are similar. 

 Thus, the inner barks are mostly fibrous, and ropes and 

 cordage are made from them in the countries where the 

 plants grow. More particularly is this the case in the 

 species of Shrculia itself; in three of the best known Indian 

 species, namely, Stcirulia urens. s. vHhisa and N. fn-tida, 

 the barks are used for cordage. The sterculias also yield a 

 quantity of gum of a light colour, very much resembling, 

 both in appearance and in their properties, gum tragacanth, 

 inasmuch as they absorb a quantity of water, and swell 

 before dissolving. The sterculia gums are much used 

 in India as substitutes for tragacanth, and are known 

 as Kuteera. Similar gums are produced in tropical 

 Africa, as well as in Australia from allied species of 

 Storulia. 



The Kola Nut, which in a comparatively few years has 

 established itself as a regular and an important article of 

 trade, is the seed oii'ohi ucwnitiati', a tree of about forty 

 feet high, native of the West Coast of Africa. Amongst 

 the natives the kola nut has been long used as a remedy 

 for satisfying the cravings of hunger, and enabling tliose 

 who have to endure great fatigue to do without actual food 

 for a long period. During the last twenty years kola has 

 attracted considerable attention in this country, and the 

 plants have been introduced into most of the British 

 Colonies possessing a suitable climate for its success, and 

 in the West Indies it has become quite established. Kola 

 contains a large proportion of cafi'eine, and is much used 

 in the preparation of certain kinds of cocoa, as well as for 

 other purposes. 



Another very important plant in the order is the cocoa 

 (Theobroiiia cac((o) , a moderate-sized tree, a native of Brazil 

 and other northern parts of South America, extending into 

 Central America and Mexico. Under cultivation the tree 

 is found in the tropics of both hemispheres, but especially 

 in Trinidad, Venezuela, New Grenada, Jamaica, and more 

 recently in Ceylon. As might be expected with a plant so 

 long and extensively cultivated, a large number of varieties 

 are known, distinguished by the size, shape, and colour of 

 the fruits and the quality of the seeds. For the preparation 

 of the seeds for the market they are first removed from the 

 pulp of the fruit in which they are embedded, washed and 

 slightly fermented, and when dry are ready for the market. 

 For the preparation of cocoa and chocolate they are slightly 

 washed and the outer husk removed, when they readily 

 break up into small, irregular pieces, and in this state are 



known as cocoa nibs — the only state, indeed, in which they 

 were known in Europe forty or fifty years ago. To prepare 

 the soluble cocoas of the shops they are ground into a fine 

 powder, and often mixed with starch, sugar, and other 

 ingredients. Chocolate consists of the same seeds very 

 carefully pounded or ground in powerful mills, and sweet- 

 ened and flavoured with vanilla and various other spices. 

 In the preparation of pure cocoa nothing, of course, but 

 the seed is used, and a certain proportion of the oil, or 

 natural fat, which is contained in the seed, is first extracted 

 and forms what is known as cocoa butter. The seed con- 

 tains about half its weight of oil. This cocoa butter is 

 much used in pharmacy for suppositories, as well as an 

 ingredient in ointments and for coating pills for all pur- 

 poses, for which it is strongly recommended on account of 

 its agreeable bland taste and freedom from rancidity. The 

 uses of cocoa and chocolate in this country have greatly 

 increased of late years, the quantity of raw cocoa entered 

 for home consumption last year amounted to twenty-seven 

 millions, eight hundred and fifty-two thousand, one hundred 

 and fifty-two pounds against twenty-four millions, five 

 hundred and twenty-three thousand, four hundred and 

 twenty-eight pounds in ltS96. 



TiLiACE.E. — An order of trees and shrubs, and very 

 rarely herbs, the species of which are most abundant 

 within the tropics, though some are natives of the more 

 temperate regions of both hemispheres. The trees are 

 noted for their even and close grained, yet soft and easily 

 cut wood, which is well represented in the common lime 

 (Tilia eurojica) a,ni the American bass Yiooi (T. americaHu). 

 The durability of the wood of the former and its adaptability 

 for carving is further exemplified in the lime wood carvings 

 by Grinling Gibbons in Hampton Court Palace, St. Paul's 

 Cathedral, and other public buildings. Another character 

 of the tiliacere is the fibrous barks found in most of the 

 species, notably in the lime tree, which forms Russian 

 bast from which mats are made, used for covering plants, 

 and by upholsterers for packing furniture. From the 

 fibrous point of view, however, by far the most important 

 plant in the whole order is that furnishing jute {Corchonis 

 capsulaiis). It is an Indian plant, cultivated to a large 

 extent in Bengal for the sake of the fibre which is con- 

 tained in the inner bark. For the purpose of increasing 

 the length of the fibre the seeds are sown thickly to cause 

 the plants to run up without branching. The stems, 

 which seldom exceed in thickness that of the finger, are 

 steeped to soften the fibrous bark, which is afterwards 

 removed and the fibres combed out and cleaned. The 

 rapid development of the trade in this fibre is remarkable; 

 fifty years ago it was scarcely known out of India, where 

 it was, and is still used for making rice and sugar bags. 

 In 1846 the imports of the fibre to this country amounted 

 to about nine thousand tons, which in 1897. had in- 

 creased to three hundred and thirty-six thousand, nine 

 hundred and nineteen tons. Jute fibre is now used 

 for various purposes, such as carpets, tapestries for cur- 

 tains, sacking, twines, and even for adulterating cheap 

 silks. 



LiNE.E. — This is a small order of trees, shrubs, and 

 annuals well known for their bright but fugitive flowers. 

 Many of them, like the plants in the last-named order, are 

 marked by the presence of a fibrous bark, the most impor- 

 tant being the common flax [Linum imtatissimum), a stiff- 

 growing slender stemmed annual, the native country of 

 which is not known, the cultivation of the plant dating 

 from the remotest periods of history. It readily escapes 

 from cultivation, and is found in a half-wild state in almost 

 every country where it is grown. Its cultivation at the 

 I present time is widely extended in both temperate and 



