34 TEXTILE FIBRES. 



always ready and willing to cultivate any plants of commercial interest, 

 and are at all times anxious to give full information within their reach, 

 but they cannot well become fibre brokers, though they are often con- 

 sulted by expert fibre scientists. 



It is very likely that the Government will some day have to provide 

 a "depot" for the discrimination and storage of new and promising 

 commercial fibres and similar produce. 



Fig. 21 shows a photograph of Loopha as sold by chemists. 



Fig. 21. Loopha. 



Fig. 22 shows a Loopha cut through longitudinally ; the openings are 

 much broader than the tissue of the exterior, thus showing how the air 

 and water may enter freely and be retained for a time before it passes 

 out of the finer meshes of the outside tissue. The larger openings are 

 the cavities which were occupied by the seeds as they grew on the 

 placentas. It is the coarse inner portion of fibrous tissue that has come 

 into use for cleansing the skin as a flesh brush, and so successful has it 

 been that it has competed with the small undergrown sponges of a gritty 

 nature that are often drafted into the market for their cheapness. 



Maholtine Jute Fibres (Abutilon periplocifolium, Malvaceae). 

 These fibres are obtained from the stem of a species formerly assigned 

 to the genus Sida. 



