58 TEXTILE FIBRES. 



draws all moisture to itself. At night the wet ' sennegraes ' must be 

 removed from the boots, well pulled out with the fingers, so that it 

 does not cling together, and then dried during the night by being 

 worn inside the coat or trousers leg. In the morning it will be 

 about dry, and can be pressed into the boots again. Little by little, 

 however, it becomes used up, and if it is to last out a long journey 

 a good supply must be taken." 



Bladder sedge or Carex vesicaria has broad, involute leaves, the culm 

 or stalk with the two rows of fertile spikelets containing the fruit. These 

 are crowded together somewhat after the fashion of a willow catkin. 

 Underneath the second spikelet is the long, lance-shaped, foliaceous bract, 

 and higher up at the termination of the very thin stalk is the remnant 

 of the barren florets. So far, sedges have not been much used in travel- 

 ling or on voyages, and Dr. Nansen may be complimented for having 

 brought this sedge into notice. 



Screw Pine Fibre (Pandanus utilis, Pandanaceae). The red-spined 

 screw pine plant and most other species of this genus are natives of the 

 East Indies. 



Fig. 36 is an illustration of a species of Screw Pine ; the apices of 

 the sword-like leaves are acuminate, the dorsal surface is spinose, and 

 the margins are toothed. 



The roots are composed of tough fibres, which basket-makers use to 

 tie their work with ; their spongy nature has caused them to be 

 used for corks in parts in which the plants are indigenous. 



In the South Sea Islands and the Sandwich Islands the leaves have 

 been used for the making of mats ; they are capable of being dyed 

 different colours. The long fibres got from the parallel veined leaves 

 are tough and suitable for cordage purposes. The Screw Pine is 

 mentioned by Sir J. D. Hooker in his Himalayan Journals, where he 

 says : " The path lay amongst thick jungle of Wallichia palm, prickly 

 rattan canes, and the Pandanus or screw pine called ' BORR,' which has 

 a straight, often forked, palm-like trunk, and an immense crown of 

 grassy, saw-edged leaves 4 feet long." 



A good typical example of the screw pine can be seen flourishing in 

 the Victoria Regia House at the Royal Gardens, Kew. 



Sida Fibre (Sida rliombifolia, Malvaceae). This fibre has been 

 described by Mr. George Watt 1 as follows: "It has a lustrous silky 

 fibre like jute, but much finer and brighter and whiter. It is altogether 

 much superior to jute, and could be grown in the same field and under 

 the same conditions. The fibre is separated from the stalk by the same 

 process as jute, and has not hitherto come into the market, simply through 

 1 Mr. George Watt, M.B., C.I.E., Professor of Botany at the Calcutta University. 



