67 



Japan, Formosa, &c. From the stems fibre is obtained CASE 

 especially at Kiukiang, in Corea, &c. Note cloth from 34. 

 Corea, China and Japan made from it. It is said to be the 

 oldest textile material in China, cloth made from this fibre 

 having been in use 1,000 years B. C. In Japan it was 

 formerly largely used in the manufacture of summer 

 clothing, hot getting limp, nor clinging when wetted, like 

 cotton, and soon drying. Kuza fibre was only used for 

 the woof, the warp being silk, flax, hemp or cotton. 

 It was stiffened with starch made from the root (a sample 

 of which is shown). It is now nearly superseded by 

 Hufu or paper cloth, made from Kozu, the fibre of 

 Broiissonetia papyrifera^ Vent, {see Case 111.). Note on 

 lower shelves of this compartment mounted pods and seeds 

 of Canavalia ohtusifolia, DC, Bay Bean of Bermuda ; 

 a common shore plant in nearly all warm countries, the 

 seeds of which germinate after long immersion in sea- 

 water ; and G. ensiformis^ DC, Overlook Bean of the 

 West Indies. The former species has bright red seeds 

 whilst the latter are marbled or mottled and the pods 

 scimitar shaped. The young tender pods and seeds of 

 G. ensiformis are eaten in India. 



No. 196. Ordeal Beans of Old Calabar {Physo^- 

 tigma venenosurn, Balf .), a large perennial climber found 

 only near the mouth of the Niger and Old Calabar, West 

 Tropical Africa, and even in these localities it is said to be 

 somewhat rare in consequence of the plants having been 

 destroyed by order of the Government. Formerly these 

 beans were used in the neighbourhood of Old Calabar 

 as an ordeal. They are imported into this country from 

 Western Africa for medicinal purposes, being used in 

 ophthalmic diseases, tetanus, epilepsy and other nervous 

 affections. In commerce the seeds of P. cylindrospermian, 

 Holmes, are sometimes mixed with those of the true 

 Calabar bean. 



Observe also a series of seeds of Moth (Phaseolus 

 aconitifolius, Jacq.), widely cultivated in India as a hot- 

 weather crop. It yields a valuable fodder and the grain 

 is employed as a food for horses and oxen. 



No. 197. A large series of seeds of Green Gram or 

 Mtjng of India {Phaseolus Mungo, L.), largely cultivated 



