62 



CASE No. 161. Wisp of Sedge, Cladium germanicum, Schrad. 

 g4 , (C. Mariscus, Br.)^ as prepared in the Cambridgeshire fens for 

 lighting fires. They were in general use in Cambridge until 

 recently, and were sold at 2\d. each, or six for 1*. 



Observe Net made by the Murray River tribe from the 

 fibre of the Australian Carex tereticaulis, Muell. Also See- 

 GRASSE used for stuffing furniture, principally composed of 

 Carex leporina, L.^ from Thun, Switzerland. 



Note open mat made of Carex brizoides, L., from the 

 market, Zurich, and table mats from Japan made from the 

 culms of Carex rhynchophysa, C. A . Mey, and sold in London. 



On the lower shelf are shown hassocks and broom, from 

 Sussex and Norfolk, made of Carex paniculata, L. 



Room No. 8. 



CASE Grass Order {Gramine(e). These plants are familiar 



85. to us, clothing our meadows, pastures, and waysides; they, 

 however, feebly represent the gigantic grasses of the tropics, 

 some of which, as the bamboos, attain a height of 100 feet or 

 more. The Order; is one of the most important from an 

 economic point of view, including as it does all the cereals, 

 wheat, barley, oat, rice, Indian corn, &c. 



Tbibe I. PANlCBAi. — No. 162. GrERO, jPenuisetum typhoi- 

 deum^ Rich. (Penicillaria spicata, TVilld.) This grain, known 

 also as African Millet, is in daily use as an article of food on 

 the Niger and Gambia. The specimen here exhibited shows 

 the mode in which the spikes are secured together for con- 

 venience in transit, as they are easily rolled up and conveyed 

 on the backs of oxen from one market to another. Most of 

 the native beer is prepared from Gero grains, specimens of the 

 grains are shown in Case 88. 

 CASE [This Case contains several illustrations of the uses of 



86. Job's Tears, the fruits of Coix Lachryma-Jobi, L. (see 

 Case 88), the hard-shelled involucre of which causes them, 

 to be much valued for ornamental purposes. The specimens 

 shown in this Case are a Bornean jacket, probably made of 

 cotton and fringed with Job's tears ; an entire dress of a 

 Fijian girl, made of the fibre of Hibiscus tiliaceus^ and orna- 

 mented with Job's tears. Also a necklace from Jamaica and a 

 table mat from Madeira, made from the same fruits.] 



CASE Cn the top shelf is a series of samples of Kodo millet {Paa^ 



87. paluni ^crobiculatum, L.), an erect grass from 1 to 2 feet 



