September 10, 1920] 



SCIENCE 



241 



he picked the plants, stripped them of the 

 bark, and with his own olden tools manufac- 

 tured the sample of fiber. 



My object was to ascertain what kind of 

 plants he selects, and to see the primitive 

 method of manufacture, with the idea that this 

 method might furnish some suggestions for 

 the construction of the machine. We had 

 hardly made a dozen steps in the woods along 

 the twenty-two-mile trail when a rich harvest 

 of Toucliardia was found. We found both 

 male and female plants that could be distin- 

 guished only by inflorescence. Whereas male 

 flowers are situated on relatively strong, re- 

 peadedly forking cymes, growing out of the 

 base of the leaves, female ones look like so 

 many flattened lumps of green dough planted 

 at the base of the top branches. Both plants 

 are taken indiscriminately. Careful discrimi- 

 nation is made, however, in regard to the age 

 of the plant; neither too young nor too old 

 ones are taken. The bark of the old ones is 

 somewhat knotty, woody, and short jointed, 

 and, as I have mentioned, such plant is turned 

 down to the ground to force it to give new 

 shoots. The best stems are not thicker than 

 the finger, about one year and a half old, with 

 the bark of a chocolate-brown color, with dis- 

 tanced scars of former leaves, straight and 

 high (8 to 10 feet), devoid of leaves except on 

 the top. Such stems are cut with the knife 

 near the root and below the crown. Their bark 

 strips easily as a whole from bottom to the 

 top. The ribbon obtained is hung over the 

 neck of the gatherers. There is also a plant 

 with the leaves very much like those of 

 Touchardia, the " hopue " ; but this one gen- 

 erally grows to a large-sized tree, has different 

 flower, and light-grayish color of the bark. 

 Neither previous soaking nor drying are re- 

 sorted to before the extraction. The bark is 

 used raw. 



■ The implements used are: (1) A wood board 

 made of " naou " tree, characterized by its 

 dark color, hardness, compactness, evenness, 

 and absence of knots. This board is about 6 

 feet long by 2 to 3 inches wide. It has a very 

 light curve in both directions — in width and 

 length; is wider at one end and obtusely 



pointed at the other. (2) A plate of fish bone 

 of " honu " fish, about 8 inches long by 2i 

 wide, and is also slightly curved in both di- 

 rections. Its lower margin is sharpened under 

 45° like the edge of a chisel. 



The process of manufacturing is as follows : 

 The " naou " board is fastened on the ground 

 with rocks at the narrow end to prevent any 

 forward sliding, the curved surface upper- 

 most. The broader end is a little elevated by 

 another piece of rock. The board is moistened 

 with water. A ribbon of bark from one plant 

 is taken. Its bottom end is first fastened by 

 treading on it with the toe of the right foot, 

 the top end raised vertically by the left hand, 

 so as to tightly stretch the band. Holding the 

 fish plate by the right hand in its middle, the 

 sharp end of the bone is passed upward along 

 the inner surface of the ribbon, which opera- 

 tion is intended for flattening the curled ribbon 

 and taking off the slimy substance covering 

 the inner surface. Then the ribbon is stretched 

 horizontally upon the naou board, the bottom 

 end toward the wider end of the board and the 

 operator, and held tightly to it by the two 

 fingers of the left hand, the outer surface of 

 the bark upward, the inner sticking to the 

 board. Then the fish plate, held in the right 

 hand by the middle at 45°, with its sharp end 

 downward and forward, squeezing the ribbon 

 between the tool and the board, is repeatedly 

 passed toward the pointed end of the board, by 

 which motion the flesh is scrapped off, leaving 

 a ribbon of fiber. From one to two minutes 

 are required to free the bark of one plant. The 

 operation of scraping is easy, the fiber evi- 

 dently being located on the inner surface. The 

 fiber thus obtained is dried in the sun. 

 ' Besides manufacturing fishing nets, natives 

 used to make of it the best of their fishing 

 lines. I am told that whalers in former times 

 paid high prices for olona for making lines 

 for whales. There is an old native in Hilo who> 

 still uses the line that was made and used by 

 his grandfather. 



Vaughan MacCaughey 



College of Hawaii, 

 Honolulu 



