JuLY 23, 1897.] 
tutes, that are neither spun or woven. On 
the other hand, there are many forms of 
fibrous substances of the roughest descrip- 
tion, such as reeds or shredded palm leaves, 
that are plaited, this being a coarse form of 
weaving, so that it becomes difficult to 
draw the line between a fine spinning fiber 
like flax, that is woven into linen fabrics, and 
a sedge, coarsely woven into matting, or a 
woody twig of Salix plaited into a basket. 
In the classification proposed two groups 
are recognized, based on cell structure. 
The first, fibers with fibro-vascular struc- 
ture, embraces three sub-groups, and the 
second, fibers with simple cellular struc- 
ture, embraces two sub-groups. The clas- 
sification is as follows: 
A. FIBRO-VASCULAR STRUCTURE. 
1. Bast Fibers : 
Derived from the inner fibrous bark of 
dicotyledonous plants or exogens, or out- 
side growers. They are composed of bast 
cells, the ends of which overlap each other 
so as to form, in mass, a filament. They 
occupy the phloem portion of the fibro- 
vascular bundles, and their utility in na- 
ture is to give strength and flexibility to 
the tissue. 
2. Woody Fibers: 
a. The stems and twigs of exogenous 
plants, simply stripped of their bark and 
used entire, or separated into withes, for 
weaving or plaiting into basketry. 
b. The entire, or subdivided roots of 
exogenous plants, to be employed for the 
same purpose, or as tye material, or as 
very coarse thread for stitching, or bind- 
ing. ; 
c. The wood of exogenous trees easily 
divisible into layers or splints for -the 
same purposes, or more finely subdivided 
into thread-like shavings for packing ma- 
terial. 
d. The wood of certain soft species of 
exogenous trees after grinding, and con- 
verting by chemical means into wood 
SCIENCE. 
123 
pulp, which is simple cellulose ; and simi- 
lar woods more carefully prepared for the 
manufacture of artificial silk. 
3. Structural Fibers : 
a. Derived from the structural system 
of the stalks, leaf stems and leaves, or 
other parts of monocotyledonous plants 
or inside growers, occurring as isolated 
fibro-vascular bundles, and surrounded 
by a pithy, spongy, corky, or often a soft, 
succulent, cellular mass covered with a 
thick epidermis. They give to the plant 
rigidity and toughness, thus enabling it 
to resist injury from the elements; and 
they also serve as water vessels. 
b. The whole stems, or roots, or leaves, 
or split and shredded leaves of mono- 
cotyledonous plants. 
c. The fibrous portion of the leavesgor 
fruits of certain exogenous plants when 
deprived of their epidermis and soft cellu- 
lar tissue. 
B. SmrpLe CELLULAR STRUCTURE. 
4. Surface Fibers : 
a. The down, or hairs surrounding the 
seeds, or seed envelopes, of exogenous 
plants, which are usually contained in a 
husk, pod or capsule. 
b. Hair-like growths, or tomentum, 
found on the surfaces of the stems and 
leaves, or on the leaf buds of both divi- 
sions of plants. 
c. Fibrous material produced in the 
form of epidermal strips from the leaves 
of certain endogenous species, as the 
palms. 
5. Pseudo-Fibers, or False Fibrous Ma- 
terial : 
a. Certain of the mosses, as the species 
of Sphagnum, for packing material. 
b. Certain leaves, the dried substance 
of which forms a more delicate packing 
material. 
e. Sea weeds wrought into lines or 
cordage. 
d. Fungus growths, or the mycelium 
