41 
HER MAJESTY’S CONSUL, MARSEILLES, to FOREIGN OFFICE. 
My LORD Marseilles, January 27, 1892. 
REFERRING to the Foreign Office despatch, No. 1, Commercial, 
of the 17th of last August, and its enclosures, which I return herewith, 
I have the honour to inform your Lordship that, through the kindness 
of M. Durand, Professor of the School of Agriculture at Montpellier, 
I have at feqigth obtain ed and forwarded to the Foreign Office by the 
taining specimens of the Genista juncea, and of the articles made 
m it. 
The plant, seo locally Génet d Espagne, eitn naturally in the 
country, and it is only utilised for textile purposes at Lodève in the 
department of E Hérault, where the stuff is gay fant to order, and 
the industry, such as it is, is etna out. 
I have, &c. 
(Signed) " CAnARE MS G. G. PERCEVAL, 
The Most Hon. Consul. 
The Marquis 2 Salisbury me SE 
&e. 
The specimens cae in the above correspondence received at 
Kew afford ample material for arriving at a definite conclusion with 
” 
regard to the origin and character of “Genista fibre.” There is now 
in the Kew Museums a complete set, consisting of twigs, fibre in 
; al i 
sample of coarse Rass Te eet rom M. Geoffroy St. Hilaire, 
through the British Embassy at Paris. These fully illustrate the fibre 
industry connected with Spee tie (Genista a) junceum. 
of the information obtained by the Société Nationale d Acclimatation 
de France whilst engaged in meeting the wishes of this renee ah 
at the request of Her Majesty’s ‘Aacibus sador at Paris, is given n the 
Revue des Sciences Naturelles Appliquées, February 1592, p. 128. 
It is somewhat singular to observe that the first ota of the Society 
to secure specimens met with entirely negative results. Their corres- 
pondent at Nîmes, supposed to be one of the localities where the industry 
The plant itself was plentiful enough, and was e foi tekdir pas 
along with needles of Pinus sylvestris. The Society for a moment 
began to doubt, as shown in the correspondence, whether after all 
Genista fibre was not a myth. The first satisfactory intimation was 
received from Professor Durand, of the School of Agriculture at 
Montpellier. This gentleman was ultimately successful in obtaining the 
specimens received at Kew through the exertions of Mr. Consul Perceval. 
M. Vilbouchevitch has seen recently in the neighbourhood of Lodève 
very fine specimens of yarn, and cloth made from the fibre. Some 
of the latter had been in "ase for 15 years, and it was of fine 
texture and beautifully bleached. An application to the mayor of 
Lodève elicited the fact that the industry had existed in his neighbour- 
hood, but at the present ao = Rie almost extinct. He forwarded, 
however, to the Society, of specimens consisting of coarse 
cloth, mattress coverings, wi outing: the specimens of the two latter 
were 80 years old. Of very recent manufacture he was able to send 
only some yarn. 
