VEGETABLE FIBRES. 225 



barium Araboynense. Nos. 7, 8, 9, and 13, 14, retained 

 their strength surprisingly. No. 15, (the bark with which 

 the inhabitants of the South Sea islands make lines), gained 

 considerably in power in its tarred state. 



In the former part of these ob,ervations it was remarked, Additional 

 that numerous plants, exclusive of those which yield hemp and cordage 

 flax, were productive of fibres apparently well cjualified for the 

 same useful purposes; and these several sorts are pointed out, 

 some of which had been long and well known to the natives of 

 Asia: others appeared to me to be unknown to them. Since 

 the date of that paper, my researches have brought to light 

 several additional objects of the same nature, and added con- 

 siderably to the imperfect knowledge I then had of others. At 

 the close of my first experiments (vol. xxii. page 395-6) men- 

 tion is made of the strength of .sun cords being greatly in- 

 creased while thoroughly wet with fresh water. From 100 to 

 200 additional experiments have been made since that time, 

 to illustrate this interesting fact, the result of which will be 

 found in the two last columns of the annexed table. 



The cords now employed were made of three single yarns ; How fabri- 

 and, as formerly, by no means so equally spun, or laid, as ^^^^'^' 

 might have been done by an expert European artist : nor must 

 their strength be compared with those of the same material in 

 the former table, because the cords are now made considerably 

 stouter, and the yarns are, in general, better laid, on account 

 of their being thicker; for I suspect that the smallness of the 

 lines employed in the former trials rendered them somewhat 

 less accurate than the present. 



Vot. XVI.— March, 1807. ' X Cvm- 



