THE SPARTUM OF THE ANCIENTS. 31 
it can be separated in the form of pulp and used for paper- 
making, as will be again mentioned in the subsequent pages. 
The grasses abound in India; in the plains are numerous 
species of genera little known in Europe; with the cultivation 
of rice, maize, joar, and many millets in the rainy season ; 
and in the cold weather, of wheat, barley, oats, and millet ; while 
in the Himalayas the pasture-grasses are many of them the 
same as in Europe, and the cereals are cultivated in the spring 
and summer, with some rice in the rains, (v. Author’s paper 
*On the Corn and Pasture-Grasses of India, in Illustrations of 
Himalayan Botany,’ pp. 415—427; reprinted in ‘ Trans. Agric. 
Soc. of India,’ viii, p. 91.) 
Though the grasses were probably among the first sub- 
stances used for cordage, none of them seem ever to have 
been objects of export commerce; partly because they are so 
universally diffused, and partly because they are bulky and 
deficient in strength. One or two have, however, been suffi- 
ciently distinguished to have been noticed by the ancients. 
One of these is the Esparto of the Spaniards, supposed to be 
the Spartum of the Romans. It is probable, however, that a 
very different plant (Spartium junceum) was also sometimes 
included under this name, for it was not uncommon for what 
we consider very different plants to be included under one 
general name, if they were used for the same purposes. 
Indeed, it is not unusual, even in the present day, for very 
different substances to be included under one general term ; 
as is the case, for instance, with the word hemp, of which we 
shall have to mention several instances. The Esparto of the 
south of Spain, especially of the provinces of Huesca, Murcia, 
and Almeria, is Stipa (or Macrochloa) tenacissima, called “mat- 
weed’’ by Ray, and supposed to be “‘ the rush of a dry soil ” of 
Pliny. It grows in tufts, with long leaves, and is still used 
by the Spaniards for making sandals, mats, baskets, and ropes ; 
and also sacks, nets, and toils, which the shepherds use as 
hurdles for their sheep. Some seems to have been exported both 
to the South of France and into Italy, for making baskets, sacks, 
and ropes, as this was prohibited in 1783 and 1790. It is also 
employed for stuffing palliasses; and some paper made of it was 
sent to the Exhibition of 1851. Lygeum Spartum is sup- 
posed by others to be one kind of Spartum, as it is also called 
