CHARACTERISTICS OF JUTE. 243 
well as for making paper. It is also employed for making the 
coarse kind of cloth called Megila in Bengal; and ‘another 
kind called ¢at or choti, whence, probably, has been derived 
the name Jute. This kind of cloth is now well known by 
the name gunny, and used for making gunny bags; a name 
derived either from the Ganja or Gania of Rumphius, or 
from goni, a name of Crotalaria juncea on the Madras side, 
(Buchanan) ; there the name Jute is in some places applied to 
its fibre, and also to that of Hibiscus cannabinus. 
There are several other species of Corchorus common as 
weeds in every part of India, but all may easily be distinguished 
from the last by the roundish form of its capsules. The 
Author has found species at as great an elevation as 5000 feet 
in the Himalayas, but only in the rainy season. 
Dr. Buchanan found both the above species cultivated in, 
the districts of Dinajpore, Rungpore, and Purneya. In the 
last he was informed, that the Corchorus which is used for 
cordage is the species called by botanists olitorius, while that 
used as a pot-herb is the capsularis ; just the reverse of what 
is the case in some other places, showing the probability of 
both species being cultivated for their fibres. 
The fibre is long, soft, and silky, and well fitted for many of 
the purposes to which Flax is applied, as it is divisible into 
very fine fibrils, which, like those of the other species, are easily 
spun. It is possessed also of some strength and durability, 
even after 116 days’ maceration, as in Dr. Roxburgh’s experi- 
ments. Under the microscope, the fibres of the two species seem 
exactly alike. 
It is generally stated that the fibres of Jute, or of those 
employed in making gunny bags, cannot be bleached. This is 
incorrect; they may not be bleached by ordinary methods. 
Indeed, a paper-maker mentioned to the Author, having dis- 
covered Jute in some rope, because it would not bleach. But 
the late Col. Calvert brought several specimens of beautifully 
bleached Jute to the India House, as well as some furniture 
damask made of it; and we observe that Mr. Rogers presented 
some of his bleached specimens to the Agri-Horticultural 
Society, in May, 1846. 
Dr. Roxburgh has described the species C. olitorius as the 
Pat of the Bengalese, and as partially grown for the leaves and 
