OTHER FIBROUS PLANTS. 311 
and largest of the material was made into this line. A line of Russian 
Hemp of the same size with the two herewith sent, will sustain with ease 
400 lb.; so that this fibre is much too weak for either sail-cloth or cordage. 
It however possesses all the free and kindly nature of Flax, and even smells 
like Flax. It is easily worked, with little or no waste, and I think must 
have been prepared with vegetable oil.” 
Naravali Fisre, Cordia angustifolia (Cordiacee). 
Dr. Buchanan, in his ‘ Journey through Mysore,’ mentions 
that ropes are made of the bark of the Narwuii, which is the 
Cordia angustifolia, and which he found common near Severn- 
droog. Its fruit is esculent, but tasteless. The plant belongs 
to the same family as the. Sebestens, formerly famous in 
medicine ; but which, when ripe, seems only remarkable for con- 
taining much mawkish mucilaginous pulp. It is possible that 
the bark of some of the species, when young, may yield a 
useful fibre. 
APETALOUS PLANTS. 
Having at p. 131 pointed out that as some of the Exoge- 
nous families of plants have only a single floral envelope, we 
need here only note that the following families belong to this 
subdivision. 
Nepvat Paver Puant, Daphne cannabina (Thymelee). 
At the Great Exhibition of 1851, many were much m- 
terested about a huge sheet of Nepal paper exhibited by Col. 
Sykes. This was curious, not only on account of its size, but 
also on account of the plant from which it was made. This 
' belongs to a genus and family containing plants remarkable 
for their fibrous bark. Thus the Lace-bark tree (Daphne 
Lagetta, now Lagetia lintearia) of the West Indies is “re- 
markable for the beautiful net-like appearance of its several 
easily separable layers of bark, whence it has received its 
English name. As the fibres of other species possess con- 
siderable tenacity, they have been employed in making cordage; 
and the toughness, as well as fineness of the inner bark of 
