126 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 



Moluccas, the Philippine Islands, etc. From it and other 

 species of the same genus the Manila hemp, called also Siam 

 hemp. Plantain fibre, and White rope, is obtained. The leaves 

 contain fibres but they are not very strong, and are not used. 

 Those of the stem or the trunk are obtained as follows : The 

 tree when five or six inches in diameter is felled and subjected 

 to a process of retting and then passed through iron combs. 

 Manila hemp is used extensively for cordage ; it is very use- 

 ful for cables for ships on account of its durability in water. 

 The old worn ropes are then used in the manufacture of 

 paper. 



13. Fibres from which Paper is manufactured must be ob- 

 tainable in immense quantities ; they must also be soft, fine, 

 and readily bleached. Those most used are cotton, linen, 

 hemp, jute, straw, wood, young Bamboo-trees, bast of Paper- 

 mulberry, Esparto Grass, etc. The textile fibres are not used 

 generally until the cloth into which they have been woven is 

 worn out. The oldest paper made from straw is Chinese paper, 

 made from rice-straw. Now, straw of all kinds (Wheat, Rye, 

 Barley, Oats) is used. Wood must be a white, soft, fibrous 

 kind. That from the Paper-mulberry, Broitssonetia papyrifera 

 (family Urtlcacese), a native of the islands of the Southern 

 Ocean, is now extensively used in paper-making. The bast is 

 removed from the tree in large, white, flexible pieces, and 

 then separated into long, fine fibres, from which, in Japan, 

 paper, flexible like cloth, is made ; this is used for handker- 

 chiefs, napkins, etc. The plant is now cultivated in many 

 countries. The Alfa or Esparto Grass is also much used in 

 paper-making. There are two species, Stipa tenacissima and 

 Lygeum spartum (family Graminese). They grow wild on the 

 high grounds of North Africa. The cells are remarkably firm 

 and short, and manifest a tendency to curl. They have the 

 merit over wood-pulp of absorbing printing-ink more rap- 

 idly. 



14. The Cork Oak, Quercus suber (family Fagaceas), is found 

 in the southern part of Europe and the northern part of Africa. 

 It has oval, dentate, evergreen leaves, The thick mass of cork 



