380 THE UNIVERSE. 



and also that of lihreMo, hj which they were formerly 

 designated. 



The lono- tenacious fibres of the liber sometimes simply 

 lie side by side, and thus yield valuable textile fabrics. 

 At other times, being closely interwoven, they are Avorked 

 up by the savages into various objects. By distending the 

 bark of a little switch, the size of a cpuU, they make a 

 nightcap, or a whip possessing all the flexibiUty of those 

 we construct with the finest cord. 



The liber of some plants is exactly like our stuffs ; vest- 

 ments which nature offers us ready made. The inhabi- 

 tants of NoAv Zealand convert the liber of some of their 

 trees into strong drapery, and having covered it with im- 

 pressed patterns, they put it to difterent purposes, either 

 to ornament their dwellings or to make their dresses of 

 In Havannah the negresses make their dresses of a softer 

 and finer kind. On the Lagetto, which is celebrated on 

 this account, layers are found, the intertwined fibres of 

 which are as fine as our muslin, and even take its place in 

 the toilet of the ladies, so that the name of lace-wood has 

 been given to the tree which produces them. 



The inner layers of the bark are sometimes formed of 

 leaves sufficiently close and compact to constitute a kind of 

 paper. It was from these that the ancient Egyptians made 

 their celebrated papyrus, on which they wrote, and which, 

 spared by the hand of time, reveals to our astonished gaze 

 works which go back to the days of the Pharaohs. The 

 paper-cypress {Cyperm Papyrus), Avhich has such a strange 

 look, and Avhich grows on the banks of the Nile, has long 

 been understood to furnish this precious object.^ 



1 The employment of tlie papyrus for writing upon seems to have preceded 

 historic tin)es. Pliny relates that the Roman consul Mucins saw in a temple of 

 Lycia a letter by Sarpedon written on this paper, and dated from Troy. The 

 existence of the sacred writings, the works of Hesiod and Homer, and the dis- 



