(21) 



devoted to fibers may be found cotton, the most important of 

 the vegetable fibers. It is derived from the fruit of the cotton 

 plant (Gossypium) , being the hairs that cover the surface of 

 the seeds. The fruits of several different kinds of cotton 

 may be seen with the cotton bursting from the capsule, while 

 some of the many different products are also shown. 



The fiber of many other plants, derived from the leaves, 

 stem, bark, roots and other organs, is of great economic 

 importance and is used, either in practically its natural con- 

 dition, as may be seen by the specimens of fans, hats, boxes, 

 bags, baskets, mats, matting, crude ropes, brooms, ornaments 

 and toys, or it is manufactured into articles of commerce after 

 processes which remove it considerably from its natural aspect 

 or condition; for example, linen, which is made from the flax, 

 plant; cloth, twine and rope, from jute, hemp and abutilon 

 fiber; and paper made from wood and other fibers. 



India Rubber and Allied Products. Cases 19 and 20. — 

 The first case in the west wing contains india rubber and 

 allied products. Here are the implements and utensils used 

 in collecting the rubber " milk " from the trees which grow 

 in the tropical forests. Rubber is derived mostly from trees 

 belonging to the mulberry family, spurge family and dog- 

 bane family. 



Several varieties of rubber may be seen in the different 

 stages of refinement, together with some articles as manu- 

 factured for the market. Here, too, is an allied product, 

 gutta percha, which is derived from the trunks and foliage 

 of certain trees belonging to the sapodilla family. These 

 trees grow in many portions of the tropics. 



Resins. Cases 21 and 22. — The cases devoted to resins 

 contain on the one hand a large trunk of the long-leaf pine, 

 with a turpentine box, together with a series of specimens of 

 turpentine and resin, illustrative of the trade-classification of 

 these products, and, on the other hand, a series of resins 

 derived from other species of pine and related trees, and also 

 those from trees representing the mulberry family, the mi- 

 mosa family, the sumac family and the myrrh family. 



