XXXU INTRODUCTION. 



from it is supposed to possess the advantage of be- 

 ing- unpalateable to insects or worms. It is from 

 this gTim that their fancy lanthorns are fabricated 

 by spreading' it over g'auze skeletons— it thus resem- 

 bles and is frequently taken for highly transparent 

 horn. It is peculiarly brittle, even more so than 

 glass, cracking" under very slight changes of tem- 

 perature." In describing the attire of a chief who 

 visited the vessel at the Korean Islands, the same 

 writer says, ^' The hat, composed of the fine outer 

 fibres of the bamboo, dyed black, and woven into a 

 gauze like our finest wire-work, is also furnished 

 with a fine covering composed of very fibrous paper 

 so well glazed, at the same time so flexible, that it 

 was generally mistaken for oil-silk. This is prepared 

 both by the people of Loo Choo as well as the 

 Chinese, from a solution of the gelatinous sea- 

 weed, Agal-agal." According to this author, the 

 edible swallow's-nests, so much prized by Chinese 

 epicures, the finest of which are said to sell for their 

 weight in gold^ are constructed of it, and not of an 

 animal gelatine, as is now generally believed. ^^ The 



