168 POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY. 



their surface, this silicious covering giving them consi- 

 derable hardness and a glossy appearance; the leaves have 

 much of the same flinty character ; they are pinnated, and 

 often terminate in tendrils. C. rudentum is said to produce 

 stems five hundred feet in length, which are much used by 

 natives in making ropes of immense strength, which they 

 employ in catching elephants, and for other purposes re- 

 quiring great strength. C. verus is another species, pro- 

 ducing much smaller stems about twenty feet in height, 

 which are used as rattans, chiefly by the natives of India, 

 in weaving into wicker-work of various kinds. The use of 

 the common rattan in this country is very similar, being 

 chiefly used for forming bottoms for chairs ; but its native 

 applications are very various. The rattans are imported in 

 bundles, each cane being seldom less than twelve or sixteen 

 feet in length and once doubled up ; the consumption is 

 very great in this country, being estimated at about 75,000 

 bundles of 100 canes each, or 7,500,000 canes annually. 

 Bulrushes. Scirpus lacustris. (Nat. Ord. Cyperacece.) 

 The tall Club -rush can only claim to be ranked amongst 

 vegetable fibres used in textile fabrics from its now rare use 

 in weaving mats and chair-bottoms. Its principal con- 

 sumption is by the coopers, who use it to put between the 



