316 SILK C0TT0NS1 



• In the Jury Reports of the Exhibition of 1851 occurs the following: — • 

 " Mention may here he made of the very beautiful fibre of the silk cotton 

 tree (Bombax heptaphyllum), which, owing to the shortness and want of 

 strength of the fibre, combined with its peculiar elasticity, is incapable of 

 being spun like ordinary cotton. It is^occasionally in India, more especially 

 in Assam, spun into a very loose and large thread, which is then woven 

 into cloth with a warp of some other fibre, and forms a soft, warm, and 

 very light fabric. The silk cotton being a very tender fibre, cannot be used 

 with advantage as a stuffing material alone ; but it is highly probable that 

 it might be very advantageously used in combination with other substances, 

 not merely for the purposes of upholstery, but even in the manufacture of 

 mixed fabrics for various other uses in the arts. It was suggested by Dr 

 Percival in 1787, and by Buchanan in 1793, that this fibre might be advan- 

 tageously employed as a substitute for beaver fur in hat-making ; and Le 

 Breton states that its importation into some countries was forbidden, for fear 

 that it shoidd be used to adulterate beaver's hair. Practical obstacles were, 

 however, found to interfere with this application, and it appears that they 

 have only recently been overcome." 



Silk cotton from Bombax ceiba has been sent from British Guiana to 

 the United States for the manufacture of hats. 



James Bruce Niel, Esq., in a letter to the Manchester Chamber of Com- 

 merce, dated March 10th, 1860, calls attention to the transference of the 

 silk cotton tree from Persia to the East Indies ; but what tree he alludes to 

 is not clear, for the Bombax is a native of both Indies : — 



" Now that we have an accredited Minister at the Court of Teheran, 

 in Persia, I would respectfully recommend the Chamber of Commerce 

 to direct his attention to the properties and value of the silk cotton 

 tree, which is used in the manufacture of clothing in that country. 

 The same would thrive well in India, in the West Indies, or in parallel 

 latitudes. Seeds of the same, ready for planting, might be remitted to 

 those countries by attending to the following instructions. 



" Fill an old cask half full of earth, put the seeds as near as possible to 

 the middle of the cask, then fill the latter entirely with moist earth, press- 

 ing it down, and finally closing in the cask against air and water. Keep it 

 from contact with sea-water by means of a coating of glue boiled in linseed 

 oil. In this manner, seeds may be brought from Persia or India in a state 

 of preservation, and fit to vegetate." 



The short, brownish, cottony substance which is found inside the capsules 

 of Bombax ceiba and malaribicum is used, by the poor inhabitants of the 

 countries where it grows, for making hats and bonnets, and stuffing chairs 

 and pillows. It is not made into beds, being too warm for those climates. 

 Next to eider down, it is the softest material for stuffing. The beautiful 

 purple down of B. villosum is spun and woven into a cloth of which gar- 

 ments are made and worn by the inhabitants of Mexico, and it retains its 

 purple colour without being dyed. B. septenatum or heptaphyllum is said to 

 furnish the same kind of material. 



The Ochroma Lagopus of Jamaica contains in its capsules a fine, soft, 



