NOTES ON KITTOOL FIBRE. 57 



undergone. Excess of heat in this process causes considerable deterioration ; 

 incipient oxidation takes place with the formation of resinous matter, as 

 shown by the following analysis : — 



Mastication under 

 Before Mastication. After Mastication. excessive heat. 



C. 87-10 C. 87-73 C. 86-6 



H. 12-90 H- 12-27 H. 11-3 



0. 2-1 



100-00 100-00 100-0 



" Caoutchouc is pervious to gases in the following order : — Ammoniacal 

 gas, 1 minute ; sulphide of hydrogen, 2-J- minutes ; cyanogen, 3^ 

 minutes ; carbonic acid, 5^ minutes ; protoxide of nitrogen, 6-| minutes ; 

 arsenuretted hydrogen, 27-| minutes ; olefiant gas, 28 minutes ; hydrogen, 

 37^ minutes ; oxygen, l /- 53" ; carbonic oxide, 2 /- 40". Caoutchouc 

 appears from this to absorb gases with different degrees of facility : of 

 carbonic acid it absorbs its own bulk, and swells up accordingly." — - 

 (Leopold Gmelin, 'Handbook of Chemistry,' vol. i., page 28 ; Cavendish 

 Society, year 1848.) 



In another article, we shall discuss the conversion of caoutchouc into 

 a variety of products, new and old, which determine its importance in 

 a technological sense. 



NOTES ON KITTOOL FIBRE. 



BY THE EDITOR. 



Among the comparatively recent additions to our commercial imports 1 

 is the kittool fibre, received exclusively at present from the Island of 

 Ceylon, which has now become a recognised trade article. 



Messrs Armitage, Brothers, and Co., of Colombo, were the first mer- 

 chants who shipped the kittool fibre to this country, about the time of the 

 Russian war, when so great an inquiry arose for all kinds of fibrous mate- 

 rials and substitutes for bristles ; and it has since held its ground in public 

 favour, in common with the Sisal hemp, or Mexican grass, as it was termed, 

 obtained from the Agave Sisalana, introduced for brush-making about the 

 same time. 5 Messrs Darby, Butler, and Co., of Colombo, also now ship 

 kittool largely. It comes home tied up in small bundles packed in gunny- 

 bags, weighing about 28 lb. each. The fibre averages about 30 inches in 

 length. 



The lofty Caryota palm, which furnishes this fibre, is one of the largest 

 and most charming of this beautiful tribe. It has a straight trunk, from 40 

 to 60 feet high. 



In Ceylon the tree is called keetul, whence the corrupted name of 

 kittool given to the imported fibre. On the continent of India it is known 



