REVIEWS. 125 



by Chinese women to blacken their hair and eyebrows, and also as a substi- 

 tute for blacking. The bark of Hibiscus arbor eus furnishes a fibre from 

 which whips are made in the West Indies. 



It is stated that the bark of Paritium tiliaceum is sucked by the natives 

 of the South Sea Islands, when the bread-fruit crop fails, or in times of 

 scarcity, and a good matting is produced from it by the Otaheitans, who 

 also form it into ropes and cords, which are reputed to be fit for any 

 purpose, even the rigging of vessels ; but it has been found that it does not 

 nearly equal the strength of rope made from hemp. The Fiji Islanders 

 employ it in the manufacture of articles of clothing. 



The wood of the " Blue mahoe " {Paritium elatum, Don.) is used in 

 Jamaica for cart, carriage, and waggon bodies, and also for furniture and 

 inlaying fancy work. The Cuba Bast, so much employed in gardens as a sub- 

 stitute for Russia matting, for tying plants, is the inner bark of a variety 

 of this species. 



Thesjyesia populnea, Corr., furnishes a tolerably durable wood, which is 

 used in Ceylon for carriage-wheels and other purposes. Perhaps the most 

 useful of all the products of this order is Cotton, procured from several 

 species of Gossypium. It is cultivated to an enormous extent in North and 

 South America, and the East and West Indies, from whence we receive im- 

 mense quantities, as also from Egypt, Western Africa, &c. So much has been 

 written on this commodity, that it would be vain to enter into any details 

 here, except that during the past year the total amount of raw cotton 

 imported into this country amounted to 12,419,096 cwt. Of this quantity, 

 the United States supplied 9,983,309 cwt., and British India 1,822,689 cwt., 

 the remaining portion being derived from Egypt, Brazil, and other countries. 

 Cotton-wool, although the most valuable, is not the sole product of this 

 plant, for from the seeda an oil is expressed which is used like Olive oil, as 

 well as for burning in lamps. It is manufactured in large quantities at 

 Marseilles. The refuse after the oil is expressed has also been lately 

 turned to account in the manufacture of oil-cake for cattle, being cheaper 

 than that made from linseed. About two gallons of oil is procured from a 

 cwt. of seeds, leaving a residue of about 96 lb. of cake. 



Kew. 



J|*irMfos. 



The Forests and Gardens of South India. By Hugh Cleghorn, 

 M.D., &c. W. H. Allen and Co. 



This is a work which, if not all that is wanted for a due appreciation 

 of the woods of the Indian forests, is certainly a valuable addition to our 

 scanty stock of information on the subject. That the work is faulty and 

 deficient on many points, that a heterogeneous mass of rough material is 

 jumbled together without much condensation or arrangement, and that 



