A VISIT TO THE GREAT EXHIBITION. 399 



spinning operations, whereby a mass of short fibres are spun into a long and 

 continous thread, there certainly appears reasonable ground for making 

 further experiments in this direction. 



The invaluable cocoa-nut palm is rightly held in universal estimation, 

 for the uses to which its various parts and products can be applied, are 

 scarcely to be enumerated ; and very recently a novel application of the 

 only portion of the tree that has hitherto been a waste substance, has been 

 added to the thousand and one practical benefits previously derived from 

 this chief' of palm trees. In separating and cleaning the fibres which 

 surround the shell of the nut, a large quantity of fine and fibrous pulp, 

 almost as small as dust, has hitherto been a waste product ; but gardeners 

 have now discovered that this rubbish is an excellent substitute for peat, 

 and is also specially suited to invalid plants, as many hopelessly diseased, 

 have recovered their vigour completely by a free use of the material in ques- 

 tion. That it is peculiarly adapted to the growth of ferns, E. Hyde, Esq., 

 of Kingston-on-Thames, seeks to prove by planting a variety of those 

 interesting plants (at the bottom of his case of cocoa-nut fibre brushes,) 

 entirely in the refuse, which he is selling freely at a most moderate price, 

 and all lovers of flowers should at anyrate supply themselves with some 

 of this elixir vita?, ere this heap of many years accumulation disappears, 

 and scarcity begets dearness. 



Leaving Class IV., for the present, I would draw attention to the extensive 

 and valuable display of raw products, which our Colonies have contribiited 

 at a very heavy expense, and no trifling amount of labour, and, I feel sure 

 I only echo the sentiments of my countrymen in general, when I express 

 the hope that such efforts may be fully rewarded, and that it may be found 

 desirable to add many of the Colonial products to our list of commercial 

 necessities. 



Canada displays her wonderful resources most abundantly, but I have 

 only space sufficient on this occasion to allude to a very few of her treasures. 

 In minerals, there is much to delight the geologist and practical mineralogist. 

 The talc is very good, and might doubtless be profitably shipped to this 

 market. The plumbago also, is flaky in character, and as I presume 

 suitable to the manufacture of crucibles. Woods form a very prominent 

 portion of the Canadian products, and some few of the specimens are really 

 very beautiful in figure, particularly the Curled ash, (" Fraxinus excelsior ") 

 which has a pattern very similar to the renowned Hungarian ash, a wood 

 which has been much in favour with the English public, and has realised a 

 very heavy price per ton ; but the difficulty of obtaining large planks, has 

 dwarfed and smothered a trade, which might otherwise have been consider- 

 able. If Canada can send Curled ash, fully equal to the specimens referred 

 to, and of large size, I think our timber merchants will prove their appre- 

 ciation of its beauty. Some samples of walnut wood are also noticeable for 

 their figure. 



British Guiana likewise exhibits sections of the valuable woods from 

 her territory, and illustrates their quality and character, by a few articles 



