110 A VISIT TO THE GREAT EXHIBITION. 



many minor applications, all produced from the Laminite, are to be 

 seen at the Exhibition, in Mr. Ghislin's case. The hollow form of the 

 Laminaria also invites its application to articles of furniture, as a strong 

 and tough material may be covered with it, and the furniture produced 

 still be as light again, and equally ornamental, with the true horn furni- 

 ture, of which a complete set is exhibited in the Austrian court. 



Men of science and amateurs in this country, as well as the natives 

 themselves of South Africa, have been in the habit of using the Lamin- 

 aria after a very crude fashion. In this country the custom has been to 

 use the solid stem only of Laminaria digitata as a rude handle for knives? 

 the tang of the blade being inserted when the weed is fresh and soft, 

 around which it clings more tenaciously as it hardens. The Kaffirs con- 

 vert it into rough horns, and from this application the name of Trumpet 

 weed has been given. 



Even in its crude state, as imported, the Laminaria buccinalis may 

 fairly be taken for stag-horn, and when piled in heaps, it can scarcely be 

 distinguished without close inspection. 



Mr. Ghislin will doubtless have to contend with much prejudice on 

 the part of some, but he will, I trust, receive equal encouragement from 

 others in the prosecution of this new industry, which is the more 

 deserved as he stands alone as an exhibitor of Cape productions, and 

 entirely unaided by the government of that colony. 



If ever the consumption of this vegetable horn should be sufficiently 

 extensive to make any considerable waste, even that waste may be made 

 available for the production of iodine, inasmuch as this especial variety 

 of Laminaria from the Cape, is supposed to contain more of that valuable 

 medicine than any European alga. 



Atpresent, Mr. Ghislin derives his supplies of the Laminite exclusively 

 from the w T eed that is cast on the shores of South Africa, by the violence 

 of the waves, but when his trade is fairly established, he thinks o^ 

 dragging in deep water for larger specimens.* 



Silks in splendid variety are to be found in almost every court of the 

 Exhibition, every nation, and colony, seeking to prove its anxiety to 

 share in the production ot a fibre of such inestimable value. Japan 

 silks are displayed by CoL Howard Vyse, under the native names, his 

 case containing no less than thirty different qualities — white, yellow, 

 and green — and from his report I gather that this number is very far 

 short of the total recognised in Japanese commerce. Other exhibitors 

 of Japanese silks are Messrs. Remi, Schmidt, and Co., who have dis- 

 played, in addition to the more ordinary varieties of silk in the skein, a 

 very interesting set of cocoon samples, those termed " Yama-mahi n 

 being of a brilliant green colour, which is a decided novelty, but still 



* Mr Ghislin's exhibit is not confined to the Laminaria, but embraces a great 

 many other interesting products, which we have not space suflicient to mention. 



