THE TECHNOLOGIST. [March l, 1864. 



680 ON INDIAN FIBRES 



and at Meerut Jail. Experience has proved that the so-called " Manila 

 hemp," or strong fibre from the wild plantain of the Eastern Archipelago 

 (Musa textilis) makes excellent paper, and the only objection raised 

 by paper-makers to the general use of this stock is its harshness, and the 

 difficulty of bleaching it perfectly white. The cultivated plantain 

 appears to be less suitable. The sap and gum in solution in all plants, 

 while in their green or growing state, if dried into the fibres, renders 

 them harsh, brittle, and more or less unfit for paper and textile purposes. 

 Very useful and tough kinds of paper have been made in India from 

 the plantain, and some of prime quality, from the same material, both 

 in France and in this country. 



Among the articles sent from British Guiana to the New York 

 Exhibition were papers made from the fibre of the plautain stems, 

 now thrown aside to rot on the ground. One sort for writing, another 

 quality resembling parchment, and a coarse strong article for wrapping 

 goods. These having been obtained in the very infancy of the manu- 

 facture, there is probability that superior paper of all descriptions may 

 be produced as improvements in the process are effected. Proper 

 machinery to extract the fibre is alone requisite to make the plantain 

 an article of prime, commercial, and industrial value. It is to the West 

 Indies and Africa, however, that we must look for supplies of this waste 

 fibre. Generally speaking, however, the fibre is weak and requires to 

 be mixed with some other material. Mr. Thomas "Watson, in December 

 1855, reported to the Society of Arts the following result of a rough 

 experiment he made to obtain pulp and paper from the plantain of 

 Bengal. He had a quantity of the fibre cut into small pieces by hand ; 

 it was then soaked in water for two months, and afterwards well beaten 

 in a wooden mortar, and again stirred up in water. The frame for 

 making the pulp out of this last pan was a fine bamboo sieve. With 

 such an apparatus, it may readily be understood that a rough and 

 wretched description was turned out ; but it was paper nevertheless. 

 Although in thickness more like pasteboard than paper, it wanted 

 tenacity, and readily cracked. It had, evidently, been too long steeped, 

 and needed the admixture of tougher material. Other Indian experi- 

 mentalists consider plantain fibre, which may be had in abundance, well 

 adapted for the manufacture of paper, and have converted it into good 

 pulp. 



Mudar fibre paper. This is made from the yercum (Calotropis 

 ffigantea) ; but the separation of the fibre is tedious and expensive. It 

 has been suggested that the silky cotton enveloping the seeds of this 

 and many other plants, and not at present applied to any use, might be 

 collected where labour is cheap, and converted into paper pulp. Paper 

 has been made of the downy substance contained in the follicles of the 

 Mudar, as well pure as when mixed with two-fifths of the pulp of the 

 sunn-hemp, used by tlie natives for making paper. The cost of this 

 material is estimated to be about 3s. a cwt. Should it be found useful, 



