DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 123 



to handle and not so neat looking as hemp rigging, hnt it is well suited to running 

 rigging where lightness and elasticity are desired, as for the more lofty sheets; it, 

 however, is too elastic for standing rigging. In vessels of 600 tons it is generally 

 used for lower rigging. 



Tests of coir cordage by Dr. Wright gave the following results : Hibiscus canna- 

 binus broke with 190 pounds strain, coir broke with 224 pounds, but bowstring 

 hemp (Sanseviera zeijlanica) required a strain of 316 pounds to break it. In another 

 series of experiments, made at the office of the marine board of Calcutta, plain coir 

 stood a strain of 823 pounds, when a remarkably fine specimen of European hemp 

 stood 1,967 pounds. In this test the coir stood No. 12 in strength and No. 1 in elas- 

 ticitj r , stretching 32 inches against 9-£ inches for the hemp. Unfortunately the 

 length of rope was not given, though its size was 1£ inches in circumference. 



Economic uses of the cocoa palm. — The cocoa palm has other uses than for 

 fiber which are of sufficient interest, in connection with its textile uses, to briefly 

 mention. The cocoanuts are sometimes used for illuminating purposes, to light 

 roads, and an excellent charcoal is yielded by the burnt shells. These in their entire 

 state are manufactured into a great variety of vessels for household use. The tree 

 itself is used in the manufacture of small boats, frames for houses, rafters, spear 

 handles, furniture, and fancy articles of different kinds. It is exported under the 

 name of porcupine wood. " The Cingalese split the fronds in halves and plait the 

 leaves so nicely as to make excellent baskets, and they form the usual covering of 

 their huts, as well as the bungalows of the Europeans." These dried fronds also 

 furnish fuel and are used for torches, or they are made into brooms by tying the 

 midribs together. The leaves furnish mats, baskets, and screens, and combs are 

 made of the midribs of the leaflets in the Friendly Isles. Mats are also made of the 

 cocoanut leaf cut out of the heart of the tree, which are described of fine quality 

 and used in the Laccadive Islands as sails for their boats. A downy fiber is also 

 taken from the plant which is used to stanch the blood in wounds after the manner 

 of lint. 



Cocoanut oil is one of the best-known products of the palm, especially as it is 

 employed in the manufacture of stearine candles. In the East it is employed as 

 lamp oil, and also for anointing the body. Fifteen cocoanuts produce about 2 

 quarts of oil. The drink known as toddy, or palm wine, is derived from the flower 

 spathes before they have expanded. It is also distilled and produces an intoxicating 

 liquor, or arrack. It is also made into vinegar, or, if it is not allowed to ferment, 

 may be made to yield jaggery, or sugar, which is brown and coarse. 



The collection of the Department contains a full series of coir in the various stages 

 of preparation, as the husk, the loose fiber, yarn, rope, matting, brushes, and coir, 

 or " curled hair," used for upholstering. It is much esteemed in India for stuffing 

 mattresses and cushions for couches and saddles. Very little raw fiber is now 

 imported into the United States. An interesting fiber specimen is a network of 

 fibers taken from the petiole of the leaf. As seen upon the tree at the bases of the 

 young fronds, it is beautifully white and transparent, but at maturity it becomes 

 tough and coarse and of the same color as coir. It may be stripped off in large 

 pieces, and the fibers are so straight and cross each other so regularly that they are 

 used to strain cocoanut oil or palm wine. 



It is doubtful if the production of native coir fiber will ever become an American 

 industry, although I am informed by T. Albee Smith, of Baltimore, that machinery 

 for extracting the fiber is already available. The palms grow well in southern 

 Florida, and while already producing nuts the cocoanut industry has assumed no 

 importance, though a single company in Massachusetts, extracts the fiber from im- 

 ported nuts. 



References. — Probably the best account of this useful plant, with a treatise upon 

 its cultivation, uses in the domestic and industrial economy, etc., will be found in 

 Vol. II, Die. Ec. Prod. Ind. 



* /Specimens can be seen in the Mus. U. S. Dept. Ag. 



