144 USEFUL FIBER PLANTS OF THE WORLD. 



to the Cape of Good Hope and the Mediterranean r«gion. Hawaiian name, Ehuawa. 

 The fine and highly prized Niihau mats are made of this plant." (Jlillebrand.) 



C. Tonga and C. elegans (W. Ind.) are named in the Flax and Hemp Commission 

 Report of 1863. 



Cyperus lucidus. Shining Galingale Rush. 



Included in Dr. Guilfoyle's Australian list as a paper stock. 



Cyperus papyrus. The Papyrus of the ancients. 



Syn. Papyrus antiquornm, which was doubtless one of the bulrushes mentioned 

 in Scripture. 



Grows on the marshy hanks of rivers in Abyssinia, Sicily, and Palestine. It for- 

 merly abounded on the Nile, but is now almost extinct in Egypt (Spon). Various 

 portions of the plant were used in Egypt in the construction of boats, mats, baskets, 

 and even rough woven fabrics. Its chief use, however, was in the preparation of 

 writing paper, which was made from the inner bark of the stem. 



The liher or hark is composed of thin laminae or plates, and these unrolled and 

 placed together formed a sheet. The plates obtained near the center were the best, 

 and each cut diminished in value in proportion as it was distant from that part of 

 the stem. AVhen carefully peeled from the plant and dressed at the sides, that these 

 might join evenly, these plates were laid close together on a hard, flat table, and 

 then other pieces similarly cut were laid across them at right angles. They thus 

 formed a sheet of many pieces, and, to promote their adhesion, the whole was mois- 

 tened with the water of the Nile, and. while wet, pressure was applied. The gluti- 

 nous matter inherent in the bark promoted adhesion. They were afterwards dried 

 in the sun. Bruce, the traveler, who frequently made the paper in tlie manner thus 

 described, ascertained that the saccharine juice contained in the plant and dissolved 

 and diffused in the water causes the immediate adhesion of the parts. In some 

 cases, where the plants themselves did not contain sufficient juice, or when the 

 water did not dissolve the juice properly, the strips of bark were joined together 

 with paste made of fine flour mixed with hot water and a little vinegar. After 

 being dried and again pressed the paper was smoothed and flattened by beating it 

 with a wooden mallet. The ancient Egyptians made their sheets of prodigious 

 length, though narrow. One of those purchased by the Earl of Belmore, and 

 unrolled by his lordship, was 14 feet long by 1 foot broad. Belzoni had a papyrus 

 23 feet long by 1^ feet broad. The quantity of the papyrus used by the Egyptians 

 in their funeral operations alone must have been very great. Those papyri now 

 found in the ancient tombs and about the mummy caves in Egypt are yet in a 

 wonderful state of preservation. The rolls are always compressed. Sometimes their 

 exterior is ornamented with gilding, in which case they are looked upon as of supe- 

 rior valne. They are generally thrust into the breast or between the knees of the 

 mummy, and occasionally they are inclosed in small wooden boxes or purses. In 

 the museum of Naples there are not less than 1,700 to 1,800 manuscript papyri which 

 have been dug from the ruins of llerculaneum, and yet only a very small portion of 

 this ancient city has been dug out of the mass of lava by which it was overwhelmed. 

 (Bhind.) See Ancient Fibers, in the Introduction. 



C. syriaens is mentioned by Bernardin as the papyrus of Sicily. 



Cyperus tegetiformis. Seaside Grass. Chinese Mat Bush. 



Examples of cutis and shoes made from this rush in China are shown in the 

 U. S. Nat. Mus. Plain and colored mattings from the culms of this species are shown 

 in the Kew Mus. made at Ningpo, and " very largely used at the present time for 

 floor coverings in this country" (Groat Britain). A set of tools as used by the 

 the native mat makers is also exhibited, together with samples of hats made from 

 the same material. These were formerly imported into Great Britain and Europe in 

 enormous quantities and sold for a few pence each. The same material is used in 

 Korea for mat making:. 





