60 



leaves. Some of the economic uses described under Musa Ensete 

 may, however, refer to other, but very closely allied, species. 



In India the dried petiole of the plantain is used without further 

 preparation for tying fences, training the betel vine to its support, 

 and for numerous other purposes as a rough kind of twine, and the 

 larger parts are made into little square boxes for holding snuff, drugs, 

 &c. In the Archipelago the trunk is cut into several pieces, which 

 serve as hearths during festivities in the open air, and in Siam it is used 

 for clarifying sugar. The leaves are much used for packing all sorts of 

 small goods in the bazaars, and are also employed as plates, being sold 

 for this purpose for from 1 to 3 pies each. When dry they are em- 

 ployed by shop keepers much as brown paper is in Europe. They are 

 also used for making mats, and as thatch for temporary huts. In Central 

 America "the mats which the poorer classes have to sleep upon are 

 made from fibre of the plantain." In the Malay peninsula the fresh 

 leaves are employed as a water-proof covering for the earthen pots or 

 bamboo, in which rice is steamed. The ash of the loaf and the leaf 

 stalk, rich in alkaline salts, is used instead of country soap or fuller's 

 earth in washing clothes. 



A solution of the ash is frequently employed instead of salt in cooking 

 vegetable curries, &c. The shoots and tops of ybnnaf plants are also 

 occasionally eaten as a vegetable, and are given as fodder to sheep and 

 cattle. The outer sheaths form a valuable fodder for elephants. The 

 central portion of the stem and the root -stock are said to be given to 

 cattle to increase the quantity of milk. 



Dr. Dymock found a sweet translucent jelly-like manna exuding from 

 the stem of Musa superba. This when dried at a low temperature 

 yielded 82-3 per cent, of fermentable sugar. 



Kurz mentions that " the skin of the plantain is generally used by the 

 servants in Dutch India for blackening their masters' shoes." The 

 watery juice which flows from all cut parts of the banana is rich in 

 tannin, and it is of such a blackening nature as to be fit for being u^ed 

 as an indelible marking ink, the marks becoming black and visible only 

 after washing. " One rarely emerges from the cloudy regions of Java 

 (where the undergrowth is chiefly composed of wild bananas) without 

 having his white clothes spoiled for ever owing to the juice that 

 exudes from the injured parts of the banana plants. With the 

 addition of iron it rapidly becomes black like ink." 



Kurz further adds : w The djantongs, or sterile flower-cones hanging 

 at the end of the scape, of most varieties are used in sayurs and 

 curries, and so also are the flowers themselves in some parts of India." 

 Junghuhn describes a wild plant called the wax banana of Java, the 

 leaves of which are covered on the underside with a minute white 

 powder. The Javanese scrape this meal together, melt it over a fire, 

 and produce a valuable wax. The wax thus obtained becomes very 

 clear, hard, and whitish, and forms an important article of trade in 

 middle Java. Bleaching renders it very white. One banana tree (with 

 seven leaves) yields two ounces of wax. As there are thousands and 

 thousands of plants wild over large areas the preparation of the wax is 

 a remunerative enterprise. 



Dye and Tan. — The ashes of the leaves, the stem, and the peel or 

 fruit rind are employed, according to McCann, in many of the dyeing 

 processes practised in Bengal. The latter is also used as a tan and for 

 blackening leather. The sap stains cloth a dark, almost black colour, 

 which is fairly permanent, is very difficult to wash out, and on that 

 account may be employed as a substitute for marking ink. 



