NOTES. 



101 



NOTES. 



Sesbania — A NATIVE Fi BRE- I'KODUC EH. — There are thousands of 

 acres of this plant in Queensland ; and its fibre might be obtained 

 of any length up to ten feet. By immersion in water for a 

 few days the stems are readily peeled ; by rubbing the fibre, 

 as in washing, the cuticle becomes detached, and the result the 

 specimen * now forwarded. It is remarkably strong, and I 

 think, will in that respect, compare favourably with either 

 Manilla or New Zealand fibre. The fruit when gTeen is 

 edible, and the seeds when dried might be used for many 

 purposes. In insolating the fibre the only implements necessary 

 would be a tomahawk, and a wooden mallet to bruise the stems 

 either before or after their being placed in the water — but 

 before would be better, as the water would more readily penetrate 

 between the skin and the wood. Here is an industry to be 

 developed, no cultivation required, no expensive machinery, 

 merely labor of the lightest kind to render the fibre marketable. 

 I believe the collection of this fibre would be highly remuner- 

 ative to those engaged in collecting it. — C. W. De Burgh Birch. 



[ * The specimen of fibre alluded to was pronounced to be of 

 good quality and, on the evidence of flower and foliage accom- 

 panying it, to be derived from one of the varieties of 8. 

 aculeata, Pers., a common plant in the Brisbane and other 

 districts. It was elicited, in discussion, that this Sesbania had 

 long been recognised as a source for marketable fibre, on which 

 account it had been rather extensively cultivated in India. On 

 Dr. W. Roxburgh's authority (cf, Royle's " Fibrous Plants of 

 India ") it was stated that, in the market where it commanded 

 a price of £40 per ton, this fibre bore a good character, on 

 account of its durability when exposed to the action of water. 

 Baron Mueller ("Select Plants," s. v. Seshauia) was also quoted 

 m corroboration of the views of these and other previous writers 

 on the subject. — H. T.] 



— Pekameles Bougainvillii, Q. & G. — A small bandicoot 

 closely allied to if not identical with that described by 

 Messrs. Quoy and Gaimard under this title has been re- 

 ceived from Cape York. So far as can be concluded from 

 the very brief description given by Mr. Waterhouse, the 

 Cape York animal agrees in every essential point with those 

 received by the French natumlists from Shark's Bay, West 

 Australia, and if the two be really the same, the species has a 

 pretty wide range. The noteworthy point is that one of the 

 specimens is an adult female 6.8 inches in length, with two 



