265 



BANANA FIBRE. 



In the Bulletin of 1907 (Vol. vi p. 420) a simple fibre machine in- 

 vented by M. Duchemin for dealing with banana and other fibres was 

 described and figured. The inventor who has been making investiga- 

 tions into the fibres of French Indo-China, has recently passed through 

 Singapore on his return to France with samples of the results of his 

 work, with the Delibrateur. He has devoted some time to the fibre 

 from the sheaths of the common eating banana, and has produced an 

 excellent and clean fibre from the form known here as Pisang Batu, 

 one of the varieties of Musa sapientum which produces seeds, and a 

 finer and more silky fibre from the " Chinese banana " (probably Musa 

 cavendesliii). The fibre of this latter is a good deal shorter than that 

 of the common banana, as the stem is much shorter. The stems are 

 first crushed and allowed to ferment for some days, than subjected to 

 the Defibrateur and washed. 



From this fibre in combination with local grown cotton a very 

 strong and useful cloth was made, which took dyes very well. The 

 whole of the work was effected by natives, from the preparation of the 

 fibre to the weaving of the cloth and the results were excellent. A 

 cloth of banana fibre and silk was also made and of sanseviera fibre 

 and cotton. 



M. Duchemin pointed out that nothing was lost of the banana 

 stem by taking out the fibre, for the pulp and waste could be used to 

 feed pigs with after the fibre was extracted just as well as before. For 

 as in Singapore the natives of Annam use the sterns of the banana as 

 pig food. 



In a country like ours where there are great numbers of banana 

 stems available, and simply running to waste, it would certainly be 

 worth while to utilise this fibre which could be prepared at little cost, 

 and if not perhaps the finest fibre in the world is a good and useful 

 one for strong and cheap cloths. 



H. N. R. 



ANOTHER COCONUT BEETLE. 



While examining the shoots of coconut palms on an estate in 

 Singapore, where the black beetle oryctes rhinoceros had proved very 

 destructive, specimens of another beetle of quite a different group of the 

 order were found in tunnels made by the rhinoceros beetle in the palm 

 bud. These were large beetles belonging to the group of Elatcridac 

 popularly known as click-beetles. The insect is an inch and a half 

 long, and half an inch across the shoulders of the elytra. The head 

 is rather large, the thorax square, and the wing-cases widest at the top 

 and tapering towards the tip of the body. The whole insect is blackish 

 brown, covered with short appressed yellow hairs, easily rubbed off. 

 The wing-cases are marked with lines of impressed dots towards the 

 tip. The abdomen was black and covered with the short hairs like 

 the upper surface. The legs golden hairy and the rather slender 

 antennae dull red brown and hairless. On the under side of the thorax 

 projects towards the abdomen a long peg, which fits into a notch in 



