412 JOURNAL R. A. S. (CEYLON). [Vol. lit. 



Udukinda the trees are blown down, and very few are to be 

 found growing there. 



Autiaris Saccidora. — A remarkable forest tree, called in 

 Sinhalese ritigaha. By an ingenious though simple process, 

 the natives prepare from the bark of this tree, material 

 tor very strong and elastic sacks for the purpose of carrying 

 paddy, &c. The trees selected for the purpose are from £ 

 to 1 foot in diameter. Large ones, sometimes measuring as 

 much as 4^ feet and more in diameter, are not so suitable. 



When a tree has been fixed upon, the stem is cut down 

 and divided into junks of the size required, and these having 

 been firmly placed on the ground, the bark is w T ell beaten 

 with a stone or club, until the parenchymatous parts, or 

 what is commonly called the cortical, comes off, leaving the 

 liber or inner bark attached to the wood, which is then 

 entirely separated from it by simply drawing it out with 

 the hand. The bark thus obtained is of a fibrous structure, 

 remarkably tough, presenting the appearance of a woven 

 fabric like that of a stocking.* No scientific description 

 of the tree found m Ceylon was published previous 

 to 1853, although it was well known to the people of 

 Badulla. 



New Material for the Manufacture of Paper. — In Eastern 

 countries paper was manufactured from indigenous fibre 

 long before it was introduced into Europe in the eleventh 

 century. According to Col. Sykes, for 2,000 years paper 

 had been made in India ; never from rags, but always 

 from fibre. Some years ago I brought to notice the mode 

 adopted by the natives of Badulla for manufacturing paper. 



When in 1853 the scarcity of rags in the European 

 markets began to be felt, I commenced my experiments 

 on various indigenous products found in the district of 

 Badulla. f 



* Vide " Observations on the Vegetable Products of Ceylon," page 20-2L 

 t Vide Journal Asiatic Society, Ceylon, 1855, p. 74-75. 



