Fibres. 



376 



Swallow-wort bush. The four-fold usefulness of this plant, which is a common weed 

 throughout India in general and in parts of this Presidency in particular, forms the 

 subject of a most interesting Note by Sir George Watt in the latest issue of the 

 Kew Bulletin. Three varieties of Calotropis are known to botanists, C. ffigantea, 

 C.procera and C acia. The last mentioned is by no means common ; the other two 

 can be easily distinguished one from another, but from a practical point of view 

 their properties are identical. 



The four uses of Calotropis are (1) gutta pereha made from the milky sap ; 

 (2) a strong fibre from the bark ; (3) a useful floss from the seeds ; and (4; a medicine 

 from the root bark. Inasmuch as this plant is found thriving on large tracts of the 

 sandy deserts of Rajputana and of Central India and Sind, and in many instances 

 has been observed to be the pioneer in the reclamation of sterile tracts, Sir George 

 Watt considers that, if a demand could be originated for any one, or all collectively, 

 of the products of the plant, much good might result to India. He does not, how- 

 ever, think that it would pay to tap the plant specially for its gutta, unless some 

 method could be designed for extracting the milk from shoots cut on account of their 

 fibre, the stems and twigs being too small and the yield from each too little to 

 justify the opinion that methodic tapping would prove remunerative as an industry 

 by itself. Moreover, it has been found by chemical experiments that Calotropis 

 gutta, being a fairly good conductor of electricity, is not suited for electrical 

 purposes, and is thus very possibly debarred from one of the most profitable markets 

 for this class of product. The fibre it yields is, however, one of the best— the only 

 difficulty being to separate it rapidly and cheaply. 



Among the drawbacks to the use of the fibre are (1 ) the small percentage of 

 fibre (from 1'56 to 2'6 per cent.) to weight of stems and the shortness of the ultimate 

 fibre which usually extends only from joint to joint, i. e. about 1 ft. An acre of 

 ground planted with it 4 x 4 ft. apart yielded 10 tons of green stems and 582 lbs. of 

 fibre, which is described as having many of the qualities of flax, though it is some- 

 what finer, and of being when nitrated hardly distinguishable from silk. Its fineness, 

 tenacity, lustre and softness in face fit it for many industrial purposes, and it has 

 been suggested that it would be a valuable paper material. A rope of this fibre was 

 found to break with a weight of 407 lbs., when a similar rope of cotton gave way 

 with 346 lbs., and another of coir with 254 lbs. When made into fishing lines and 

 nets, as is done at Karachi, the cleaned fibre seems both durable and strong especially 

 when used in sea water. 



The floss round the seeds is very white aud beautifully silky. Though the 

 staple is said to be short and too light for existing machinery, it has been repeatedly 

 spun in Europe experimentally and the textile produced has been much admired. 

 In India the floss is largely used for stuffing quilts, its lightness being of great 

 advantage, and pillows and cushions stuffed with it are said to be very cool and 

 refreshing. It is also to some extent regularly spun and made into fishing nets and 

 lines. Sir George Watt believes that a few centuries ago this fibre was regularly 

 spun aud woven into some of the most beautiful textiles for which India was then 

 famous ; but if this is so it certainly is most surprising that this aucient industry 

 should have completely died out. As to the use of Calotropis as a mediciue Sir 

 George Watt says that it would take many pages to indicate even a tithe of the 

 information that exists on the varied medicinal properties of the milk, the flowers, 

 the leaves and the root-bark. In order to verify some of the many opinions ex- 

 pressed, the study of madar was taken up some years ago by the Central Indigenous 

 Drugs Committee of India. The results of these enquiries showed that its use in 

 acute dysentery and chronic diarrhoea was undesirable, but as an emetic the powder 

 was found very effectual ; and it was considered that it might be combined with 

 cinchona with advantage in the treatment of certain fevers.— Madr as Mail. 



