mA8% CLOTH PLANT. 



75 



|>oi?&ess a strcngtlicuiiig (|uality ; the seeil vessel 

 to ciire tiie cdifo, fej0iEtat9 jtarliirition, and to 



The ^1 nicIftA htfpiHjwa, or ground nuts, are sold 

 ill p:reat ahuudiiuce in tlu; l)azaar?, and al)Out 

 the streets of Macao and Cautau, and are much 

 cateii by the Chinese, ^Im iiso ^3dxaet an oil from 

 the seeds hs ft of pxtp&s&&, 



Mr. Beate i)rcsoiited me with drawiiii^'s by a 

 Chinese artist, ol'the phmts from which tlie pith, 

 used in the mauufactiire of that kiud of paper 

 l^nom to Europeans under tlie denomination of 

 me-ffiper, and tliat frdm wMcIi the fibte used 



in tlie manufaetiire of the f/rass-cloth is pro- 

 cured, I suspect that the fibre nsed for the 

 Manilla senimaya, or grass-cloth, is not i)ro- 

 duced from the Musa texiiUsy as is comiiionly 

 opposed, whieh point has not, tdthongh often 

 asserted by writers, hi en actually decided ; it is 

 more prohahly ]>rodiiced from a phint similadc to 

 tlnit used by the Chinese, which is CoTckofUs^ 

 proljably caps h lans. 



The fbllowiug engraving is froltt €b^^ Chiocse 

 drawing. 



The pith plant is procnred fifom Oan, naam, 

 near the pro%-inre of See, dinen, [ind is 

 named, in the hmgnage of the country, Tooinj^ 

 * AW'^s CMua, 4 to. pp. 121, 122* 



