366 
Supplement fo the " Tropical Agriculturist." [Nov. 1, 1899. 
been suggested that a series of uotes giving in- 
formation vritli reference to these articles might 
prove of intsrest to our readers, thougli it will 
no doubt be found that a number of them are 
familiar enough to some persons though but little 
known to others and vice versa. 
At present the collection received for trans- 
mission to Paris is not a very large one, but still 
there are a few exhibits which appear to be 
more or less unfamiliar to visitors, and about 
which the following notes will give them some 
information : — 
The birds which construct the edible nests are 
found chiefly on the Pigeon Islands (North 
Cinara), Vingorla Eoek, and Sacrific Kocks, on 
the coast of Mai wan (Eatnagiri District), at Tavoy 
and Mergui, and in the Andaman and Kicobar 
Islands, O. nidifica is known also to occasionally 
visit Darjeeling, Assam, and the Nilgiri Hills, 
and to breed on most of the islands on the coast 
of the Malabar and the Concan round the Bay of 
Bengal to the Burmese Cjast and the Malay 
Peninsula. C. linchi is the principal species of 
Java, known locally as tintye. In most of tlie 
regions where these birds are found, thei'e are 
caves which aiford shelter and protection. These 
caves occur chiefly in limestone formations, atid 
ore often several miles from the coast ; at other 
times they have to be entered by boats, 
Mr. Portman, in his report of the Andaman 
Island Edible Birds' Nests, says:— "I have ob- 
served two kinds of swallows, both of which 
build in the caves. The larger bird has more 
•white in his i^lumage, and builds a nest of twigs 
and grass, &c., glued together, and attached to 
the rock by a peculiar mucilaginous matter. 
The smaller bird builds a nest of white mucila- 
ginous matter entirely, and it is this nest which 
is so much sought after. The nest is built in the 
form of a small bracket attached to the side or 
end of the cave, of a semi-circular form, with a 
radius of about 1^ inches, and regarding the 
matter of which it is composed opinions differ." 
" In Borneo, from which country China obtains 
the majority of her birds' nests, the better 
qualities of nests are found in caves in the 
interior in crystalline limestone rock, only an 
inferior quality of nests being found on the 
seashore. These remarks apply equally to the 
Andamans ; and I have no doubt that when the 
interior of the islands is explored, many more 
nest-yielding caves will be found. All our present 
knowledge is derived from the Malays, who, 
through fear of the Andamanese, did not dare to 
search the interior. The explorations should be 
confined to hilly country, where the crystalline 
limestone formation predominates. 
The greatest difference of opinion prevails re- 
garding the nature of the material of which the 
nests are formed. Early writers used to contend 
that they were made of a sea-weed which tlie 
bird collected for the purpose and chemically 
changed in some mysterious way. Ure (Arts, 
Manufacture?, and Mines) says : " The nests are 
made of a particular species of sea-weed which 
the bird macerates and bruises liefore it employs 
the material in layers so as to form the whitish 
gelatinous cup-shaped nests so much prized as 
restoratives and delicacies by the Chinese, On 
the other hand, many recent writers discredit this 
theory and believe that tJie gelatinous material is 
either the natural saliva of the bird or a substance 
brouf,'ht up from the stomach for the purpose and 
derived from tiie natural food of tlie nest, viz,, 
insects, in support of this opinion they point out 
that the better qualities of the nests are found in 
caves far removed from the sea. Some of the 
nesting caves of Borneo are 140 miles from the 
sea. Mr. de Eoepstorff points out that there are 
no edible nests in the Nicobar Settlement, but a 
few miles off in a richer tract of countrj' where 
insect life abounds they are plentiful, " It is 
thus," he says, "in places where the food of the 
swallow is plentiful, that they exist under the 
most favourable circumstances, and where the 
nests are best." In the Eatnagiri District 
Gazetteer it is stated " the swiftlets breed in 
March and April, in caverns of the rocks, the 
nests being made of inspissated saliva, in the 
form of white gelatine, pure white when fresh, 
but when old brownish and mixed with extraneous 
substances." Mr. Portmon remarks : "The 
swjillow is supposed by some to make this matter, 
which resembles isinglass, from a species of 
sea-weed (fucus) resembling Carragen, an Iceland 
moss. I have often seen this sea-weed, but have 
never seen the birds on the sea-shore gathering it. 
Another theory is that the bird excretes this 
matter from his own throat during the breeding 
season." 1 am unable to give any decided opinion 
in the matter, but the natives have a theory that 
the birds bring it down from the sun." 
{To be continued.) 
PEINCIPAL FIBRES USED COMMEECIALLY. 
By Dr. Ghs. Eichabd Dodge. 
Of the two dnzen species of commercial fibres used 
in the United States, twenty figure in the list of 
imported raw products. Taking into account, also, 
the imported manufactures from fibrous sub.-tances 
and some of the rougher manufactures from fibres 
or fibrous substances produced at home, the com- 
plete list of American commercial fibres may be 
swelled to thirty sptcies, many of these being un- 
important. There are six bast fibres, as follows : — 
FlsLK, Linmn usitalissitnum, China. Grass, Boehmena 
nivea (including Khea, B. tenacissima) ; hemp, 
Cannabis sativa ; jute, Corclwrus capsularis and C, 
olitorius ; Sunn hemp, Crotalaria juncea, and 
Cuba bast. Hibiscus teliaceus; all excepting the 
last being spinning fibres, the Cuba bast finding 
employment in millinery. There are two surface 
fibres: Cotton, Gossypiuyn spp., and RafBa, Raphia 
ruffia. The list of structural fibres numbers 15, 
representing Agaves, palms, and grasses, as follows : 
Sisal hemp. Agave rigida (varieties) ; Manila hemp, 
Musa textilis ; Mauritius, Furcroya gigantea, and 
New Zealand flax, Bhormium tenax, cordage fibres ; 
Tampico, or Istle, Agave hetera cantha ; Bahia 
pinssaba, Attalea funifera; Para piassaba, 
Leopoldinia piass-aba , Mexican whisk, or Brown 
root, Epicampes macronra, and Cabbage palmetto, 
SabaVpalmetto, brush fibres ; Crin vegetal, Chamae, 
rops humilis ; Spani:~h moss, Tillandsia usneoides. 
Saw palmetto, Serenoa serrulata ; Coconut fibre, 
Cocos nucifera, upholstery and matting fibres ; 
