REVIEWS. 
257 
Undeveloped substances afford a still wider and more important field ; 
for every new and untried product comes, of course, under this denomina- 
tion. Researches are being- constantly made, in order to find substances 
which may contain qualities similar to those already known, but which 
may be rare and costly. This inquiry opens a new world in which an 
endless variety of products offer themselves, first as luxuries, but finally as 
necessities. 
Mr. Simmonds’sbook is especially interesting on this sirbject, and many 
of his suggestions are of easy application. 
A great variety of substances have been developed as substitutes for 
sugar ; and we need scarcely refer to the substitutes for cotton. Fibres of 
every description have been suggested, one of the latest being the delicate 
fibre of the Zostera marina; but all proposed substitutes appear to possess 
three difficulties — short supply, increased cost of manufacture, and inade- 
quate result. The substitutes for tea are very numerous, and many of 
them somewhat peculiar. We need not specially refer to sloe-leaves, and 
Mr. Simmonds gives us the satisfactory assurance, “ that the great bulk of 
the tea imported into this country for the last ten years has been unadul- 
terated.” Upwards of ninety-eight different plants have been cultivated 
in various parts of the world as substitutes for tea. 
The products of the Palmacece have never yet been fully developed. In 
its fruits, nuts, oils, fibres, sugar, spirit, woods, flour, wax, canes, &c., we 
have a most wonderful variety ; but this family contains materials, the 
qualities of which are not known. It is only of late years that the kernel 
of the palm-oil nut, Elceis Guineensis, has been crushed for the sake of its 
oil, and this oil now realizes a higher price than that of the fruit. The 
kernel of the Cohune-nut, Attalea Cohune, produces a most brilliant oil, and 
a series of experiments have lately been tried with it. The Palms produce 
many fibres which have not yet been tested. A most beautiful specimen 
was shown in the Exhibition, — so fine in its character, that it looked like 
human hair. 
Mr. Simmonds draws attention to new edible roots, and mentions a large 
variety. Amongst others, the root-stocks of the Arrowhead, so common in 
our streams ; the roots of various species of the Arum ; the bulbous roots 
of the Star of Bethlehem. In Germany, the roots of the dandelion are 
consumed. The pig-nut, Bunium flexuosum, is well known in England, 
and might be made an important article of food. The tubers of a species 
of Oxalis have been imported from Peru, and found equal in quality to the 
potato ; and the Journal de Chamber y, quoted by Mr. Simmonds, states, 
that the bitter principle in the dahlia can be removed by boiling, and that 
the root can be used as a substitute for the potato. 
Fibres and their substitutes have a chapter to themselves. The beautiful 
silk cotton of the West Indies has not been employed for weaving pur- 
poses, on account of the want of staple. In America it is used in the 
manufacture of hats. Very beautiful fibres have been obtained from the 
leaves of the pine-apple and stems of the banana. The aloe, of Mexico, 
now supplies a very important material, known as Mexican Fibre, and 
largely used in making into brushes, imitation horsehair, &c. 
The substitutes for rags in the manufacture of paper form a most curious 
