88 
one of chloride of calcium to 248°. Chloride of sodium 
would have risen to 224 0, 3 and chloride of calcium to 286° 
had the experiment been continued, but the point was suffi- 
ciently demonstrated that by steam of 212° much higher 
temperatures can be obtained. 
“On the Natural Ropes used in packing Cotton Bales in 
the Brazils,” by Charles Bailey, Esq. 
Most of the cotton bales which reach this country from 
the Brazils are corded with the long stems of climbing 
plants, which grow in the greatest profusion in the forests 
bordering on the cotton districts. In their fresh state these 
stems are exceedingly pliant and of remarkable strength, so 
that they serve admirably for cordage purposes, but by the 
time that the cotton reaches the mills of Lancashire they 
become dry and rigid, and as no further use can be made of 
them, they are burned for firewood. Being very long, they 
are very troublesome to put on the boiler fires, and most 
mill owners are glad to get rid of them. 
These objects are invested with singular interest when 
examined in regard to their structure, for although the 
external form of many of them is extremely curious, their 
chief interest centres in their remarkable internal organiza- 
tion. Although they reach this country in immense quan- 
tities, they are not often to be met with in our museums 
or colleges ; it may be questioned whether any one of our 
public institutions possesses a complete collection of these 
stems ; certainly the names of the plants which produce 
them are for the most part unknown. 
My attention was first directed to them by Mr. Robert 
Holland of Mobberley, in a paper which he read on the 7th 
December last, to the “ Manchester Scientific Students’ Asso- 
ciation,” on “ Some peculiar forms of Exogenous Stems,” and 
to this gentleman, to Mr. Randall Alcock of Bury, to Mr. 
Alderman Thompson of Blackburn, to Mr. Richard Thomp- 
