XIV, 6 King: Philippine Bast-fiber Ropes 585 
young shoots cut before the blossoms appeared, and no gain in 
strength for the wetted line made from the bast obtained from 
old ligneous plants that had ripened their seed. The test spec- 
imens, which were apparently suspended at one end, had a 
length of 4 feet and were ruptured by the addition of weights ; 
no mention is made of the rate of increment of load, the period 
of immersion, the kind of water used, the diameter or circum- 
ference of the test specimens, how the lines were made, or the 
percentage elongation. Consequently these tensile-strength data 
cannot be compared with those obtained in this investigation. 
Roxburgh’s data as published by Royle are in the following 
form; I have omitted the results given for twenty-seven lines 
made from other species: 
Comparative strength of Fibres, both dry and wet, ascertained by weights 
suspended to four-feet lengths of the several lines. 
No. 
NAMES OF THE PLANTS, 
And brief Remarks on the various Materials employed in 
these Experiments. 
Average 
weight 
each line 
broke 
when 
dry. 
Average 
weight 
each line 
broke 
when 
wet. 
Average 
of 1 
weight ] 
gained | 
by wet- 
ting the 
lines. 
15 
Abroma augrusta, young shoots cut before the blossoms ap- 
100 
112 
12 
16 
The same, from old ligneous plants, that had ripened their 
121 
121 
0 
A summary of the tests made in the Bureau of Science is 
given in Table VIII. 
COM M ERSON 1 A BARTRAMIA (Linn.) Merr. Kakaag. 
Local names: A.nitap (Itneg, Benguet) ; kakaag (Ilocano, Bengnet). 
A small tree with heart-shaped, softly pubescent leaves; ter- 
minal panicles of small white flowers, the capsules five-valved, 
globose, densely covered with slender, hairy, soft processes; 
throughout the Philippines at low altitudes. 
The color of the crude Commersonia bartramia bast strips 
constituting the sample of cordage examined varies from a light 
ochraceous salmon to a warm buff. Each strand averages five 
bast strips in thickness, the strips varying in width from 4 
to 10 millimeters and in thickness from 0.28 to 0.74 millimeter. 
The results of the tensile-strength tests of five dry specimens 
show medium tenacity although in poor agreement, with a maxi- 
mum variation of 20 per cent from the mean. Four of the test 
pieces ruptured in eye-splices. 
Loc. cit. 
