XIV, 6 King: Philippine Bast-fiber Ropes 635 
Table XXXVI. — Physical tests of rope made from .the bast of Gnetum 
sp — Continued. 
Ultimate tensile strength (wet) : 
Mean in kilograms 
217 
Maximum in kilograms 
240 
Minimum in kilograms 
205 
Mean in pounds 
478 
Maximum in pounds 
529 
Minimum in pounds 
452 
Mean ultimate tensile strength per unit area (dry) 
Kilograms per square centimeter 
773 
Pounds per square inch 
11,100 
Mean ultimate tensile strength per unit area (wet) 
Kilograms per square centimeter 
1,000 
Pounds per square inch 
14,500 
Mean elongation at instant of rupture: 
Dry (per cent) 
10 
Wet (per cent) 
12 
Mean weight per unit length: 
Grams per meter 
19.7 
Pounds per foot 
0.0132 
Average breaking length: 
Meters 
8,450 
Feet 
27,700 
Moisture (per cent) 
11.45 
BOMBACACEAE 
BOMBAX CEIBA Linn. Malabulak. 
Local names: Boboi (Tagalog) ; bobor or taroktok 
(Abra, Ilocano) 
buhui-gubat (Mindoro, Rizal) ; dQldol (Ilocano) ; kdpas, kapoi (Jolo) ; 
malabulak (Laguna, Nueva Ecija). 
A very large deciduous tree, the trunk with large pyramidal 
spines; leaves palmately compound, leaflets oblong to lanceolate, 
10 to 20 centimeters long; flowers very large, red, appearing 
before the leaves; capsules about 15 centimeters long; seeds 
hairy; throughout the Philippines at low altitudes. 
Bombax ceiba bast is orange-buff. The strips of rope procured 
for the test average 6 millimeters wide, 0.38 millimeter thick, 
and 967 millimeters long. Each strand averages ten strips 
thick. 
When dry, rope made of this fiber is medium in tensile strength 
and breaking length. Wetting diminishes its mean tensile 
strength 13 per cent. Three of the four dry, and one of the 
five wet, specimens broke in eye-splices. The maximum varia- 
tion from the mean tensile strength of the dry test pieces was 
9 per cent, and that shov/n by the wet series was 37 per cent. 
