is stated, that hats were made from them, 
which were worn by men of all classes and 
superseded the turbans formerly in use. In 
the manufacture of certain kinds of hats 
they are still employed in Canton. Ac- 
cording to the Kwang-tung Sin-yu, in the 
preparation of leaves for fans, the finest 
are selected, soaked in water for a fort- 
night, and then redried by fire heat. This 
process gives them a smooth polish; they are 
then bordered with silk or rattan fibres and 
fastened at the junction with the stalk by 
brass pegs driven through plates of shell ; 
just, indeed, as we find them at the present 
day.” 
The Chamaerops Fortuni has been intro- 
duced by its discoverer in England and is 
now also cultivated in France. It is perfect- 
ly hardy in the Southern parts of England 
and grows in the open air in the gardens of 
Cherbourg, Bordeaux &c. ( Bull. d. 1. soe. 
d’acclim duillet 1869). In Peking it is much 
cultivated, but not in the open air, the 
winter in Peking being very rigorous. 
Loureiro describes also the Chamaerops 
Cochinchinensis, as growing in Cochin Chi- 
na. I am not aware, whether this is a true 
Chamaerops or rather another Palm. 
Our European writers have often men- 
tioned in their works on China the manufac- 
turing of garments, mats, ropes &c. from 
palmfibres, but their accounts about the 
origin of these fibres present much confusion. 
Morrison ( Dictionary of the Chinese lan- 
guage ) says: the Tsung is a tree, of the bark 
of which the peasants make garments to 
defend them from the rain. Dr. Williams 
in his Middle Kingdom, I. 278, states: “The 
fan leaf palm (Rhapis) is cultivated for its 
leaves. The wiry fibres of the bracts (!) of 
the Rhapis are separated into threads and 
used largely for making ropes, cables, twine, 
brooms, hats, sandals and even dresses or 
cloaks for rainy weather. Dr. Williams’ 
Commercial guide p. 86: The most of the 
coir is made from the bark of the Hemp- 
palm ( Chamaerops ). The loose bark is 
stripped of! in large sheets from the trunk of 
the tree, and when steeped in water the 
fibres separate in short wiry threads of a 
dark brown colour. It is the material, from 
which the Chinese make mats, brooms, cord- 
age, rain cloaks &c.” 
■ Fortune states, that the raincloaks are 
made from the bracts of Chamaerops. 
Finally I find in the Bull. d. 1. soc. d’ac- 
clim 1862, No. 4, a very curious statement. 
There it is said: “a Canton il y a une espece 
de.Chanvre (!) appelee Chamaerops excelsa 
ou Hemp aloos (!) dpnt on fait le, po lo ma 
pu.” Dr. Williams ( Commercial Guide ) 
states, that the Po-lo-tna-pu is made from 
the fibres of a Corchorus. 
I am of opinion, that the textile fibres in 
question are neither obtained from the bark 
of palms, nor from the bracts of it. (“Bracts” 
is a botanical term used for the leaves placed 
immediately below a calyx and altered from 
their usual form). But, as the Chinese 
authors correctly state, the base of the leaf 
stalks (of several palms) is enveloped by a 
fibrous integument, the fibres of which are 
entangled and cross each other. These fi- 
bres seem to proceed from the base of the 
petioles. After the leaves have fallen off, 
the remains of the leafstalks and the leaf- 
sheets separate themselves in fibres and form 
the above mentioned network. This process 
I have observed myself on the specimens of 
Chamaerops, cultivated in Peking, but I am 
not acquainted, from my own observation, 
with the mode of obtaining these fibres by 
the Chinese for the purpose of manufactur- 
ing garments, ropes &c. 
5 - Wt Kuan s- lan s-' ts ^ 
Caryota species. 
P. XXXI 23, Ch. W. XXXI. 
Shi-ming . — -Explanation of names. The 
name Kuang-lang is said by Li-shi-chen to 
be derived from Kuang— smooth and 
Aaftg=Betelnut, for the tree resembles in 
appearance the Areea palm and has a smooth 
stem (or wood). The wood especially is 
called |j3j] Ku-lang -mu. The syn- 
onym yjj 1 ^ Mien-mu (flour-wood) refers 
to the meal contained in the stem, the syn- 
onyms |||f ji® Tung-tsung (solid palm) and 
iiE yfv %} e ~ mu (iron wood”') have refer- 
* This ironwood must, however, not he confounded 
with the Ironwood of Loureiro, Baryxylum rufurn, 
sinioe Tle-li-mu (Flora Cochinchinensis). Crosier (la 
Chine II 286) and Ouhalde (la Chine I p. 24) give the 
following description of it, after Loureiro and other 
missionaries: — This tree, which grows in several prov- 
inces of China, is as high as our oaks. It is remarkable, 
for its wood, which resembles iron as regards the 
colour as well as its hardness and heaviness. It can- 
not float in the water. The tree belongs to the Legu- 
minous order, has pinnate leaves, yellow flowers with 5 
petal es, 10 unequal stamens. The flowers are arranged 
in racemes, the fruit is a long pod, a little curved, 
roundish and contains several seeds. The Chinese use 
the wood as timber in all cases, where great loads musr 
be supported and a great resistance is required. It is 
from the Tie-li-mu, that the anchors of the Chinese 
ships are made. Dr. Williams in Bridgman’s Chrcst. 
p. 441 quotes the Tie-li-mu under the name of iron 
pear wood among Canton woods. But our botanists 
consider this tree, described by Loureiro under the 
name of Bqryxylum as dubious. In Bentham and 
Hooker, Cenera plant I p. 464 it is said: “ Baryxylum 
Lour, est genus valdo dubium. Description auctoris 
