Colonial Exhibition, 1886. 29 
63 to 76 per cent, and the length of fibre from 2-8 mm. 
to 8-15 mm. 
There are other fibres than the above which are 
used in textile manufafture, but these are unavailable 
for that purpose, and require to be broken up by chemi- 
cal action in order to serve the purposes of the paper- 
maker. Bamboo, straw and Esparto are entire 
stems or leaves of monocotyledonous plants, and are 
treated by boiling at high temperatures, for separation 
of fibrous portions, by washing and by bleaching. 
Mr. CROSS refers, for details of the various chemical 
methods employed, to a paper in the Chemical Society's 
Journal for 1883. Much information is also to be found 
in Mr. CHRISTY'S " New Commercial plants and drugs" 
No. vi. " Spon'S Encyclopaedia of the Industrial Arts 
1 881," but the report made by Mr. CROSS to the Indian 
Government will, when accessible, be of the greatest 
value to this and other colonies. 
The real value of the fibres of the West Indies, (with 
which Mr. CROSS includes those of Guiana), will be more 
appreciated when this work is published. No fibre exhi- 
bited by British Guiana appears to have presented any 
qualities greatly superior to those possessed by other and 
better known products. Megass from the sugar-cane has 
been considered worthy of attention as a paper material, 
and some machinery was ereCted in this colony for its 
conversion into n half stuff," but Mr. CROSS declares it 
to be inferior to that yielded by bamboo, and not to be 
recommended to paper-makers. He doubts whether 
by any process it could be converted into a useful paper- 
making material at a reasonable cost. 
Banana fibres are of fair length, and have been proved to 
