30 TlMEHRl. 
possess good paper-making properties. Mr. CROSS 
obtained by treating the raw material, 31 per cent, of a 
well bleached, clean, tough fibre. So low a yield how- 
ever is to be regarded as prohibitory, a yield of 50 to 60 
per cent, being necessary before a fair price could be 
realized in Europe. Paper from Banana was shewn to the 
members of the R. A. & C. Society and this, among 
other qualities, could be written on without being sized. 
The fibre of the silk-cotton (Eriodendron infrattuosum) 
was exhibited from several colonies besides British 
Guiana, and some remarks, on it have been already 
laid before the Royal Agricultural and Commer- 
cial Society. It differs in stru6lure from true cotton ; 
the latter is always somewhat flattened, and possesses a 
natural twist peculiar to itself, while silk-cotton fibres are 
straight cylindrical tubes. Silk-cotton has a peculiar 
absorbent quality, which may adapt it for surgical dres- 
ings. At present, its chief use appears to be for bedding 
for which purpose it is well adapted. 
The basts from this colony, of which two typical 
specimens, Enouroo and Kokoyoko, were analysed by 
Mr. CROSS, gave results shewing them to be valueless. 
Rhea grass is more likely to be a profitable subje6l for 
cultivation here than any fibre-plants we possess, and a 
large number of pamphlets about it have been distributed 
in this colony. In hemp substitutes and " unenumerated 
fibres," the West Indies now play an inferior part, but 
Mr. CROSS thinks that a large proportion of this com- 
merce can be wrested by them from those now holding it. 
The commercial issue as to the value of afibre-produ6l 
entirely depends on the cost of putting down the treated 
material at the several ports, in a condition which 
