Bombax Ceiba—Silk-cotton.—A native of British Guiana, the W. Indies, and other portions of the western world. The seed capsules contain a silky down, used for stuffing purposes, and occasionally for making hats and bonnets.
B. malabaricum is indigenous to the E. Indies. The seed-down is locally used for stuffing purposes, and is suggested for conversion into paper, and for guncotton. Its elasticity and short ness of staple preclude its being spun on cotton machinery. It has, however, been successfully spun and woven ; and has been felted for hat-making ; but does not make a durable fabric. B. villosum: in Mexico ; the purple down of this plant is spun and woven into cloth, which retains its natural colour. Other species are B. hibiscifolium, in Venezuela, B. munguba, B. carolinum, B. pentandrum, all affording cotton-like fibres.
Other silk-cottons are described under Eriodendron, Chorisia, and Ochroma.
Borassus fiabelliformis—Palmyra palm.—Endogen ; tree, 30-40 ft. Most extensively distributed throughout India, especially near the coasts ; seems to thrive equally well in almost all soils and situations. The leaves of the tree have for ages been used as a local substitute for writing-paper. The petioles of the fronds yield a fibre about 2 ft. in length, strong and wiry ; they are employed on the Madras side for making twine and small rope. In Bengal, they are scarcely used for any economic purpose, and the trees are there scattered too widely apart to enable the fibres to be collected at a low cost. Near the base of the leaves, occurs a fine down, need for straining liquids, and for staunching wounds.
Bromelia sp. The fibre yielded by the leaves of B. Pigna (Pinguin), a native of the Philippines, is woven into a most delicate textile fabric, known as "pigna cloth," from which the celebrated Manilla handkerchiefs are made. The cultivation of this plant offers great inducements. The same may be said also of B. sagenaria, known in Brazil as Curratow, or Grawatha.
Broussonetia ; tree. A native of the Pacifio Islands, Burma, China, and Japan, perhaps only truly indigenous to the last-named. It has been recommended for oultnre in Victoria. It is a good coppicing plant, and may be propagated from
cuttings. In Japan, it is very largely cultivated, after the manner adopted with osier beds.
A section of the bark is seen in Fig. 649 ; this shows two distinct layers of fibre : under the epidermis e, is a thick bed of parenchyma, full of green matter: then comes a stratum of coarse, solid fibres!, of very irregu lar form, sometimes having a large central channel, sometimes scarcely percep tible. These fibres are dis posed in easily separated groups, divided by bands of parenchyma filled with chlorophyl. Within this belt, is a thin zone of par enchyma filled with green matter ; then follow other groups of fibres f, smaller and less brilliant than the preceding. All the fibres are coloured blue by test H; c ie the cambium ; b, the woody fibre; mhg.,100. Thediman eons of the fibres aro : max. length, 0'984 in.; mean, 0.59 in.; mean dia meter, 0.00075 in. In some of the Pacific Islands, this fibre is converted into fine white textile fabrios, which can be dressed with linseed oil, and then become quite waterproof. A more important use of the fibre is for paper-making, to which pur pose it has been applied for ages pest in Japan. With this object, the young shoots are cut down after the leaves have fallen, in December, and are boiled till the separation of the bark exposes the naked wood, from which latter the bark is easily removed by a longitudinal out. The removed bark is dried, and soaked in water for a few hours, after which the outer cuticle and the internal green layer are scraped off; boiling in a lye of wood-ashes is continued till the fibres can be separated by a touch. The pulpy mess is then agitated in water, and beaten into a pulp, with a little mucilage from boiled rice. The paper produced is of excellent quality. The extensive cultivation of the plant in Burma is worthy of attention. Its leaves can be used as silk-worm food, and the bark of the shoots, which are periodically cut down to afford constant supplies of young leaves, produces very satisfactory half-stuff.