An Account of the Phormium Tenax, or New Zealand Flax

John Murray

First published by H. Renshaw in 1836

Digitised and made available online by the University of Auckland Libraries and Learning Services and Auckland War Memorial Museum.

Epub © 2016 Early New Zealand Books Collection

ISBN 978-1-98-851309-6

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PHORMIUM TENAX,
OR
New Zealand Flax.

AN ACCOUNT
OF
THE PHORMIUM TENAX;
NEW-ZEALAND FLAX.

PRINTED ON PAPER, MADE FROM ITS LEAVES.
WITH
A POSTSCRIPT ON PAPER.

BY JOHN MURRAY ; F.S.A., F.L.S., &c.

LONDON:
HENRY RENSHAW, 356, STRAND.
1836.

SHORTLY WILL BE PUBLISHED

BY THE SAME AUTHOR,

A DESCRIPTION OF

IMPROVEMENTS

ON THE

LIFE-BOAT;

ALSO,

AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR SAVING FROM SHIPWRECK:

WITH EXPLANATORY AND ILLUSTRATIVE WOODCUTS

[DEDICATION]

TO

THE RIGHT HONORABLE

LORD JOHN RUSSELL,

SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT, &c. &c.

MY LORD,

In inscribing this pamphlet to your Lordship, I am anxious to solicit, through you, the attention of His Majesty's Government to the two-fold interest it involves; namely, the importation of Phormium tenax from New-Zealand, combined with its cultivation in our Colonies and Islands; and, 'last, not least,' the fatal condition of modern Paper.

I have the honor to be,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's obedient

Humble Servant,

THE AUTHOR.

Hull, lst August, 1836

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[INTRODUCTION]

INTRODUCTION.

I trust the two important questions to which public attention has been summoned in these pages, require neither apology nor comment; one of them indeed, will eventually, and that too at no distant period, be disappointment, if not ruin, to thousands, if now overlooked or neglected.

By means of the free and unrestricted importation of Phormium tenax, sanctioned and encouraged by the British government, there would be developed a more direct intercourse with the natives of New-Zealand, and with it, a medium for securing to them on a firm and permanent basis the blessings of religion; and civilization and its attendant immunities would follow in her train. From hence would reciprocate through various channels, advantages to commercial enterprize of the most important kind.

The cultivation of the Phormium tenax within the confines of Great Britain and its dependencies; or, the Colonies and Islands belonging to the British Empire, seems to me, at least, a question of no little moment, or trifling import. A period may arrive, and that too at no distant date, when a substitute for RUSSIAN HEMP may become a desideratum of paramount importance in the policy of this country. "During the war," observes Captain Harris, R. N., "one only, out of our four Royal Rope Yards, paid eleven millions sterling, in fourteen years, to Russia for hemp. This enormous expenditure by Great Britain," continues this patriotic and gallant officer, in reference to the cultivation of Phormium tenax, "for the exclusive benefit of foreign

powers, is surely unwise and evil policy, when I am prepared to prove that so vast a commerce may be thrown into Ireland, our Settlements and Colonies; and that thousands of the population of Ireland, the coast of Africa, the East and West Indies, and the Canadas, might be advantageously, employed to render the mother country independent for the supply of those substances."

I am no visionary, but a plain practical man; and, of course, the sophistry which mingles in the sentiments of the author of "Britain independent of Commerce," – refuted as they are by the test of experience, possess no charms sufficient to make mo a convert to the startling doctrine it propounds. This salvo being frankly admitted, it must nevertheless be allowed that there were items in the policy of NAPOLEON worthy of consideration, –

"Fas est ab hoste doceri."

In illustration Of my position, I may refer to the encouragement given to the cultivation of beet-root, for the extinction of sugar, in the climate of France. RUSSIA is at this moment copying the exemplar; and PRUSSIA is also in good earnest adopting the measure. Far be it from me to anticipate the evil day but a remedy in reversion, to meet possible contingencies, may be highly salutary, and cannot be injurious.

The condition of MODERN PAPER, as to its stability and permanence, is, beyond all doubt, a question of the most important kind; because in it are implicated the deepest and dearest interests of the common weal. In 1823, I brought the subject fully before the public, and for a time, – 'Eheu! fugaciter!' – the evil was checked. It is now WORSE THAN EVER, and threatens to sweep away, as with the 'besom of destruction,' all our modern books and manuscripts. – "CHARTA PERIT" is the too emphatic motto that may be written over every one of them.

The, public seem to be almost 'judicially blind' to the fate that awaits them; or, it may be that the evil is considered remediless and hopeless, and I freely confess, I think so;

unless the British Senate shall interpose its authority, and say – 'hitherto, and no farther.' I am gratified to believe that government has listened to the advice I tendered in 1823, and has, if I am not much mistaken, ever since acted on my recommendation.

The reckless competition in the paper market is our bane, and must be checked by some means. By a false and vitiated estimate of economy, QUANTITY, altogether irrespective of the QUALITY of the material, is the order of the day; and in the majority of cases, 'paper' is a complete misnomer for the article imposed on the public as such. For many ephemeral writings something less than an ab fresco duration may well suffice; but there is much in MS. which their authors, in the language of Milton, "would not willingly allow to die;" and I fear the easy multiplication of copies by the printing-press, might be pleaded with indifferent success, where costly tomes, and costlier libraries, the accumulation of years, have been obtained at no inconsiderable expense.

AN ACCOUNT, &c.

AN ACCOUNT, &c.

THE plant represented in the figure was first, if I mistake not, noticed as a native of New-Zealand, by that enterprising circumnavigator, Captain James Cook, R.N., F.R.S., in a letter to Mr. Walker, of Whitby, dated 13th September, 1771; and he thus incidentally alludes to it. "The country produceth a grass plant like flags, of the nature of Hemp or Flax, but superior in quality to either; of this the natives make clothing, lines, nets, &c.

The Phormium tenax, or New-Zealand flax, has, since that period, been more particularly examined and described by Rutherford, Bennet, and others. The generic name of Phormium is derived from the Greek φορμοσ, a basket descriptive of the use to which it is sometimes applied by the natives; while its specific appellative seems to be characteristic of the tenacity of the fibre. There are two kinds of this plant, and they certainly appear to be sufficiently marked to merit the recognition of different species. In one of these species, the flowers are smaller and their aggregations more numerous than in the other. In the one, moreover, the colour of the flower is yellow, while in the other it is deep red.

Captain Cook observes that the Phormium tenax grows everywhere near the sea in the vicinity of Queen Charlotte Sound, in the south of the Island, and in some places to a considerable height in the hills, in branches or tufts with sedge-like leaves, and bearing on a long stalk, yellowish flowers, followed by roundish pods, filled with very thin plates, or shining black seeds. Mr. Nicholas saw it in the northern parts of the Island, flourishing equally luxuriantly in the most exposed as in the more sheltered places, and growing from five to seven feet high. Seven varieties have been found in New-Zealand: one variety is remarkable, for the extreme facility

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with which the enticle is separated, and another kind found in more southern parts is distinguished for its softness and silky lustre.

It does not appear that this plant is exclusively confined to New-Zealand, since it was subsequently discovered wild, in considerable tufts, along the cliffs of Norfolk-Isle, within the influence of the sea-spray, by Captain Cook, in his second voyage to the southern hemisphere.

According to Mr. George Bennet, F.L.S. it is called by the natives Koradi, and seems to be indigenous to the soil of New-Zealand; it is there considered sacred, and from a remark made by Captain Cook, appears to have been used, on one occasion, at least as the symbol of peace and amity. Though it has been reported as found in moist and marshy soil, Mr. Bennet has seen it growing on the sides of the hills. Agreeable to a letter now before me, "The Phormium tenax flourishes best in low marshy situations, although it will grow on the high rocky soils. It appears to be a very hardy plant, and capable of being cultivated in almost any soil, but certainly a low marshy situation brings it to its greatest magnitude."

The Phormium tenax succeeds very well with me in Scotland in a light sandy soil, exposed to the sea breeze; – peculiarities, which seem to verify the circumstances under which it has been reported to occur in Norfolk-Isle; and it is sometimes met with in New-Zealand, on the slopes of the mountains; where it may reasonably be supposed, the soil is more coarse and friable, than in the plains.

In general appearance the Phormium tenax somewhat resembles. the flag or 'seg' of our meadows and marshes, the Iris pseudacorus 1 of botanists; it is, however, taller and more luxuriant, and the foliage altogether of a more erect and graceful port. The leaves are glossy, and of a beautiful green colour, being varnished on their superior surface. The proper period of maturity is indicated by a slit or rent at the tip of each leaf. According to Mr. Bennet, the leaves of the plant, in its native clime, attain a length of from five to seven feet, and the flower-stalk rises four or five feet above

them, bearing a profusion of flowers, succeeded by triangular seed-vessels. A packet of the seed from New-Zealand was some time ago presented to me, and I distributed parcels of it for cultivation to several persons. I am not informed of the success which had followed their attempts to rear it, but the friend from whom I obtained it, writes me that he has seen some fine plants in the gardens at Powis Castle, raised from this seed by Lord Clive's gardener. 2 The seeds were first forced in the hot-house, and afterwards transferred to the open ground. The seed of the Phormium tenax is intensely black and shining; winged, and so thin, as to seem little more than a mere lamina or plate; or membraneous expansion.

Captain Cook, in his letter to Commodore Wilson, dated 22d June, 1776, says, "I am sorry I cannot furnish you with some New-Zealand flax seed, having not one grain left. Indeed I brought hardly one home with me, but left the most of what I had at the Cape, to try to cultivate it there; for of all that was brought home, in my former voyage, I have not heard of a single grain vegetating. It is much to be feared that this fine plant will NEVER BE REARED IN ENGLAND! Strange things, however, have come to pass in our days, and what would this intrepid navigator have said now, when the Phormium tenax is even successfully reared in Scotland, unsheltered by wall or 'bield,' braving the rigorous clime, and sustaining the sea breeze of North Britain; and flourishing as luxuriantly as at 'Norfolk-Isle,' his own discovery in another hemisphere. The time, however, is at length come, when a description of this fine plant is printed on paper manufactured from its leaves, promising a papyraceous material more permanent in its duration than any other. The pious missionary has already erected a printing-press in New-Zealand; and, hereafter, paper made from a native plant may be the means of facilitating the dispersion of the blessings of Revelation among the people in the multiplication of transcripts of the sacred volume, in their own tongue, printed on their natal soil.

Hitherto the Phormium tenax has been almost exclusively the imprisoned inmate of the green-house or conservatory; though I have seen specimens that have been fully exposed both in England and Ireland; at Powis Castle and at Wentworth House, it has

hitherto been reared under glass. When in Dublin, some years ago, I was informed that a plant of New-Zealand flax fell a victim to the brumal blast in the Royal Botanic Garden there, though protected by the fostering shelter of a wall. It may, however, be reasonably doubted whether such a site was a judicious one; as vegetation is thereby rendered more susceptible. Walls may shelter from winds, but afford no security whatever against the influence of radiation, and the nursling of the wall perishes, a victim of the abrupt transition from reflected adventitious beat, to the chilling effects arising from evaporation and radiation. On the west coast of Scotland, I have successfully cultivated the Phormium tenax, along the verge of the sea, and the plants have already withstood the ordeal of seven winters, without the slightest protection whatever. I am not aware that it has been cultivated in the open ground in Scotland by any other individual. It is reared in the Botanic Gardens of Edinburgh and Glasgow, and there is a plant of it in Dr. Neill's garden at Canonmills, near the Scottish metropolis, but I believe all in the hothouses. I presented to the natural history section of the "British Association for the Promotion of Science," assembled at Edinburgh, in September, 1834, specimens of the leaves of these plants nearly SEVEN feet long, and more than four inches in their greatest diameter. 3 Two of my plants were each nearly four yards in circumference. The icy breath of winter seems to make no impression on them; indeed the Phormium tenax appears to be singularly tenaceous of life, and susceptible of resisting opposite extremes of temperature. Some years ago, an extensive conflagration in the Jardin des plantes, at Paris, destroyed several conservatories, and their botanical inmates. Among these exotics, there was a plant of Phormium tenax which shared the common fate, and seemed reduced to a mass of charcoal; yet from these ashes, a new plant, like a vegetable Phoenix, arose, and now lives and flourishes.

The Phormium tenax has rarely flowered in this country even in the greenhouse, but specimens of its inflorescence exist in the Hortus Siccus of that accomplished botanist, Sir William Jackson Hooker,

L.L.D., the distinguished Regius Professor of botany in the University of Glasgow; and I believe they were obtained from Liverpool. The plant also flowered in the greenhouse of J. Boultbee, Esquire, of Springfield Knowle, near Birmingham, in June, 1832. Mr. Alton, of the Royal Gardens at Kew, sent a plant of the Phormium tenax to the Jardin des plantes, in the year 1800. In 1812, it flowered sub die in the department of the Drome, in France; but produced no seed; it has, however, not only flowered, but ripened seed at Cherbourg; and the unsheltered plant has sustained, uninjured, the cold of several successive winters in the vicinity of Paris. When cultivated for use, the leaves are, of course, cut down and gathered, and in that case there is no foliage left to be affected by the season. The Phormium tenax has never yet flowered with me, and I suspect it may, in part at least, be attributed to its luxuriant profusion of leaves; a phenomenon sometimes incompatible with inflorescence and fruit. A specimen, cultivated by Freycinet in 1813, was about seven feet high, and carried on one stalk, 109 flowers of a greenish yellow colour.

The natives of New-Zealand, agreeable to an account recently transmitted from thence to a friend; and by him communicated to me, adopt the following curious process in sowing the seeds: – "After preparing the ground, and sowing the seed, if they do not quickly see the plants appear, they spread a quantity of brushwood over the land, and set fire to it. This being done, the plants soon make their appearance, and a crop is ensured." The iodine, or the alkaline matter of the ashes, is no doubt the efficient stimulus in this case. The interesting result referred to, will serve to illustrate the phenomenon called the 'fire weed' on the American Continent, and that of white clover which will sometimes make its appearance, in patches, on barren heaths; when ashes have been sprinkled on the ground; sometimes ignorantly ascribed to what has been called 'spontaneous production' – an atheistical and unphilosophical notion.

The phormium tenax appears to have been originally brought to Ireland in the year 1798. I have seen it, both in the south and north, and from the latter obtained my specimen. It has been reared in gardens in Waterford, Cork, Limerick, Louth, Dublin, and Wicklow; and, in the south of Ireland, was, only on one occasion, triflingly affected by frost, where it had been cultivated for

thirty years. Ireland seems indeed to he a country pre-eminently calculated for the cultivation of this truly estimable plant: and to the philanthropist and patriot, when futurity holds up her mirror, opens up a long and glorious vista of prospective good, incalculable in its benefits and blessings. Myriads of long lost acres reclaimed from swamps and marshes, in the Sister Island, might be compelled to return into "the bosom of the reaper" an abundant and profitable harvest, and thousands and tens of thousands now piping for want, would strike the strings of Erin's sad and lonely harp, and, 'sing for joy.' Captain Harris, whose exertions in this field of benevolence, are beyond all praise, has already pointed out the mine, and shown the excellence of the ore, and I cannot do better than quote bis own words: – "The relative position of the two countries upon the globe, and the similarity of the climate of New-Zealand to that of Ireland, induced me to conclude that the Phormium tenax might be successfully cultivated in Ireland. The experiments that have been made at my suggestion in Ireland, for some years, have been conducted on a scale, which, however small, is abundantly conclusive of the fact, that this plant thrives luxuriantly, and readily acclimatizes, even in situations less favourable than might have been selected." According to Captain Harris, the Phormium tenax, cultivated in Ireland, produces from THREE TO FOUR HUNDRED LEAVES from ONE PLANT; some of the leaves measuring nearly EIGHT FEET IN LENGTH, and he adds "plants of the Phormium tenax have flourished, in the most exposed situations, for four years, throughout inclement winters, at the distance of ten miles from Dublin." Captain Harris estimates produce of an acre at from THREE TO FOUR TONS OF FIBRE. The price of Phormium tenax flax in the British market is variable, it has been aS low as £18 per ton, and as high as £25., so the average price may be about 20 guineas per ton; and after making every allowance for contingencies, there remains no doubt, that an acre of good ground, property cropped with plants, and well cultivated, should produce at the most moderate computation, two tons and a half of New-Zealand flax, worth £50. sterling, – a most profitable return; and it should never be forgotten, that the plant is perennial, requiring only to be supplied with manure, and the ground freed from weeds, by hoeing, &c. In these times of peace, the price of foreign hemp

and flax has varied from £30. to £50. a ton: and during the war, has risen as high as £70. to £120; a ton.

I have met with the Phormium tenax in many parts of England, and some plants have been grown at the seat of Lord Cawdor, in Pembrokeshire. That the Phormium tenax will succeed well on the soil and in the climate of England, will be proved by an extract, which I may cite in confirmation, from a letter with which I have been favoured by Mr. Walters, Of Bath-Easton; – "I saw a plant of the Phormium tenax last summer, in a gentleman's garden, near Bristol, from whence numerous offsets might easily have been taken, and I obtained one which I potted, and exhibited in the Horticultural Meeting at Bath, accompanied by a specimen of the flax and twine obtained at Bristol; and the plant, being a novelty, was much admired. It was afterwards transferred to a border in my garden, where it has succeeded wonderfully, the leaves being nearly five feet in length, and four inches in breadth."

The difficulty of obtaining mature seeds appears to be a subject of little or no regret, from the great facility, with which plants may be cultivated by offsets. In the month of May last season, I obtained TWELVE fine offsets from two parent plants, and while I now write, their leaves already exceed five feet in length. In the economy of plants, it is worthy of observation, that when circumstances interfere to prevent the ordinary class of means from operating, which a prospective Providence has established, these contingencies are provided for, by other and extraordinary agencies; and in verification of this interesting and important truth, it may not be irrelevant to state, that I have ascertained that offsets, are spontaneously detached from an insulated female plant of the ' Valisneria Spiralis.

M. M. Faujas de St. Fond and Freycinet, with others, have endeavoured to cultivate the Phormium tenax, and it has succeeded to a limited extent in the south of France. It seems well adapted for an insular climate; by the sea coast; where the rigours of climate, and the sudden transitions already referred to, seem to attempered, or subdued by the genial breeze of the ocean. During the day, the aerial current will flow from the sea to the land and modify the excess of temperature arising from the solar rays; while on the other hand, the atmospheric tide will move from the

land to the sea, during night. This latter agitation will considerably modify the effects of radiation, the influence of which is oftentimes so severe on vegetation; indeed, we know that an agitated atmosphere very much counteracts the formation of hoar-frost. Nor, is it unlikely, that the muriates which arise from the sea, and float in the incumbent atmosphere, may be efficient, when mingled with the air wafted to the shore: deliquescent muriates may be considered as fraught with hygrometic relations, that may considerably modify and influence an atmosphere. parched by a summer's sun.

Irrespective of the theory involved in the question, certainly vegetation is not visited in my individual case with the severity that sometimes falls on the district around the spot, already referred to. The Camellia, green tea, (Thea viridis,) and various other shrubs, treasured up usually in the greenhouse, grow with me in the common shrubbery, where also the Mediterranean heath (Erica mediterranea) attains the usual altitude of man; and the arbutus Unedo displays a beauty and a luxuriance in its foliage, blossoms, and fruit, only rivalled by its compeers in an indigenous soil and clime on the Lakes of Killarney, where it forms so graceful an ornament. The Caesarian Kale, or 'Cow-Cabbage,' grows in the same locality to the height of from nine to ten feet: some years ago, I reared the 'Fuller's teasle' (Dipsacus fullonum), and the specimens I presented to the late Sir John Sinclair, the Right Honorable Baronet informed me, were the finest he had ever seen. I mention these curious facts to shew that even in a comparatively high latitude, the sea breeze may considerably attemper the cold, in reference to vegetation on a maritime coast:

The cause of the mildness of the climate of Madeira, and in some degree even in that of Jersey and Guernsey, is to be sought for, I presume, in the freedom from those abrupt transitions which so commonly occur in inland countries; especially in extensive plains, cooled down to a very low degree by radiation, and succeeded by intense heat both direct and reflected. In an insular clime, the transitions referred to, so rapid and in their effects so injurious to vegetation, are subdued, from the commixture of the air resting on the bed of the ocean, with that reposing on the surface of the ground; the former from its contact participating of the more uniform temperature of the sea, which necessarily maintains a compa-

ratively invariable temperature. It is not from the intensity of the cold, abstractedly, that the plant chiefly suffers, but rather from the abrupt or sudden transitions from cold to heat, and vice versa.

According to Salisbury, Phormium tenax plants about three years old, will yield, on an average, 36 leaves besides offsets from the roots; and the leaves being cut down in autumn, other leaves spring up anew in the ensuing summer. Six leaves have produced one ounce weight of dry available fibres, after being scutched and cleaned; therefore one plant of 36 leaves will yield six ounces of good flax – an acre cropped with these plants, according to Salisbury, three feet apart, will yield more than 16 cwt. The leaves are cut when full grown, macerated in water for a few days, and then passed under a weighted roller. The parent plant should be four years old before the offsets are separated, and the month of May is the best season for this purpose. Salisbury's estimate is evidently a minimum, and the specimen on which he has founded his calculations must have been of the most unfavorable description. In New-Zealand, the leaves may be cut down three times a-year, and thus three successive crops may be obtained in one season: in Jamaica and other tropical countries the same exuberant return may be fully calculated on. I am glad to find that Mr. Crossley, of 'Olive-Mount,' near Liverpool, seriously entertains the project of cultivating this 'fine plant' on his estates in Jamaica, and if the information as to its culture, I had it in my power to impart, be found of practical use, I shall rejoice in having contributed my mite to aid the patriotic enterprize.

As soon as the Phormium tenax, agreeable to the description given by Rutherford, is cut down, the natives of New-Zealand carry it home, while yet green. It is then scraped with a large muscle shell, and the cellular substance and investing membrane or epidermis being thus removed, the fibrous part is separated by the thumb-nails, which the New-Zealanders suffer to elongate for this special purpose. Combs are, however, almost entirely employed for a still more minute separation, and the leaf is sometimes held during the process between the toes. The combs employed on these occasions are not dissimilar to those employed by our woolcombers; the fibres are subsequently bleached in the sun and become as white as snow. This plant has been prepared in Norfolk Island under

the direction of Governor King, and since that period in considerable quantities in New South Wales, where it has also been cultivated.

Mr. George Bennet, F.L.S., has supplied a more elaborate and detailed account of the method adopted by the aborigines of New-Zealand for the obtainment of the fibre. "The leaves," he observes, "when full grown are cut down, the best are selected, and a lateral incision made with a shell on each side of the leaf, nearly to cut through the epidermis; the shell is then with a gentle pressure drawn from one side of the incisions rapidly down the leaf, and is afterwards repeated on the other side: by this means the whole of the epidermis is removed, and the internal epidermis, which is thin, usually remains the internal epidermis agglutinates the fibres, and if not removed at first, is subsequently separated with difficulty; and if it remains, deteriorates the "flax."

In this preliminary process females are chiefly, if not entirely employed. The flax is called muka by the natives, and there appear to be several varieties, or qualities, manufactured into wearing apparel, mats, cordage, nets, the latter sometimes of immense size. By some peculiar process, they obtain long and slender fibres, possessed of great whiteness, and of a silky lustre; I have a specimen of New-Zealand cloth made by the natives; the border is a curious fabric, and, if I mistake not, would defy imitation in this country, notwithstanding our advance in the arts and manufactures. The interstitial untwisted fibres which occupy parallel spaces, in the centre of the piece, are extremely beautiful, soft and of a satiny lustre. I believe the Phormium tenax which affords this silky fibre is exclusively obtained from the south of the island. As to the question of the durability of fabrics manufactured from Phormium tenax, on which some degree of scepticism has been ventured, it may be added that Captain Harris has worn the shawl, from whence my specimen was obtained, upwards of twenty years in tropical countries, and it has been used ns an article of dress in this country two years: the texture seems to be altogether unimpaired, and from its present appearance, promises an almost interminable duration.

M. Faujas de St. Fond's process for obtaining the flax is sufficiently simple. He dissolves 3 lbs. of soap in a sufficient quantity

of water, and adds 25 lbs., weight of the split leaves, tied up in bundles. After these have been boiled for five hours, they are afterwards washed in running water. For the following method, I am indebted to my friend Mr. J. W. Wilson, an eminent bleacher, of Barnsley, to whom I freely acknowledge my many obligations for his repeated valuable communications. The leaves being cut down, when the tips begin to fade and separate, are bound into parcels, steeped in boiling water for an hour and a half; beetled gently, and afterwards soaked in water at a temperature of abont 110°. F., and when subsequently washed with soap a fine white fibre is obtained: it is finally bleached with chloride of lime.

The fibres of this valuable plant seem, under proper treatment, to be susceptible of extreme subdivision and tenuity. I have in my possession a specimen of the flax prepared in this country, the fibres of which are extremely fine, and very soft and silky – such indeed as might safely be brought into competition with some of the finest varieties of continental flax in the British market. "These and some other vegetable fibres," Captain Harris observes, "produce a texture resembling that of silk, cotton, and flax; possessing the softness, flexibility, and lightness of the vegetable, and nearly equalling the lustre of the animal production. They may be woven into fabrics of every description, and may be made into lace. They may be wrought as a substitute for silk, into tapestry, damask, and upholstery, with a lustre not much inferior to silk." It is quite remarkable with what rapidity the fibre may be made to pass all its intermediate processes; the plant may be shorn of its leaves in the morning, and before the sun has set be ready for weaving into cloth.

My own experiments corroborate the remarks made by Mr. Wilson to me, namely, that the fibres of Phormium tenax are sufficiently absorbent and retentive of colour. I have imparted a fine yellow colour and also a fawn colour to both Phormium tenax and musa textilis, both permanent; and I venture to predict that, as their value becomes better known, their superior excellence will eventually be more highly appreciated.

The strength of the fibre of Phormium tenax is quite extraordinary: according to Labillardiere, tho comparative strengths of various fibres are as follows, – Agave Americana 7; Flax 11 3/4; Hemp 16 3/4; Phormium tenax 23 7-10; and Silk 24; so that it will

be seen by this comparative estimate, that, the New-Zealand flax is almost as strong as silk, and very far surpasses that of hemp; indeed a rope formed entirely of Phormium tenax, proved by the breaking machine, bore nearly double the strain of Russian hemp. There can be no doubt that the strength of vegetable fibre will vary according to soil, culture, maturity, and mode of preparation. The Italian garden hemp proves the truth of the position: alkalis tend also very much to weaken the fibre, and should be employed with much caution.

I have seen specimens of ropes, twine, yarn, lines, sailcloth, sacking, bed-tick, &c., made of Phormium tenax; also finer fabrics of various kinds, affording demonstrable evidence, that its fibre is susceptible of being woven into tissues of the most delicate description, or manufactured into materials of the strongest and coarsest kind. The sails, cables, and running rigging of the beautiful model of the frigate, presented by His Majesty WILLIAM THE FOURTH to the King of Prussia, were entirely formed from Phormium tenax. Captain Harris's yacht, a perfect gem in naval architecture, is supplied with a mainsail composed of three different varieties of New-Zealand flax, and the cordage is made of musa textilis.

The quantity of Phormium tenax or New-Zealand flax imported into England, via Sydney, in the year 1828, amounted to only 60 tons.; but in 1830, the imports into Sydney for the English market were 841 tons; and in 1831, the quantity reached 1062 tons; and I believe has at this moment not less than 300 tons. Government so far encouraged the importation that, if I am not misinformed, the New-Zealand flax was admitted free of duty, before that impost was removed from European hemp; and I trust this fact forms a well-grounded assurance of a sincere anxiety to encourage an importation connected with the best interests of the community.

A manufactory of Phormium tenax, for fabrics of various kinds, prepared with a solution for which Captain Harris obtained a patent, was opened at Great Grimsby in 1831, is now flourishing, and promises the most important results and complete success, and heartily would I say to Captain Harris's noble enterprize, – ESTO PERPETUA.

A few general remarks connected with the subject may not be an inapposite conclusion. Fibres of various degrees of tenacity are

obtained from vegetation, and from various parts of plants, such as the root, inner bark, and leaf. The roots of the 'poison bulb' of Africa, yield fibres that may be spun into thread: those of the Butea superba supply strong fibres; while the 'Poonah brushes,' obtained from the 'snake root,' are examples of the same kind.

The liber or inner bark of trees is generally a fibrous structure:. that of the lime tree, from whence Russia bass-mats are formed, serves also for cordage in Sweden and Russia. The external plexus which veils the palm furnishes the natives Of tropical countries with fibres employed by them for a variety of purposes, – that of the phoenix dactylifera supplies the cordage of the vessels that navigate the Red Sea. The spathe that shrouds the spadix of some palms is a singular reticular structure, 4 and the natives of South America cook their food, and evaporate sea water in it. The 'shirt trees' of the Cerra Duritla, in South America, and the 'natoo' or inner bark of the paper mulberry of the South Seas, exhibit examples of natural cloth of a highly fibrous character. The truly elegant fabric of the inner bark of the Daphne Lagetto, 5 or 'Lace-bark tree' is sometimes used for ropes in Jamaica: it would make a paper of the finest and most durable description, could it be obtained in sufficient quantity and at an expense sufficiently moderate. I have an exquisite specimen of this natural lace that might vie with the most beautiful refinements of art. The fibres of the mid-rib of the Pothos acaulis, Grewia appositifolia, abroma guttata, microlaena spectabilis, musa paradisiaca, and others, might be referred to in illustration. The liber of the common bramble afforded me a tough, pliant, and strong fibre: a durable and silky fibre may be obtained from the American aloe, and has even, I believe, been formed into lace. The yucca filamentosa yields a stout fibre; and what is called 'Chinese hemp' is the produce of the corchorus capsularis.

There are few fibres that merit more attention than those that envelope the cocoa nut; they possess a remarkable elasticity, and when formed into a cable have enabled a 74 gun ship to ride out the gale in safety during a West India hurricane, when European cables have parted. A rope composed of a combination of these

fibres with those of the Phormium tenax would be invaluable, the former possessing an extraordinary elasticity, and the latter uniting the qualities of tenacity and strength. Such a cable would brave the monsoon of an eastern hemisphere, and the hurricane of the west. Cables made of the fibre of the cocoa nut are called, 'coar.' In a gale in the Downs in the year 1803, seventeen East Indiamen supplied with these cables rode out the storm in safety, while seven ships of war either drove or parted. Cables of cocoa nut fibres are bulky, and hence occupy more room than chain cables, but this disadvantage in the economy of space is more than counterbalanced by its inestimable value in the storm. The fibre of the cocoa nut has been successfully employed to produce a nankeen dye.

The fibres of flax, hemp, Phormium tenax, musa textilis, urtica tenuicissima, pita or silk grass, bromelia, yucca, &c;, are among the most valuable for the arts and manufactures. Many of these fibres are of great length; of those of musa textilis I have specimens nine feet long:; some are soft and silky, and some unite all these excellencies. The fibres of the yucca filamentosa are easily separated by moistening and beating the leaves, and simply separating the cuticle from the fibre with the nail, as the natives of New-Zealand do with the Phormium tenax. 6

I have an extremely beautiful specimen of cloth, made, as I am assured, from the fibres of some particular species of 'grass' in Guatemala, in South America. It is a beautiful check, soft and altogether remarkable. The Chinese manufacture cloth from a species of lamium or dead nettle, and I have seen a fine fabric in the north of Italy made from the common nettle, – urtica urens. I have a piece of cloth from St. Mary's, an island to the east of Madagascar: it is wiry and not so soft as the Guatemala fabric, and have no doubt it is the produce of the plant called by the natives of Madagascar 'brad,' and there separated by a comb into fibres, and woven into mats, cloth, &c.

One of the most curious vegetable fibres with which I am acquainted is that which clothes the surface of the cactus senilis, and

imparts to that extraordinary looking plant, the similitude of "an old, a very old man" – some being that had weathered the snows of a century. The appearance of the fibre more resembles that of the hair of an animal, 7 than what belongs to vegetation. I have a somewhat similar species of fibre obtained from an African plant, but am ignorant of its name. When the fibre of the tilandsia usneoides is separated from its cuticle or epidermis it bears a striking resemblance to horse hair, and is employed to stuff cushions; mattresses, &c. This remarkable plant is found perched among trees in tropical countries, and is ranked among the curious class of 'Epiphytes.' Its pendent fibres are of considerable length, and are commonly called 'long beard,' or 'Spanish grey beard.' I have seen some of the pendulous nests of the 'Bonana bird' wholly constructed of these curious fibres, and another nest fabricated from those of the trunk of the palm; Mr. Wilson, of Barnsley, has put into my hands parcels of fibres from Africa, obtained from what has been called 'pine apple plant;' no doubt a bromelia. Some of this tribe of plants bear splendid flowers; that of the bilbergia irridiflora is truly lovely. I succeeded in readily separating the fibres from a portion of the pedunculus or flower stem of the bannana, and find it susceptible of being easily blenched.

The 'pita' or 'silk grass line' seems at once to possess pliability and lightness, and is sufficiently strong to bear the strain which accompanies the velocity of the shot. Manby's apparatus, as, well as my own invention, promise to be benefitted by it; and Mr. Gibbes, of the customs, Yarmouth, says – "the grass line weighed, dry, 29 lbs., increased on being wetted only 4 1/2 lbs, and was quite free from harshness or kink; in consequence it coiled easier and dried quicker; under all which circumstances, I think it very desirable for Captain Manby's apparatus." The silk grass line, by the evidence given before Mr. Justice Tindal, would appear to be nearly three times stronger than Russia hemp.

I have obtained a sufficient quantity of Captain Harris' prepared cord for garden lines, for which it seems to be well adapted; also lines for comparative trials of Phormium tenax and musa textilis, with and without his solution being applied – for my shipwreck apparatus. For sash cords for window frames, and in conservatories, Phormium tenax seems to be safer and preferable, to all others, and I have recommended it to be exclusively used in the support of the machine in my shower bath – now in extensive use, and universally approved.

It is wonderful to what degree of tenuity the fibre of flax has been carried and extended by the improved process recently introduced of passing the "roving," as it is called, through hot water.

I am informed that one pound of flax has been spun, in the kingdom of Westphalia, into yarn so fine as to extend upwards of seventy English miles; indeed Mr, Marshall, of Leeds, in this country, has nearly approached that degree of fineness. The finest linen yarn yet spun and prepared by machinery is 240 'leas' or about 60,000 yards to the pound weight of 16 ounces; valued at one pound sterling for 60,000 yards, or one pound weight of flax when spun into yarn. At that rate, the price of the yarn would be £2,240 per ton; the original cost of the flax being two hundred guineas.

I have a beautiful specimen of flax prepared from Phormium tenax that, might vie with the finest samples of Flemish flax, and of this last I have one valued at &c.200 per ton, such as is spun into yarn on the continent for the ordinary kinds of French and Brussels lace. I am told that the finest description of flax is cultivated under cover in Westphalia, and in all probability there is a finer variety of the flax (linum) than that in ordinary cultivation. I was informed in some of the Italian markets, that a kind of flax called lino monochino was originally obtained from Bavaria, and from its superior fineness always secured the highest price. It has been said that there have been specimens of linen thread, the value of which has exceeded its weight in gold! but there is to be seen at Valenciennes, in France, two pounds weight of flaxen thread intended for the finest specimens of French lace, valued at TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY POUNDS STERLING! and the length of this thread is 2,890,800 feet – less than one-ninth of the radius or semidiameter of the globe.

1 The seeds of this plant are an excellent febrifuge, when prepared like coffee, and in taste and flavor can scarcely be distinguished from it. It was brought into notice, several years ago, by Mr. Skrimshire, a medical gentleman of Wisbech, where I first met with it at the breakfast table.

2 The seeds brought by Nicholas from New-Zealand in 1815, did not germinate.

3 Strips of the leaves, from their flexibility and toughness, I find very useful when employed for the same purposes in the garden, as bass-mat, willow, &c., in attaching trees and shrubs to trellis-work or walls.

4 It is bleached without mach difficulty.

5 A cravat of this natural lace was worn by Charles II., being presented by the Governor of Jamaica.

6 Captain Harris tells me that the Phormium tenax is growing with him out of doors, at Great Grimsby, as well as other 'flax plants,' – among the latter, I believe, seven species of the yucca, several of them about to flower. The yucca gloriosa, yucca filamentosa, and yucca tenuifolia are the only species that I have seen in flower, sub die, in this country.

7 The following interesting fact may be mentioned in reference to the comparative duration of vegetable and animal fibre. A piece of cloth composed of linen and woollen threads, had remained in the arctic regions from the period of the wreck of the Fury, until Captain Ross' late expedition. The fibres of the former were in a state of Complete decomposition and decay, while those of the latter had sustained no change whatever, and the specimen I have seen proves that the woollen threads are as perfect as ever they were.

POSTSCRIPT.

POSTSCRIPT.

Some years ago, I wrote a small work,, entitled "Remarks on modern Paper," and presented the MS. to the late Mr. Blackwood, of Edinburgh, in the hope that its publication, through his influence, might be useful. The public were partially roused and alarmed, but the effect was transient, and like 'a morning cloud, it has passed away.' Advantage has been taken of this apathy and torpor, and the paper market is now inundated with the most wretched trash conceivable, which gains an unsuspected currency, under the name of 'paper' – a sad abuse of terms, and no more like what that material ought to be, than a shadow to the substance.

Let Our modern books be consulted in the brittleness and decay of the paper, and the decomposition of the ink, and compared with former tomes, – works printed when the paper material was more sound in its constitution than it is now, and the bleaching process was not pushed to such a ruinous extent, and the contrast presented in the review, will be not less extraordinary than startling.

Nothing can be more erroneous than the foolish and mistaken idea that any thing and every thing will do for the manufacture of paper; that, for instance, cellular substance or parenchyma is good enough for paper. A genuine and sterling paper must of necessity be composed of a fine fibrous structure, forming a dense, matted, and consolidated plexus, that cannot be easily disintegrated – a fibrous pulp cemented by size, and presenting an even homogeneous surface and close texture, undecomposeable by the agencies of air and moisture, consequently free from all tendency to mould, or being affected by damp; any deliquescent salt, therefore, would be ruinous, if suffered to remain, and the decomposition of any of the ingredients of the size prove equally destructive. It follows that, in order to secure homogeneity, the papyraceous material should be uniformly obtained from one source of supply – the vegetable kingdom – not vegeto animal, or a mixture of both; and its cohesive strength, or its durability and permanence, must, from previous

remarks, depend on fibre uniformly diffused. But the evil does not stop here, – the chemical processes to which the fibre is previously subjected, act to destroy; and the chloride of lime, subsequently employed to bleach the material, completes the destruction previously begun, in forming a deliquescent salt, rooted in the paper; decomposing and, in process of time, altogether obliterating the ink and destroying the M.S. or print. – 'Look on this picture and on that.'

A mere glance or hasty survey of the evil is all that I venture to attempt in this P.S., and my only object is to rouse attention. The evil is indeed deeply footed, and it ramifies far and wide, while the rapidity of its progress is fearful. The public have been warned, and they have remained inattentive fo the summons; it now only remains to be seen whether Government will come forward to stem the ill-fated current, and apply the axe to the upas tree. It is impossible to do more than merely enumerate some of the papyraceous materials that have been used, – and even those specimens of paper that I have in my own cabinet, are sufficiently numerous in variety to form a curious list. I possess paper formed from the following substances: –

Linen.
Calico.
Hemp.
Flax.
Silk.
Unbleached flax (excellent).
- - - - Phormium tenax. Bleached ditto.
Tow.
Wool.
Asbestos.
Cotton.
Roots of trees from the Himala, Mountains (excellent).
Daphne cannabina.
Paper mulberry.
Straw!
Hay!
Willow.
Husks of Indian corn!
Coccoons of the silk-worm.
Shavings of leather.
India paper (calpy).
Shavings of wood!
Saw-dust.
From the Loo Choo Islands.
Papyrus.
&c. &c..

Paper has also been made of hop bines, hollyhocks, potatoe stalks, cotton waste, thistle down, liquorice root; 8 and fragments of paper

that has already served its purpose, have been remanufactured, the ink being expunged by chloride of lime! and, as if these were not enough, Mr. Mallet has gravely proposed that the turf bogs of Ireland should be forthwith converted (risum teneatis!) into paper! – the reddish brown spongy fibrous, vegetable matters, which are the ruin and remains of aquatic or paludose vegetation, in an incipient stage of decomposition. - These Mr. Mallet proposes to substitute for rags! and, according to his calculation, about 18 lbs. of pure fine white pulp may be procured from 100 lbs. of genuine native turf! It must be confessed that this paper mine is not likely to be exhausted for some time. In a communication to the Academy of Sciences at Paris, the culture of the papyrus antiquorum in the south of France is recommended as a papyraceous material, should it be found superior to straw, &c.!

What is called paper is adulterated to an extent, and with substances that may well surprise us: among these adulterations may be mentioned chalky gypsum, clay, curriers' shavings, chopped hair and wool, cotton flyings, thistle down, &c.; hop bines and similar materials are sufficiently common, and straw paper is extensively manufactured in this country. A vast proportion of the letter paper now in use owes its seemingly compact texture and its thickness, consistency, and weight, to a mixture of plaster of Paris with the paper pulp. Mr. Braude states he discovered by analysis in some specimens of paper upwards of twenty per cent. of gypsum: and I have frequently found from 15 to 18 per cent. of the same ingredient; so that it is really little else than what may be called, not inaptly, a papyraceous stucco! being merely prevented from crumbling to powder by the infusion of finely chopped hair, and the fractional portion of vegetable fibre that is suffered to remain. It is certainly a curiosity in its way, but ought not to be called paper.

Paper has been made of grass, and our modern paper is evanescent as the 'flower of grass' and 'the grass which to-day is, and tomorrow, is cast, into the oven,' is only a fit and faithful emblem of the ephemeral nature of our present paper! and we may well. exclaim –

"Can these things be –
O'ercome us like a summer cloud,
Without our special wonder."

The unquenchable rage for blenching that now prevails is carried to an extent which is altogether irrational, and which our calmer judgment would condemn, if suffered to interpose. Isinglass is bleached at the expense of its properties; ginger is bleached, though its virtues are thereby attenuated, if not destroyed; starch is bleached, though the linen to which it is applied becomes yellow; sugar is bleached, and this explains the reason why sirup of violets loses its colour – our continental neighbours have, however, got the 'whip-hand' of us in this instance, for 'smalts' are added to impart a feeble tinge of blue, and as smalts contain arsenic, their cau sucre is poisoned. In fact, every thing is now bleached more or less; and by and by, I doubt not, but our 'daily bread' will be bleached with chloride of lime, as it now is with alum, and sundry other ingredients, though health may be forfeited.

Paper, when bleached, if the chloride be not removed, or permanently neutralized, produces effects of the most disastrous kind, and oftentimes where the cause is little suspected. The delicate blossoms of plants folded up in our herbaria lose their colours; coloured silks, especially delicate tints, as violet, mazarine blue, lilac, &c., become eventually blanched when wrapped up in white paper. A silk manufacturer once bitterly complained to me of the loss he sustained from the difficulty he experienced in preserving coloured silks; I bade him use any paper but white paper, and the evil was cured. The manufacturer of paper hangings and stained paper had lost hundreds, if not thousands of pounds, before the cause was discovered. Gilt buttons to the amount of two or three hundred pounds have been returned unsaleable to the manufacturer, because folded up in white paper – chlorine having the property of acting chemically on gold, and forming a chloride of that metal. It is easy to see what would be the effect of allowing delicately-coloured silks, muslins, &c., to remain in boxes or a chest of drawers lined with similar paper. It might be supposed that the chloride of lime employed to bleach the 'half stuff,' or the paper pulp, was ruinous enough, but in this inference we should be mistaken; to complete the work of destruction, some paper; after it is entirely manufactured, must be bleached by being exposed to the nascent gas! Such paper is called by the trade, "doctored." The typographer, lithographer, engraver, all complain of the difficulty. of "working"

particular kinds of paper, and the shreds of the wool and hair will also sometimes perplex them. I have been informed; that with some paper not more than a hundred impressions can be taken by the lithographer, before the impress on the stone is almost destroyed, while with the best qualities of paper, some thousands of copies. may be obtained before it is sensibly altered. Government, if I am not misinformed, finds it necessary to employ a person to superintend the entire process of the manufacture of the paper employed for the beautiful maps of the grand trigonometrical survey of the British Isles. Let a rigid inquisition be made of the books printed within the last thirty or forty years, and the lamentable effects will be seen in all their intensity. I have a copy of the sacred volume, issued by the British and foreign Bible Society, and printed at the Oxford University press in 1816; nearly the whole of the Genesis of the Pentateuch has already, mouldered into dust, and, I believe not one perfect copy now remains Of the entire impression, amounting to many thousand copies. I wrote the then venerable President of the Bible Society, Lord Teignmouth, on the subject, and submitted portions of the decayed and decomposed leaves to the late Bishop of Lichfield, and Mr. Wilberforce then in parliament, when I pointed out the causes, and consequences of inattention to a subject of such vital importance. I might refer to myriads of similar instances; let one example suffice, and it is a good illustration because it serves to shew the evil and its cause.

Tegg's Edition of Clarke's Bible Commentaries is printed on a paper which. "tells its own tale" already. Let the numbers already issued be examined, and the contrast of pale and almost illegible pages, when compared with others that still maintain their blackness, will evince the evil of which I complain. A person once informed me that some of the accounts of his ledger could not be deciphered, and perhaps the records of the House of Customs might be appealed to as a commentary. Letters have fallen to pieces in transition through the Post-office, and dropt their contents in the postage; letters have crumbled away in the pocket, or, when put past and subsequently consulted, have been discovered to be a carte blanche. One of the Society of Friends at Chesterfield, in consequence of what I had written on this subject, was induced to examine sundry valuable deeds and documents in his 'strong box,'

and he informed me that many of modern date were become nearly illegible and useless, some entirely so; while the more ancient were uninjured; The paper is indeed white at first, but soon changes, chameleon-like, by light; into a sickly yellow or cream colour. 'Nimium ne crede colori,' the maxim adopted from Virgilius Maro, by Linnaeus, in reference to the suspicion that ought to attach to the question of colour as the test of species in plants, is equally worthless applied to discriminate the excellence of paper.

I have already said that the false and fictitious estimate of economy we employ is a circumstance that countenances and perpetuates the evil; nothing can be more injurious than this blighting and baleful conduct. Quantity is every thing, and quality nothing: we choose the evil and reject the good, and such is the ruinous competition that appears in the market to tamper with this degraded appetite and taste, that a conscientious paper manufacturer and an excellent paper have no chance: paper is offered at very much less than the original cost of the rag! or the material employed in the manufacture of a sound and staple article! what marvel then, that clay, and plaster of Paris, and chopped hair, cotton flyings, and the like delectable Commodities should be employed to make up the deficiency! Were I to stipulate with the confectioner for a pound of his Confectionery, and obstinately refuse to give more than 4d., when a moment's reflection would inform me that the sugar of which it should be entirely composed, costs more than double, it would only be reasonable to expect that the difference of weight should be made up of pipeclay and chalk; and I cannot murmur at the bonne bouche.

What I am desirous to see enacted, is some provision by which those who are willing to avail themselves of the rule of judgment, may have the privilege of selecting a sound and durable material; and if a penalty be not annexed to the adulterations of paper, at any rate let it be branded with the proscribed title 'bad;' and if any choose to commit themselves by the purchase, with them rests the entire blame, and it is at their own risk and peril. Many might willingly make the purchase for memoranda, or school copy books; but for permanent and valuable MSS. and documents, and scientific works; and literary and religious works of sterling eminence and worth, let us know assuredly that such and such paper is made of

linen rags, or of some strong vegetable fibres; and let a distinction be drawn between linen fibre and that of cotton, between unbleached, half-bleached, and entirely bleached paper, and paper of rude and worthless materials: in fact, a bold line of demarcation between good and bad qualities of paper, and 'highly improved and refined' or badly conducted and imperfect manufacture. We did sufficiently well before the present bleaching process was introduced; the paper was good and abundantly fair, and there can be no doubt that the method now in universal operation, may be safely and yet efficiently conducted in the production of good white paper, of sufficient strength and durability.

The Chinese manufacture paper from the bark of many vegetables, as well as from the fibres of hemp and straw of rice; and in the two, former it might be well to copy them. Government would do well to consider how far the duty, on the importation of rags tends to encourage the adulteration of paper, by holding out, as it were, a bonus for the nefarious practice. We would also do well steadily to keep in view the necessity of employing strong fibrous materials in the constitution of our best paper. The inner bark of the lime, birch, bramble, the nettle, and numerous other substances might be employed; and we should act a wise part to depend less on the mouldy and rotten rags that are too often imported and employed. Good Hamburg rags are the best of the kind; but flax, hemp, Phormium tenax, musa textilis, &c. are the materials that demand chief attention, and, if even employed in part, would give a solidity and a strength and permanence to our paper which it could not otherwise possess. The pamphlet which preceded this I printed on paper I had manufactured from the plant which forms the subject of the present memoir, and the strength of the fabric almost equalled that of parchment; it was unbleached; the present is also in the same condition. I cheerfully acknowledge my very grateful obligations to Mr. Smith, of Morton Paper Mills, in this county (Yorkshire), whose friendly exertions in the manufacture, and whose practical skill in paper manipulation, is cordially, appreciated and recognized. I have great pleasure in quoting the following opinion from the manufacturer of the Phormium tenax paper, on which, the present pamphlet is printed: – "You will observe the paper is very strong; indeed, in my own opinion, nearly

as durable as parchment itself of the same thickness. Had the raw material been hackled, or cleaned, previous to manufacture, I have no doubt but it would have been equally as strong, of a beautiful colour, and a first-rate paper, more durable than any thing ever seen in the shape of paper." I may merely observe that I find that the tow of the New-Zealand flax will make an excellent and stout paper free from specks, and the cost of the material would be reduced ONE-HALF. It is not my intention, however, to enter on an estimate of comparative expense, because it is not generally known what a good paper should be, or the qualities which ought to distinguish it. Our paper generally wants the very principle, which should characterize it; there is, indeed, 'the tale of bricks;' but straw is lacking in their composition.

Fibre being admitted as essential, it may next be remarked that the great bane of the fibre is the alkali employed. It is truly a powerful detergent, but it acts upon, and finally decomposes the fibre: it softens and subdivides the fibre, but it also devours it. In the employment of potassa and soda too much caution and care cannot be enjoined. In the size, part of the ingredients must be subject to mould, the consequence of decomposition. But this decay can, by the most simple means, be prevented or checked. The yellow mould that sometimes attacks paper, and riots so destructively in the hortus siccus, is called by modern botanists eurotium herbariorum, and is referrable to this source. Another question that ought to be attended to is to get rid of every remaining portion of chloride of lime after its purpose of bleaching is fulfilled. The bisulphate of alumina employed subsequently would tend, in virtue of its excess of acid, to decompose the residual chloride of lime, and the chlorine would soon pass into hydro-chloric acid; or the chloride of lime might be converted into hydro-chloride of lime; a highly deliquescent salt; but if entirely separated by frequent ablutions, &c. the bisulphate should nevertheless be neutralized. The decomposition and destruction of the ink is effected by the two-fold agency of the chlorine or the chloride and the excess of acid in the supersalt.

Our age teems with wonders in arts and manufactures: we have soap from flints, and elegant snuff-boxes are made in Germany from potatoes; so in the article of paper there is something for

marvel – the glass paper and papier linge are two of these curiosities.

I am informed by an intelligent French gentleman that the former fabric has been kept au secret, and is not now to be obtained even in Paris, its discoverer, having been reduced to extreme distress. The sheets that I have seen were very beautiful and more transparent than mica; indeed I have seen specimens that rivalled glass itself. The papier linge is a singular production, and has been used in France not only as napkins and table-cloths; but even employed as shirt collars! They were snow white, and had a fine gloss; the 'stitching' was remarkably well imitated, and each cost two sous! (a penny), or the price of washing in ordinary cases; and, like Constantine's table-cloth (of asbestos), when done with, were thrown into the fire; though their respective fates were different, for the one was purified, while the other was consumed. A lady's gown of papier linge cost two francs (1s. 8d.). The best test and the most sensible re-agent to detect residual chlorine in paper, or excess of acid in the bi-sulphate of alumina, is the sirup of violets, which will promptly turn red, if such excess remain.

The bad qualities of modern paper lead by a natural transition to the question of ink, and here again I fear it will be found we have not improved. I know but little practically of "Stephens' writing fluid," but that little enables me to speak favorably of it. With regard to the ink in general use we can scarcely be worse. Two ingredients are added, the agencies of which are more than questionable. The first of these is the sulphate of copper, and is the agent by which the penknife loses its edge; and the steel pen its point. The effects are chemical, and the phenomenon one of decomposition; the permanency of such ink is therefore doubtful. The other ingredient is corrosive sublimate, a suggestion originating with Mr. Brande: unquestionably it would prevent the 'ink mould' (hygrocrocis atramenti); but it would also poison our schoolboys, who sometimes suck their pens or sip their ink. This substance would act with equal fierceness on steel. A staple ink must consist in a close and permanent affinity with the paper, and an unalterability by light or air, &c., undecomposable also by chlorine, &c. Oxydes of silver and gold would only become more intense in their colours by light, and an infusion of soluble carbon would resist the destructive agencies of chlorine: some salt of iron,

&c., entering into the composition of the paper fabric, would stamp a greater permanence on the writing ink; but I must confess I still think an entire substitute for gallate of iron or hydrocyanate of iron is 'a consummation devoutly to be wished.' Mucilage is added to suspend the colouring matter; and an essential oil, as that of cloves, will prevent the formation of 'ink-mould.'

I have made numerous experiments on the restoration of illegible MSS., some of which were, I believe, obtained from the 'Record-office,' and found the following simple method quite sufficient, for my purpose, and altogether successful. I steep the vellum or parchment for a short period in a tepid solution of chlorate of potassa, and when entirely dry, apply a strong decoction of galls, or hydrocyanate of potassa; in the former case it is black, and blue in the latter.

N.B. – A few weeks ago, I observed in the island of Guernsey, a neglected specimen of the Phormium tenax, in a shrubbery, in the vicinity of St. Peter's Port; it was healthy, and luxuriant, and nearly seven feet high. The interesting islands of Jersey and Guernsey seem admirably calculated for this new and valuable produce, and would well repay the cultivator.

The cultivation of beet root for the obtainment of raw sugar, if at this moment the chief question of agrarian interest in Belgium; and the field of Waterloo is completely studded with sucrieres. At Amiens, I was informed there were sixteen manufactories of this new branch of industry in the environs; in Lille, too, they are numerous. The white and red varieties of the beet root are preferred to others. The specimen of refined beet root sugar, I have in my possession, is beautiful; it crystalizes readily and they now manufacture from it in France a fine sugar-candy.

FINIS.

CLARKE, PRINTER, CHURCH-STREET, PRESTON.

8 Excellent For billets-doux!

LIST OF WORKS BY JOHN MURRAY.

LIST OF WORKS BY

JOHN MURRAY, F.S.A. F.L.S. F.H.S. F.G.S., &c.

I.

ELEMENTS OF CHEMICAL SCIENCE.

In 1 vol. 8vo. (SeconD Edition) – price 8s.

II.

PRACTICAL REMARKS ON MODERN PAPER, &c.

In 12mo. – price 4s.

III.

REMARKS ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE SILK-WORM.

In 8vo. – price 1s. 6d.

IV.

DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF A NEW SHOWER BATH, AND AN APPARATUS TO RESTORE SUSPENDED ANIMATION.

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V.

RESEARCHES IN NATURAL HISTORY.

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VI.

A GLANCE AT SOME OF THE BEAUTIES AND SUBLIMITIES OF SWITZERLAND.

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VII.

A TREATISE ON ATMOSPHERICAL-ELECTRICITY, &c.

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VIII.

REMARKS ON THE DISEASE called HYDROPHOBIA.

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IX.

A TREATISE ON PULMONARY CONSUMPTION.

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X.

AN INVENTION FOR SAVING FROM SHIPWRECK, &c.

In 8vo. with a Plate – price 2s. 6d.

(ALSO, A SUPPLEMENT, DESCRIPTIVE OF NEW EXPERIMENTS.)

XI.

A MEMOIR ON THE DIAMOND.

In l2mo. with a Plate – price 5s.

XII.

PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS ON FLAME. &c.

in 8vo, with a Plate (SECOND EDITION) – price 2s.

XIII.

THE TRUTH OF REVELATION, DEMONSTRATED BY AN APPEAL TO EXISTING MONUMENTS SCULPTURES, GEMS, COINS, AND MEDALS.

In 12mo. with Plates and Wood Cuts – price (cloth) 10s.

XIV.

A MANUAL OF EXPERIMENTS ILLUSTRATIVE OF CHEMICAL SCIENCE. WITH AN EXPLANATORY PLATE AND WOOD CUTS.

In 12mo. (Fourth Edition) – price 5s.

XV.

DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT of a NEW LIGHTNING CONDUCTOR, &c.

In 8vo. with a Plate – price 3s. 6d.

XVI.

THE PHYSIOLOGY OF PLANTS; OR THE LAWS AND PHENOMENA OF VEGETATION.

In 12mo. with Plates and Wood Cuts – price 7s. 6d.

XVII.

AN ACCOUNT OF PHORMIUM TENAX, &c. in 8vo. with Wood Cut – price 2s. 6d.

GENERAL REMARKS ON MR. MURRAY'S WORKS.

Mr. MURRAY. – "Whose philanthropy and ingenuity radiate over the world. The sphere of this gentleman's utility is well known to be large: but the variety of his philanthropic and scientific exertions is almost incalculable. The vegetable kingdom, it might be supposed, was a new conquest, for he has not in previous works, laid claim to any part of its domains; but on looking into the preface of the "Physiology," it will be found that it has long been his favourite pursuit, and the chief source of his enjoyment. It might have been imagined that his genius chiefly revelled in Chemistry, for great have been his exploits therein, large and long his discussions, bright and lasting his discoveries. Still more naturally would it have been supposed that his peculiar passion was for the saving of human suffering by the application of the lights of science, for it is here assuredly that his chief efforts have been directed. Of this character are his lucubrations on "suspended animation," his "invention for saving from shipwreck," his new "lightning conductor," and generally his works on "aerial phenomena," but more especially, his treatise on the "disease called hydrophobia and his other treatise on "pulmonary consumption," wherein this dire disease is for the first time treated chemically, and the discoveries of modern chemistry applied to its relief with, at least, great plausibility, and wherein also if the curative process be found to fail, at any rate much light is thrown on the true character of the disease, and a vast variety of facts brought to hear on the circumstances under which this sad malady is found to prevail. The distinctive character of these and all other of Mr. MURRAY'S numerous writings, is, that is an indefatigable collector of facts, which by their singularity, or other property, may assist the philosopher in spelling out the ways of Nature. By thus bringing to bear all the remarkable phenomena of Nature on the subject, he, as it were, pricks out its extreme boundaries, and so far aids in the completion of a general survey." – Westminster Review, October, 1833.

"We never take up a book of Mr. JOHN MURRAY'S, without a full assurance of an ample repast upon the most tasteful of all viands to our palates – curious facts to wit. He makes a treatise on conductors and anti-hailstone rods, a little encyclopedia of all the facts, experiments, and striking knowledge of the subject. He does this in a still more remarkable manner, as might be expected, in the larger field of the 'Physiology of Plants;' which is a complete library of vegetable curiosities. It was the same with his work on consumption – an unpromising subject, yet Mr. MURRAY blossomed with facts over the grave. So it was also with his little work on the Diamond – a jewel of a book, from which, if we are not mistaken, we made some curious extracts. But then Mr. MURRAY is not merely a fact collector, but an experimentalist; and not merely an experimentalist, but a theorist, – this, however, with all modesty, and the genuine humbleness of science. His invention is active, but always under the philosophical check of induction from a due number of facts, or the consciousness that the due number has not been obtained.

"After reading one of Mr. MURRAY'S books, it always occurs to us to ask, how is this man's usefulness turned to account in behalf of his fellow creatures? Have the Government availed themselves of his ingenuity, of his perpetual activity, of his philanthropy? His inventions are highly esteemed – they are adopted privately: are they adopted nationally? and has a man, who must have made great sacrifice, and conferred great benefits, has he had any reward or encouragement to proceed.

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