MARSDENIA tinctoria. FIBRE. 302 Jetí Fibre. To allow of comparison four other fibres have been shown alongside of Marsdenia (the Rájmahál-Bowstring). That fibre heads the list in percentage of cellulose and loses considerably less than any of the others, either under hydrolysis with caustic soda or in the acid purification, while it holds the third place in increased weight by nitration. These are facts the value of which cannot be over-estimated. They point the fibre out as being, from a scientific stand-point, far more worthy of experimentalcultivation than Rhea or any of the other fibres with which in the above table it has been compared. The one point of uncertainty regarding it, which practical experiments alone can solve, is its yield of fibre per acre as compared to the cost of cultivation,-in other words, the price at which it could be put down in the textile markets. The ultimate fibres are 5 to 20 mm. in length, e.g., nearly as long as those of flax, and two or three times as long as those of sunn-hemp or of jute, though of course very much shorter than the fibres of Rhea. But from this point of view Rhea stands by itself, as its ultimate fibres (40 to 200 mm.) are far in excess of any otherk nown fibre. Messrs. Cross, Bevan & King say of Marsdenia, "Next to Rhea it must rank in point of fineness and durability, and we cannot urge its claims to the attention of Government in too strong terms. If it can be shown that the fibre could be cultivated at all, it might then become a question whether the haba or Rhea could be produced the cheaper." It seems probable that to arrive at good results the long young twigs of the plant had better be treated by some chemical decorticating process, such as that of Favier, instead of being cut into short lengths and decorticated mechanically. The shortness of the fibre-ribbons, as usually met with, would presumably be viewed as unfavourable, but since this is by no mears a necessity it might be well to adopt some process of decortication that would produce ribbons the full length of the twigs. The plant is too scarce and unimportant-looking for its merits to come by the usual "private enterprise" means to be recognised by the manu facturer. It must be cultivated, and that too perhaps for a good many years, before a final opinion can be pronounced. It is a climber and does not appear to grow either rapidly or profusely, but there is no knowing what it might do under careful management. Very likely the allied species M. Roylei might, as suggested above, be found a more suitable species for experimental cultivation, but of course in warm temperate regions only, such as Kúlu, Simla, Kumáon, Kashmír, the Nilghiris, &c. It might indeed be even possible to grow it in the warmer parts of Europe. Marsdenia is, however, too valuable a fibre to be longer ignored, and it would serve a public good were the various Botanic Gardens and Agri.-Horticultural Societies to take its experimental cultivation under their special charge. Were the cultivation of M. tenaciassima to prove remunerative, the plant might be reared in every hedgerow of India, but, being a climber, diffi culties exist with which the Indian cultivator of fibre crops has not as yet attempted to deal. In order to avoid these difficulties-the expense and trouble of constructing supports for a climbing plant-it would be a good step to ascertain whether it could be induced to crawl over the ground instead of requiring support. Although, as stated, it might be grown in every hedgerow over the entire length and breadth of the plains of India, success could alone be ensured by the production of a stock that might be planted in the usual way over a limited area. Marsdenia tinctoria, Br.; Fl. Br. Ind, IV., 34; Wight, Ic., t. 589. An Indigo Substitute. (G. Watt.) MARSDENIA Vern.-Riyong, (Teesta Valley). BENG.; Kali lara, NEPAL; Ryom, Habitat.-A tall, climbing shrub, of the North-Eastern Himálaya and Burma; occasionally cultivated in the Deccan and elsewhere in India, but only experimentally except in Burma where it assumes some importance; distributed through Sumatra, Java, and China. Fibre.-Like the preceding, this species yields a FIBRE, but the plant is collected more on account of its dye than its fibre. Dye. The LEAVES of this climber yield INDIGO. This fact has been published repeatedly, but apparently never put to commercial test. On this subject Roxburgh wrote:-"The leaves of this plant yield Indigo, as mentioned by Mr. Marsden, and by Mr. Blake, in the first volume of the Asiatick Researches. I have also extracted it from them by hot water. The few experiments I have yet made do not enable me to say positively in what proportion they yield their colour, but it was of an excellent quality; and as the plant grows very readily from layers, slips, or cuttings, I think it very well worthy of being cultivated, particularly as it is permanent like the Nerium" (Wrightia tinctoria), "so that a plantation once formed will continue for a number of years; and if we are allowed to draw a comparison between the leaves of this plant and those of Wrightia tinctoria, the quantity of colour they may yield will be in a larger proportion than that from the common indigo plant. "Some more experi ments I have made with the leaves confirm what is above related, not only respecting the quality of the Indigo, but also that the proportion is considerably greater than is obtained from Indigofera tinctoria. I have, therefore, warmly recommended an extensive cultivation thereof." Throughout the Journals of the Agri.-Horticultural Society the subject of Marsdenia Indigo is here and there referred to, but up to date no advancement seems to have been made towards utilizing the substance. For example, a sample was communicated in 1844 by Mr. E. O'Riley of Tenasserim to the Society. Commenting on that sample Griffith gave the extract from Marsden's History of Sumatra alluded to above by Roxburgh. "There is another kind of Indigo, Marsden says, called in Sumatra taram akar, which appears to be peculiar to that country, and was totally unknown to botanists to whom I shewed the leaves upon my return to England in the beginning of the year 1780. The common kind is known to have small pinnated leaves growing on stalks imperfectly ligneous. This, on the contrary, is a vine, or climbing plant, with leaves from three to five inches in length, thin, of a dark green, and in the dried state discoloured with blue stains. It yields the same dye as the former sort; they are prepared also in the same manner, and used indiscriminately, no preference being given to the one above the other, as the natives informed me; excepting inasmuch as the Taramakar, by reason of the largeness of the foliage, yields a greater proportion of sediment." Mason alludes to the fact that this indigo plant is, to a certain extent, cultivated by the Karens and sometimes the Burmans. This is said to be a creeper indigenous in some parts of the country and which yields a good indigo, "though not equal to the Ruellia (Strobilanthes) indigo." Drury, upon what authority is not known, says: "M. tinctoria is cultivated in tinctoria. FIBRE. 303 DYE. Leaves. 304 Indigo. 305 MARTYNIA diandra. 306 FOOD. Pot-herb. 307 308 Marsilea. دو Northern India, being a native of Sylhet and Burma. The leaves yield more and superior indigo to the Indigofera tinctoria, on which account it has been recommended for more extensive cultivation This would ap: pear to be a too liberal reading of Roxburgh's statement. No record exists of its bing cultivated in Northern India and Bengal except, perhaps, the plants raised by Roxburgh in the Botanic Garden, Calcutta. This subject has too long remained, however, in obscurity; it would seem well worthy the attention of planters. If any one of the three species of Marsdenia could be grown with the double object of affording dye and fibre, it seems probable the maceration to extract the indigo might prove an initial stage in the separation of the fibre, and thus render it possible to cheapen both products. The fibre of Marsdenia is of such extreme fineness and strength that, if produced commercially, Rhea and China grass would most probably be driven out of the market. It seems probable that, in India at least, the Boehmeria fibres will never become important crops. The Marsdenias are natives of this country, could be readily cultivated by cuttings, and, being perennials, they might be grown at small cost. Every thing in fact points to the superior claims of these plants over almost any other of known economic value which has not as yet found a place in European commerce. MARSILEA, Linn. A genus of Cryptogams named in honour of Count Marsigli, the founder of the Academy of Science at Bologna. Marsilea quadrifolia, Linn.; Baillon, Traité de Botanique, Médi[cale Cryptogamique, 39; MARSILEACEÆ. Vern. Súsni-shak, BENG.; Chatom aruk, SANTAL; Paflú, KASHMIR; Tripattra, godhi, PB.; Mudugu támara, munugu támara, chick-lintakura, chitlinta kúra (according to Elliot), TEL.; Chitigina soppu, ΚΑΝ. References.-Roxb., Fl. Ind., Ed. C.B.C., 745; Voigt, Hort, Sub. Cal., 739; Thwaites, En. Ceylon Pl., 378: Dale. & Gibs., Bomb. Fl., 309; Stewart, Pb Pl., 265; Burmann, Fl. Ind., 237; Grah. Cat. Bomb. Pl. 243; Elliot, Fl. Andhr., 117, 120; Stewart, Journ. Bot. Tour in Hasára (in Fourn., Agri.-Hort. Soc. Ind., Vol. XIV., 6); Rev. A. Campbell, Rept. Econ. Prod., Chutia-Nagpur, No. 7889; Atkinson, Him. Dist., 322; Four. As. Soc., P. II., No. II., 1867, 81; Gazetteers: -N.-W. P., I., 86; IV., lxxx; Mysore and Coorg,; I., 71; Indian Forester, XIV., 390. Habitat. This sub-aquatic plant (closely allied to the ferns) is found growing abundantly on the margins of tanks in Bengal and northwards to the Panjab, also on the hills up to 5,000 feet. Food. It is regularly eaten as a POT-HERB by the natives of Bengal, and probably in the Panjab and other parts of India. The same species occurs in France where, according to Baillon, it is eaten in times of scarcity. Two other species, M. hirsuta, R. Br. and M. Drummondii, R. Br., form the well-known nardú, of Australian writers, so often mentioned as furnishing food to travellers in that country. From these a sort of coarse bread and a gruel or broth are made. Mr. J. H. Maiden (Native Plants of Australia, 135), says that the Nardú "is much relished by stock. It is, however, better known as yielding an unsatisfactory human food in its spore-cases." MARTYNIA, Linn.; Gen. Pl., II., 1055. Vern.-Háthajori, bichu, HIND.; Bagh noki, BENG.; Sher núi, BEHAR; jori (=fruit), PB.; Vinchú (Poison: scorpion), BOMB.; Vinchú, Mar.; References.-Roxb., Fl. Ind., Ed. C.B.C., 496; Stewart, Pb. Pl., 149; Oil.-The Rev. A. Campbell states that the Santals distil a medicinal OIL from the fruit; he does not mention the purpose for which the oil is, however, used. Medicine.-The FRUIT is officinal in the Panjáb bazárs (Stewart). It is sold in the drug shops as an antidote to scorpion stings, hence the name Bichu, HIND., and Vinchu, MAHR. Its properties are very likely entirely imaginary, being suggested on the theory of signatures from the resemblance of the sharp hooks of the fruit to the sting of the scorpion, the claws of the tiger, &c. A writer in the Indian Agriculturist dwells on this property of antidote to venomous bites and stings. SPECIAL OPINIONS.-§ "The fruit has received the name Bichu (scor- MASTIXIA, Bl.; Gen. Pl., I., 950. Vern.-Diatalia, CEYLON. References.-Thwaites, En. Ceylon. Pl., 42; Beddome, Fl. Sylv., t. 216; Habitat.-A large tree with dark green foliage found in Cachar, the Nilghiri Mountains, and in Ceylon at altitudes of from 4,000 to 7,000 feet. Structure of the Wood.—Said to be of good quality, but no definite information exists regarding it. Beddome remarks that it is very abundant in the dense Western Ghát forests, from Kanara to Cape Comorin. It is thus doubtless of considerable importance to the people, though its properties do not appear to have been investigated. M. tetrandra, C. B. Clarke; Fl. Br. Ind., II., 745. Beddome, in reducing Wight's Bursinopetalum to Mastixia, referred this name to the above species, remarking that the "tetramerous form is certainly not a distinct species, as both forms occur on one and the same tree." If this opinion be confirmed, the name of the tree should be M. arborea, Bedd. MATRICARIA, Linn.; Gen. Pl., II., 427. Matricaria Chamomilla, Linn.; Fl. Br. Ind., III., 315; COMPOSITE. GERMAN CHAMOMILE OF PERSIAN CHAMOMILE, the true medicinal Chamomile being Anthemis nobilis, Linn.; see Vol. I., 264. Syn.-M. SUAVEOLENS, Linn. OIL. 309 MEDICINE. 310 311 TIMBER. 312 313 314 MATT, Cobaltiferous, OIL. 315 MEDICINE. Flower heads. 316 Oil. 317 318 Persian Chamomile. Vern.-Bábunáh, babúna, suteigul (Trans Indus), PB.; Bábúná, Guz.; Habitat. A much branched herb found in the Upper Gangetic plain, and distributed to Northern Asia and westwards to the Atlantic. Oil.-An essential OIL is obtained by distillation, which, to a certain extent, possesses antispasmodic properties. Medicine. It does not seem necessary to do more than indicate the literature of this drug. It is in India, as in Europe, only used as a substitute for true chamomile, and though it might be easily supplied at less price than the imported article, it is scarcely, if at all, used in India. The dried FLOWER HEADS are officinal, and are said to be stimulant, tonic, and carminative. They are employed in constitutional debility, hysteria, dyspepsia, and intermittent fevers. The warm and strong infusion of the flowers is emetic, while a weak infusion acts as a tonic and febrifuge. In flatulence and colic, chamomile OIL is generally regarded the most effectual of all remedies. The Indian Pharmacopoeia says the babunaka phul forms a perfect substitute for the European Chamomile (see Anthemis nobilis). "In Persian works the flowers are described as stimulant, attenuant, and discutient. There is a popular opinion among the Persians that the odour of the flowers induces sleep and drives away noxious insects; they also say that the chamomile tea applied to the genitals has a powerfully stimulating effect" (Dymock). MATT, COBALTIFEROUS. Matt, Cobaltiferous. Since the date on which the article Cobalt was written, an interesting correspondence has taken place regarding the "cheep" or cobaltiferous matt found in certain parts of Nepal. As this is of some interest, the opportunity has been taken to refer shortly to the subject in this place, leaving the reader, for a full detail of the correspondence, to consult the Selections from the Records of the Government of India, Revenue and Agricultural Department, Vol. I., 61, or the Indian Agriculturist, November 1889, 663. In January 1888 a parcel of "cheep" was forwarded by a Mr. Ricketts to the Resident in Nepál with the information that "there were several smelting mines of the stuff, and that it is only obtained close by the copper mines in Nepal." The name of the locality is "Kachipatar, Argah Zillah, Sowrobhar, about 80 miles north of Doolho. The price on the spot is R30 to R35 per maund, and they sell it here" (at DooÎho) "from R40 to R50 per maund." A sample sent from the Resident in Nepál to the Government of India, Revenue and Agricultural Department, was subjected to an analysis and thus reported on by the Director, Geological Survey, of India: "The sample of cheep,' sent to you by Mr. Ricketts in June last, and forwarded to this office, has been analysed by Mr. E. J. Jones with the following result : Loss at 100°C. 0'40 Cobalt 0'70 Iron 20'41 Dr. W. King then stated that, from latest available information, cobaloxide was worth £717 per ton; that 5 tons of "cheep" would yield i ton of |