Philippine Islands; they are not, however, equal to "best." Hemp of the same quality could be sold at Calcutta now for, say, R20 per cwt., or say from £30 to £32 per ton in the London market; the price, however, is very fluctuating. In the comparative trials of the two samples, the fibre prepared by the retting process proved itself the stronger, breaking with a weight of 266, whereas the fibre prepared by the scraping process broke at 224b; this was contrary to the expectations which had been formed, as it was thought that the process of retting would have weakened the fibre. In reference to the methods used for cleaning the fibre. By the information furnished it does not appear from what weight of raw material the samples were prepared, or whether there was a greater waste by one process than by the other. The retting process is unusual as respects the Musa textilis; and though in this instance the results have been favourable, it would be as well, before adopting it on a future occasion, to have careful trials made of the waste, cost of transporting the raw material to the water, handling, &c. Such experiments would also prove valuable records; were the results favourable it would probably prove a method which Indian labourers would more readily adopt from their acquaintance with it when dealing with jute; were such experiments determined on, it would be as well also to try the effect of retting in still water, to ascertain if it would injure the fibre. The other method adopted, viz., scraping with a blunt knife, is substantially the system in use in the Philippines. The Society is indebted to Mr. Wilkinson, British Consul at Manilla, for an account of the process actually in use there, published in the Society's Proceedings for July 1883 The following is a description of the apparatus in use in the province of Albay, Island of Luzon, for extracting the fibres from the stalks of the wild plantain (Musa textilis), locally known as Abacá or Manilla hemp : Two strong uprights are firmly fixed in the ground and connected by a cross bar, in the centre of which a large broad-bladed knife is fixed edge downwards on a block of wood fastened lengthwise on the bar; the knife has a strong handle, which is connected by a cord to a long bamboo made to act as a spring, by being tied in the middle and the butt parallel and above the bar; the free end thus forms a supple and powerful spring and holds the edge of the knife firmly against the block; below the bar, there is a treadle attached by a cord to the handle of the knife; the mode of operation is for the worker to stand opposite the knife, placing either foot on the treadle, which he depresses, thus forcing the knife handle down and the blade up; he then places a strip of stalk (called locally Sifa) between the blade and the block, leaving only enough to wrap round a stock on the near side; he then releases the treadle, and the knife by the action of the bamboo spring, nips the strip firmly against the block, and on the workmen drawing the strip through, the pulp is left behind. The apparatus is extremely simple and inexpensive.' 'In the Bulletin for April 1887 (No. 4) published by the authorities of Kew, there is a great deal of interesting information regarding the Manilla hemp. It is there stated that the whole supply comes from the Philippine Islands; the imports to Great Britain amounts to about 170,000 bales and to the United States about 160,000 bales, equal to about 50,000 tons per annum.' The imports to Calcutta are comparatively insignificant, being probably less than 300 tons per annum. It is stated in the Kew report that a labourer working under pressure 'can clean nearly 2016 of hemp per diem; but as a rule the quantity cleaned by one man working MUSA textilis. FIBRE. MUSA textilis. FIBRE. History and Cultivation of steadily day by day averages about 12b; usually two men work together, one cutting down the stems and splitting them, while the other cleans the fibre. At the current rate of wages in 1879 one labourer's earnings were 7 d. to 8d. per diem.' "The foregoing extract is given, as it may be a guide in future experiments. The amount of fibre cleaned per man in the experiment at the Andamans having been about 7 oz. and 5 oz. per head in the scraping and retting process respectively. With more experience, and an appliance such as has been described, a model of which I am instructed to say can be furnished to the Chief Commissioner if required, there is no reason why the results may not more closely approximate to that obtained in the Philippines. I am to add the following extract from the Kew Bulletin already quoted from :— 'After a systematic series of trials made by the Glenrock Company at Madras in 1885, it is stated that plants put out in 1864 grew well and yielded numerous shoots; 179 stems, weighing about 60 pounds each, were cut down for experimental purposes and passed through Death and Ellwood Machines. These produced 159th of clean fibre, or 149 per cent. of green stem. The cost of cleaning the fibre was at the rate of £6 per ton, while the fibre itself, described as 'poor, weak, and flaggy, with some clean fibre of good colour,' was valued in London at £10 per ton; the best alone was valued at £25 per ton. The minute upon this of the Government of Madras is that unless much improvement both in the method and cost of production of this fibre can be made, the cultivation cannot be made remunerative.' 'The fibre prepared in the Andamans being, as above stated, nearly equal to medium hemp imported from the Philippines, and being valued at R20 per cwt., and the data above given showing it is possible to produce the fibre at less than 6 pie per pound by hand labour, it would appear that there is every prospect of the cultivation of Musa textilis being made a productive one in the Andamans '" (Blechynden). In addition it may be mentioned that Mr. Liotard insists strongly on the necessity of cutting down the plants before they bear fruit, of extracting the fibre as soon as possible after the stems are cut down, and of avoiding all necessary exposure to moisture or to the direct rays of the sun. Dr. Watt, commenting on Mr. Blechynden's memorandum and on the facts previously given by him, remarks, "The above abstract of the published facts regarding Manilla-fibre may be of some value in suggesting the course which should be followed in further efforts to acclimatise the plant and produce the fibre. The efforts which have been made to introduce the plant into Bengal have failed, the low temperature, as Dr. King reports, of the cold weather having proved too much for the plant. Mr. Duthie, in his reports of the experimental cultivation in Saharanpur, simply mentions the plant as growing in the gardens. In Madras and in Bombay the attempts to introduce the plant have proved more hopeful, especially in the districts possessing the necessary conditions briefly indicated. The Commissioner reports, for example, of the Dharwar District, that the result of planting Musa textilis is a great success, and I am of opinion, with regard to the experiment, that it might, with good treatment and without much difficulty and expense, succeed well.' The Director of Agriculture, Madras, remarks that There is sufficient evidence that the plant will grow in most parts of the Presidency, and I think the future operations should be confined to the Government farms in order to ascertain whether (1) the plant can compete with the ordinary plantain-Musa sapi entum ; (2) the difficulty of extracting the fibre can be overcome so as to (3) the fruit can be utilised; (4) a hybrid variety can be raised between the Musa textilis and the Mr. Robertson, of the Saidapet Experimental Farm, reports that the plants will not grow well unless planted in a deep well-manured soil, under regular irrigation. On this account the cost of growing the plants, until they reach the stage of cutting, is great. He adds: There seems little or no probability of Musa textilis becoming an established crop on this side of India. On the western coast, in some localities where irrigation and manuring are less urgently needed, the cost of producing the plants will be much less; and there some experiments should be tried.' He further states that there is no probability of really clean fibre being turned out by the ordinary process, at a cost less than 6 annas per pound, a cost far in excess of the value of the fibre. The cultivation of Musa textilis in the Andaman Islands would appear, from the reports furnished by the local authorities and by the Agri.-Horticultural Society of India, to have been eminently successful, the methods of separating the fibre being alone defective, since the article could only be produced at a price far above its mercantile value. How far this will prove insuperable must be left for further experiments, with improved machinery, to reveal, but it would seem desirable to guard against too high expectations as to any part of India being ever likely to become a formidable rival to the Philippine Islands in meeting the present comparatively limited demand for the fibre. In July 1888 another letter was received by the Government of India from the Superintendent, Port Blair and Nicobars, stating that 1,415th of Musa textilis fibre had been manufactured, and was ready for export, from which it may be presumed that the plant continues to thrive, and holds out good prospects of commercial success. MUSK. True musk, the dry, inspissated secretion of the preputial follicles of the Musk Deer, has already been fully described in the article on Moschus mochiferus under Deer, in Vol. III., 58. In continuation of that article a brief account of the medicinal and chemical properties of the substance may be given in this place, together with a few remarks regarding musk substitutes. Musk and Musk Substitutes. The term "musk" is, in common usage, applied in compound names to a number of products of both animals and vegetables characterised by the peculiar scent of the true perfume. Amongst these the chief Indian musk-scented animal is the so-called musk-rat, in reality a shrew (see Rats, Mice, Marmots, &c.), but its odourous secretion is not utilized. Amongst vegetable musks may be mentioned the musk-plant proper (Mimulus moschatus) common in window-culture; Ferula Sumbul, see Vol. III., 339; and Hibiscus Abelmoschus, see Vol. IV., 229. The last mentioned is the only musk plant of commercial value. The reader is referred to the account in Vol. IV. for a description of the utilization of its seeds in perfumery. Despite the large number of products capable of affording more or less of a musk-like odour, the musk deer remains the only important commercial source of the perfume. Perfume.-Musk is remarkable for the power, permanency, and subtility of its odour, everything in its vicinity soon becoming affected by it and retaining the scent for a long time. It has long been highly valued MUSK. FIBRE. 851 852 PERFUME 853 MUSTARD. Musk and Musk-substitutes. in perfumery, and though now little used alone, is very largely employed to give permanence and strength to other odours. Piesse writes :-" It is a fashion of the present day for people to say that they do not like musk,' but, nevertheless, from great experience in one of the largest manufacturing perfumatories in Europe, I am of opinion that the public taste for musk is as great as any perfumer desires. Those substances containing it always take the preference in ready sale-so long as the vendor takes care to assure his customer that there is no musk in it."" (Perfumery, 258). Perfumers use the scent principally for imparting an odour to soap, sachetpowder, and in mixing liquid perfumery. The alkaline reaction of soap is said to be favourable to the development of its odoriferous principle. Its fragrance is much affected and even completely destroyed by some other bodies, such as camphor, valerian, bitter almonds, and powdered ergot. Medicine.-- Musk has long been known and valued in Hindu medicine. In the Bhávaprakasa three varieties are described, named rámrupa, nepála, and káshmíra. The first is described as black and superior to the others, and probably consisted of China or Tibet musk imported via Kamrup. That of Nepal is described as of bluish colour and intermediate quality, while the Kashmir musk was inferior. The drug was regarded by Sanskrit physicians as stimulant and aphrodisiac, and was employed in low fevers, chronic cough, general debility and impotence (U. C. Dutt, Mat. Med. Hind., 279). In European medicine, musk is regarded as a powerful stimulant and antispasmodic, and is chiefly prescribed in the advanced stages of typhus, typhoid, and other diseases of an asthenic type. It has also been found useful in spasmodic asthma, laryngismus stridulus, whooping cough, epi. lepsy, and chorea, &c. MUSSÆNDA, Linn.; Gen. Pl., II., 64. [t. 124 Var. ß, ingrata, M. INGRATA, Wall. ? Var. y, laxa. Vern.-Bedina, HIND.; Asari, NEPAL; Tumberh, LEPCHA; Babina, References.-Kurs, For. Fl. Burm., II., 58; Dals. & Gibs., Bomb. Fl., Habitat.-A handsome shrub, with yellow flowers and a large white calycine leaf, found in the North-East Himálaya, Bengal, South India, and Burma; often cultivated in gardens. Medicine. The ROOT is used medicinally. Dymock states that in the Konkan half a tolá is given with cow's urine in white leprosy (pándú-rog). In jaundice 2 tolás of the white calycine LEAVES are given in milk. Food.-Atkinson writes that the LEAVES are eaten as a pot-herb in the North-West Provinces, and Lisboa remarks that the white leaf of the calyx is eaten as a vegetable in Bombay. Domestic.-In Southern India the LEAVES are considered a charm against demons. Mustard.-Three species of Brassica yield Mustard and Mustard Oil, and are also grown for the well-known condiment which is prepared from M. 860 the seed. See Brassica alba, B. juncea, and B. nigra, Vol. I., 521, 528, and 530. MYLABRIS. Mylabris cichorii, Fabr.; Stephenson, Med. Zool., 1. 26, f. 5; M. pustulata. M. punctum. MYRICA 861 INSECTA. 862 863 864 THE TELINI FLY, SUBSTITUTES FOR CANTHARIDES. References.-Pharm. Ind., 277; Moodeen Sheriff, Supp. Pharm. Ind., These flies, together with M. melaneura, M. humeralis, M. proxima, M. orientalis, Lytta assamensis, L. gigas, L. violacea, Epicauta nipalensis, and Meloe trianthema, have all been described at different times as substitutes for cantharides, but since the best of all, M. cichorii, exists plentifully in most parts of India, the necessity of increasing the number of these insect vesicants is lessened. M. cichorii, common throughout India, is also to be found in Southern Europe, Egypt, and China. Medicine. This and the other species enumerated above have been highly extolled as substitutes for cantharides: M. cichorii was first brought to notice in 1809, and has since been highly recommended by Drs. Burt, Hunter, Fleming, and Bidie. The action of these insects is the same as that of the well-known cantharides (Cantharis vesicatoria) for which they afford a very efficient substitute as a vesicant. According to the Pharmacopoeia of India, "They should not be substituted as an internal remedy for the Tincture of Cantharides, since the strength and operation of the latter is well ascertained, which is not the case with our article." M. cichorii is regarded as a more powerful blistering agent than European Cantharides, and is regularly employed as a substitute in the Government Medical Store Depôts. SPECIAL OPINIONS.- "A very good substitute for cantharides" (Surgeon-Major C. R. G. Parker, Pallaveram). "Is quite equal to cantharides" (Surgeon-Major E. Sanders, Chittagong). "As good as cantharides, perhaps stronger" (Bolly Chund Sen, Teacher of Medicine). "Regularly used in the Government Medical Depôts as a substitute for cantharides and found very efficient (Brigade-Surgeon G. A. Watson, Allahabad). "Very good vesicant" (Assistant Surgeon Nehal Sing, Saharunpore). MYRIACTIS, Less.; Gen. Pl., II., 262. It is A small genus of erect annuals, which belongs to the Natural Order MYRICA, Linn.; Gen. Pl., III., 400. Syn.-M. SAPIDA, Wall.; M. INTEGRIFOLIA, Roxb.; M. MISSIONIS, Vern.- Káíphal, káephal, HIND., DEC., SIND; Káiphal, káyaphul, sat- M. 869 MEDICINE. 865 866 FOOD. Leaves. 867 Shoots. 868 869 |