THE OLONA, HAWAII'S UNEXCELLED FIBER-PLANT THE Hawaiian people formerly made use of a considerable range of fiber plants. Some of these were brought by the natives from the South Pacific, others were discovered in the new island home. The paper mulberry, Broussonettia papyrifera, is an excellent example of a fiber-plant widespread in the Pacific region. From its copious bast was made the typical kapa or bark-cloth of Polynesia. The 'olona (o-lo-na) Touchardia latifolia Gaud., on the other hand, is wholly confined to the / Hawaiian Islands; the genus is monotypic and endemic. The ancient Hawaiians undoubtedly discovered the valuable fiber of this plant at a very early time. They were intimately familiar with the local flora and its economic utilization. The olona is mentioned in many of the old songs and legends. Special interest is attached to the olona fiber as it is generally recognized to be the strongest and most durable fiber in the world. No other fiber is recorded to exceed it in these two important characteristics. So far as is known to the writer, the present paper is the first and only extant concise and comprehensive account of the olona. The urticaceous genus Touchardia was named and described by Charles GaudichaudBeaupre, generally known as Gaudichaud. He was botanist for the great French expedition under Freycinet, 1817-1820, and for "La Bonite" during its circumnavigation of the globe, 1836-37. The botany of the latter voyage, in which Touchardia is described, was published under the title "Botanique du Voyage autour du Monde... sur la Bonite." The salient features of the genus are as follows: Flowers diæcious, on globose receptacles. Male perigone 5-parted, the segments imbricate in the depressed bud. Stamens 5. Female perigone subcampanulate, 4-lobed or toothed. Ovary straight, almost as long as the perigone. oblique, ascending. Stigma spathulate, with one face and the margins papillose-ciliate. Achene smooth, compressed, oval, invested by the rather fleshy adherent perigone. Albumen very scanty. Cotyledons ovate, subcordate, Ovule conduplicate, and twice as long as the thick radicle. The single species latifolia was named with reference to the large, broad leaves, which form a conspicuous feature of the plant. It is an erect woody shrub, 4-10 ft. high, and sparingly dividing into stout branches. It is from the thick bark of these wand-like erect shoots that the highly prized fiber is obtained. The youngest shoots are hispid, but soon glabrate; the colorless latex is viscid and not plentiful. The leaves are alternate, large, and with petioles of 3-10 inches. The upper leaves have short petioles, the lower leaves have greatly elongated petioles. The leaf-blade is 9-16 inches long by 5-10 inches broad, ovate, with acute or acuminate apex and rounded base. The margin is obtusely crenate. The blade is chartaceous, dark-green on both faces, and glabrous, excepting a few small hairs along the veins. Unlike many urticaceous plants, the leaves are not armed with stinging hairs. The veins are conspicuously tripli-venate at the base of the leaf, the lateral veins not reaching the middle of the margin; toward the apex it is pinnate, with rectangular areoles. The stipules are large, 2 inches long, axillary, entire and acute. They form one of the easily recognized characters of the plant. The midribs, petioles, stipules, etc., are often dark red. The flowers are pedicellate and bracteolate. The globose glomerules are generally arranged in repeatedly forking cymes, with one branch suppressed and the middle glomerule sessile. The male cymes are longer (3-5 in.) and broader (5–6 in.) than the female cymes, which are also more crowded. The male glomerules are 6-8 lines in diameter, with a perigone of 11-2 lines, the lanceolate segments hooded and obtuse or tuberculate below the apex. The stamens are shortly exerted; anthers large, white. The rudiment of the pistil is glabrous. The female glomerules are 4-5 lines in diameter; perigone 1 line diameter, orangecolored upon maturity; style as long as the achene. Like many of the plants of the rainforest the olona is quite variable as to its flowering period; flowering plants may be obtained at any season of the year. The natural habitat of the olona is the lower and middle forest zone, lying on the mountains between elevations of 800-1,800 feet. It is strongly hygrophytic and shade-loving; it never occurs naturally in the open or in dry sections. The favorite habitats are deep, cool, gloomy ravines, or moist slopes that are well screened by forest cover. The olona belongs to that ecologic section of the Hawaiian flora that luxuriates in the dense moist shade of the montane forests. The zonal limitations of olona are clean-cut; it does not occur on the lowlands, nor at the higher levels. It inhabits all of the larger islands of the archipelago. Representative regions are the rain-forests of Wai-ale-ale, Kauai, Waianae and Koolau Ranges, Oahu; East Molokai; West Maui and Hale-a-ka-la; and the extensive forests on the island of Hawaii. It occurs in little patches or thickets here and there in the forest, but is nowhere abundant. It does not form continuous stands; reproduction is not vegetative but apparently always from seed. In any one spot the collector is not likely to find more than a few score individual plants. The Hawaiians formerly cultivated the olona in a primitive manner. They did not prepare the land or plant seed, but merely searched out good patches of the wild plants. Such a patch was cleared of any obstructing vegetation, not disturbing, however, the large trees which shaded the plants. If the olona plants were too crowded they were thinned out. The old plants were pruned so as to give a number of young, straight shoots. At irregular intervals, as convenience or necessity dictated, the grove was visited and the crop harvested. This process consisted in cutting all the long, straight shoots that had reached a diameter of about one inch. The bark of such shoots was rich in bast fibers, and these were of maximum length. Six feet was an average length. The bark was carefully stripped from the wands, in one or more pieces, packed into rolls or bundles, and carried down to the settlements on the lowlands, where the final operations were performed. A suitable situation was found along a stream or irrigation ditch. The bundles of bark were opened and spread out in the shallow running water, where they were allowed to partially macerate. This required several days; then the long strips were removed from the water and the remaining pulpy matter was scraped from them while still wet. The scraping was performed on a long, narrow, hardwood board, specially devised for this purpose and known as "la-au kahi olona." The scraper was made of pearl shell (Margaritifera fimbriate) or turtle-shell plate (Chelone mydas), and was called uhi kahi olona kau honu." The prepared fiber was carefully dried and rolled into cordage of various sizes. In ancient Hawaii the olona was venerated as a sort of deity or lesser god. Before spinning the fibers the natives made libations, and offered sacrifices of hogs, fowls, etc. The following excerpt of an old chant-the mele of Kawelo vividly describes the preparation of the olona fish-net: I, as chief, willingly The olona springs up, it grows, It branches and is cut down. (The paddles of the chief beat the sea.) Stripped off is the bark of the olona, Peeled is the bark of the yellow moki. The fire exhales a sweet odor; The sacrifice is ready. The bark is peeled, the board is made ready, The olona is carded And laid on the board. White is the cord. The cord is twisted on the thigh, Cast it into the sea, Into the Sea of Papa; let him fall, Let him fall, that I may strangle the neck Uhumakaikii was a legendary sea-monster, who could raise great waves and capsize canoes. Formerly every chief had in the mountains one or more plantations of olona, which were tended by his dependents and which supplied him with sufficient quantities of this valuable product. Taxes were not infrequently paid with olona, as the fiber was nowhere so abundant as to depreciate its exchange value. Among the Hawaiians it was put to a great variety of uses. All fishing lines and nets of the best quality were invariably made of olona, because of its high resistance to the action of salt water. Olona lines and nets which have been in more or less constant use for over a century are almost as good as new, and are handed down from generation to generation as precious objects. Most of the natives are very unwilling to part with any of their fishing gear that is made of olona. The very serviceable carrying-nets, koko, in which the wooden calabashes and other objects were borne, were commonly made of olona fiber. Olona was not used for making the bark-cloth or kapa itself. but threads and cords of olona were used for sewing the kapa. A stout cord of olona was usually attached to the wooden war-clubs and dagger-like swords, for suspending the weapon from the wrist. This prevented the loss of the weapon during the fray. For fastening the stone adz, oo, to its wooden handle, olona was always the preferred fiber. It was used for the very fine and pliable netting which served as a groundwork for the feathers, in the construction of the splendid garments and insignia of the ancient royalty and alii. The brilliant scarlet and yellow feathers were skillfully woven by the women upon the imperishable framework of olona. Mr. William Weinrich, manager of the Hawaiian Sisal Company's extensive plantation, has made an exhaustive study of fibers in the Hawaiian Islands, and has kindly prepared for the writer the following statement concerning olona: This fiber not only partakes of all the best characteristics of this genus, but is superior to any of its members, producing the best of all fibers known at the present time. The three dominant features are First-the great tensile strength. I estimate that the strength of olona is about three times the strength of commercial Manila. The statement is made that olona is about eight times as strong as the hemp, Cannabis sativa. So far as I can gather, this great strength is due to the unusual length of the cell in proportion to its width. Second-its great resistance to deterioration in salt water. I once examined a ball of olona fishline, the Hawaiian owner of which stated that it had been in their family, and in constant use, for over fifty years. At the time I saw it, the fiber was in an excellent state of preservation. Third-its pliability, and thus its adaptability for spinning by hand. Fishing lines and nets made from this fiber by expert Hawaiians present an appearance of so uniform a caliber and twist that it would lead one to believe that the fiber had been made by the most intricate machinery. It was the writer's pleasure, some years ago, to send samples of the olona fiber to the manufac turers in the East. To my surprise, the fiber was found to be absolutely unknown in that market. A fiber with these characteristics should be exploited to the fullest measure. The extraction of this fiber is not a difficult process. In the history of Hawaii we find references to this fiber as having been grown on a large scale as a source of revenue; but, like many other things Hawaiian, its usefulness has been lost sight of during the progress of civilization. The key to the situation lies in transforming this plant from its wild state to a cultural form. When this is done, the world will be in possession of a new fiber, having a greater tensile strength, weight for weight, than any other fiber known. VAUGHAN MACCAUGHEY COLLEGE OF HAWAII, HONOLULU THE BARBADOS-ANTIGUA EXPEDITION FROM THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA THE Barbados-Antigua Expedition from the State University of Iowa returned to New York on August 1, with all its members in good health and without mishap of any kind. There were nineteen persons in the party, nearly all of them instructors or graduate students from the State University of Iowa. Their object was not only to secure collections in marine zoology, entomology and geology from a region in which little work had hitherto been done; but also to study the living forms in and around the islands visited and thus supplement the future more intensive work based on the collections secured. In both Barbados and Antigua the colonial authorities provided excellent quarters for the party and adequate laboratory facilities in government buildings, and both officials and private citizens aided the enterprise in every possible way. At Barbados dredging was accomplished at about one hundred stations, working down to over 150 fathoms. This was rendered possible by the use of a fully equipped 27-foot launch provided by Mr. John B. Henderson, of Washington, who accompanied the expedition and who will report on the collections of Mollusca of which many new or rare forms were taken. Practically all species taken with the dredge or tangles will provide new locality records extending the known geographical range. The fauna, while not so rich as that of the western end of the Antillean chain, or the continental shelf off the Florida Keys, is of remarkable interest from a distributional standpoint, while a number of new forms will interest the systematist. The apparent scarcity of certain groups abundant in the western parts of the West Indies, such as the Asteroidea, was something of a surprise. As is usually the case in a region of growing corals the cœlenterate fauna was most conspicuous, but there seemed to be a remarkable scarcity of medusa. Indeed the pelagic fauna was rather poor. Shallow water forms, on the contrary, were remarkably abundant and interesting, furnishing ample material for laboratory work and study of forms in situ. Some probably new forms of actinians and corals were secured. Balanoglossus was found in the sand near our laboratory on Pelecan Island. By employing a native diver many species were secured at depths from three to nine fathoms. Some remarkably fine corals and alcyonarians were thus obtained. The use of fish-pots and native fishermen resulted in a fairly complete set of reef fishes which would not otherwise have been secured. Very few deep-water fishes were taken. Many gorgeously colored comatulics were dredged, but the pentacrinoids were represented by but a single Rhizocrinus. The serpent stars were, as usual, very abundant and a number of simple-armed basket-fish were found. Crustacea were, of course, particularly numerous, perhaps the most interesting being small macrourans secured by breaking up old coral heads. At Antigua the party was given quarters at the old dock-yard at English Harbor, a formidable naval base in Nelson's time. Here the conditions were entirely different from those at Barbados. The trade-winds were so strong and constant during our stay that little dredging could be accomplished, and the entire time was devoted to shallow-water forms in English Harbor, Falmouth Harbor and Willoughby Bay. These waters were over mud bottoms; the shores, however, being varied in the form of mud flats, mangrove swamps, sand beaches and rocky shores. Here were found a veritable wealth and variety of aquatic forms, a great majority being different from those secured at Barbados. Tube-dwelling worms, some of great size and beauty, were perhaps the most striking feature; tunicates and holothurians coming next in point of abundance both in individuals and species. Among the Mollusca, a great quantity of beautiful Murices were collected off the sea wall, where they seemed to be devouring the soft parts of a bivalve (Perna) that was attached in great quantities near high-water mark. A very large Chatopod, called locally sea scorpion," was found to bore through a heavy Livona shell, making a hole as smooth as a drill. Large and wonderfully beautiful anemones of several species were abundant, particularly in Falmouth Harbor, as well as the finest colonies of Pennaria that I have ever seen. The Echinoidea were well represented, mostly by well-known forms. One small spatongoid was found to live buried from six to twelve inches under the sand. Among the Crustacea, a very large land-crab, with orange brown carapace and purple and white chele, was perhaps the most striking form. At both Barbados and Antigua extensive collections were made in the field of geology by Professor A. O. Thomas. Mr. Henderson made a practically complete collection of land mollusks, while Mr. and Mrs. Dayton Stoner did faithful and successful work in the entomological field, in which they were very materially aided by both the local and imperial departments of agriculture. The field of botany had no professional representative in the expedition; but considerable collecting and field work done by Mr. Willis Nutting. A fine series of two species of bats were secured at Antigua. As already indicated, Mr. John B. Henderson will report on the Mollusca. The reef fishes will be reported on by Dr. Barton W. Evermann, Professor W. K. Fisher will attend to the Asteroidea and Holothuroidea, while the writer will probably report on the Hydroida and Aleyonaria. The other groups have not as yet been assigned. A large series of excellent photographs, including moving picture films, was secured by Mr. Maurice Ricker, official photographer of the expedition. STATE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA, August 30, 1918 C. C. NUTTING SCIENTIFIC EVENTS THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CERAMIC SOCIETY A JOURNAL that is a pioneer in its field is always the subject of most careful scrutiny. When that field is representative of one of the oldest phases of human endeavor the cause for attention to the new publication is multiplied many fold. There has now appeared the first issue of the Journal of the American Ceramic Society, a monthly journal devoted to science and technique of the ceramic industries. The American Ceramic Society belongs to the older family of scientific societies in the United States. The first meeting of the society, which was in reality a little family gathering of a small group of ceramic enthusiasts, was held in Columbus, Ohio, in February, 1899, and from that meeting grew the present organization due largely to the guiding genius of Professor Edward Orton, Jr., of Ohio State University. The society is, therefore, in its twentieth year of vigorous and active life. The membership has increased from that early day until at present there are over 1,000 enrolled in the society. In the American Ceramic Society, the term ceramic is synonymous with "silicate indus tries" and the interests and activities of the society include all branches of the clayware, glass and cement industries as well as enameled wares of all kinds and in addition other closely allied products are included, chief among which are abrasives, gypsum and lime. Few people realize the gigantic proportions of these ceramic industries. The products of the three major divisions alone (clayware, glass and cement) aggregate over $400,000,000 per annum. In the earlier days the society consisted of one main organization only. With increased activities and with enlargement in its scope of usefulness it became necessary to organize local sections and student branches as shown in the following list. LOCAL SECTIONS Central Ohio Section New England Section STUDENT BRANCHES Ohio State University Student Branch University of Illinois Student Branch The publication work of the society has, up to the present time, been confined to the issuing of our annual volume of Transactions. Twenty years ago this was a small feeble effort, very creditable for the then-existing state of our knowledge of the science of the silicate industries. This annual volume has shown continuous growth and the 1917 volume comprises 707 pages of well-edited contributions. The American Ceramic Society's Transactions have, for many years, been known throughout the world as the standard reference books on the silicate industries. This remarkable growth in strength and influence of the society has made it essential that periodical publication of the researches and other activities of the society members be |