lTanil/a=heinp

[From Manila, in the Philippine Islands.] The material obtained from the thread¬ like fibres of a kind of banana-tree which grows in the Philippine Islands, and largely used making cables, ropes, and cordage. ing or representation on paper or other material of the surface of the earth or part of it, showing the shape and position of the countries, rivers, etc. many of them found in North America, some in Europe and Asia, and a few in Japan. Some are small shrubs and others are large trees. red maple, the sugar maple, and the white maple are common throughout the United States. wood of the red maple is used for inlaying for making stocks of rifles and fowling-pieces. The sugar maple yields a sap from which sugar is made, and the wood forms excellent fuel, makes the best of charcoal. Some kinds, called curled and bird’s-eye maple, because the grain twisted or marked like birds’ eyes, are used cabinet-work. The wood of the common maple, a native of many parts of Europe and Asia, fine-grained, compact, takes a high polish, is much used by turners, and for carved work. ties of limestone, of sufficiently compact texture to admit of a polish, are known by the name marble. It is a beautiful stone, usually white, but frequently colored, and marked with stripes, spots, and shades of different tints. As a build¬ ing stone, marble is valuable for its great dura¬ bility and being susceptible of a brilliant polish, is largely used for the purposes of art or arch i¬ tectural ornament. Carrara marble, from quarries in North Italy, and Parian marble, from the of Paros, are famous for statuary purposes. stance (of stearin and palmitin) made from olive and other vegetable oils, and also from the fat some animals. large j^ellow flower, a native of France and southern parts of Europe. The French marigold and the African marigold, both Mexican species, have brilliant flowers, and form beautiful borders in flower-gardens. The well-known ice-plants are fig-marigolds.