Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1892-11-19
ABOUT sEDcEs AND GRASSES.
Some Interesting Facts Not Generally
known Pointed Out by BotanIst.

"Afrer the grasses, the most widely
distributed order Of plants in the world
is that of the sedges, says botanist to
a Washington Star writer Whereas
the former are the most useful of all
vegetable products to mankind the lat
ter are among the most useless.
whether found in marshes, bitches or
bv running streams, fourishing in
meadows and forests % on naked rocks.
growing on the loose sand of the sea-
Shore or elsewhere, they are almost
uniformly worthless. Nevertheless.
some few members of the family serve
one purpose or another, as the rushes,
which are employed in the manufacture
OF candles. mats and chairs. In an
Gent times the 'papyrus, likewise be-
longing tc the order, was very
precious plant indeed, affording
material for writing upon Our word
paper is derived from it, as every one
knows.
"The Egyptian name for papyrus was
.biblion, from which our term bible
comes. Ordinarily the plant grows in
stagnant pools and lakes, but it will
flourish in rapid streams, the angles of
its three-cornered stem adapting them
selves to break the force of the cur
rent. Although the material used for
writing on is commonly supposed to
have been obtained from the leaves
such was not the case. 1t was got by
separating the thin plates of cellular
tissue which lie just beneath the outer
coat of the stem. These were trimmed
at their edges so as to meet equally
and were laid side by side upon a flat
table. Other pieces, similarly cut,
were laid across them at right angles
They thus formed a sheet of many
pieces, which were made into one united
substance and so transformed unto a
single sheet by simply sprinkling them
with water, the gummy matter in them
dissolving and causing them to mutual
ly adhere.
"The ancient Egyptians produced in
this manner papyrus sheets OF pro-
digiuus length. One obtained by the
famous traveller Bel2oni was twenty
three feet long by eighteen inches
wide. From Egypt this primitive paper
was for centuries exported in great
quantities, especially to Greece and
Rome Until the invention of parch-
meut about 25O b. Cit was EN-
ployed exclusively for writings which
were destined to be preserved. How
ever, parchment did not for a long
time supercede papyrus, the demand
for which at Rome continued for a con.
siderable period after the beginning OF
the christian era. The supply was in
terrupted ky the invasion Of Egypt by
the Smacens in the seventh century,
and from that time ON parchment was
employed almost exclusively as a sub
sttute. Nevertheless, its manufacture
WAS continued as late as the eleventh
century.
The quantity made by the Egyp-
tiaus of old must have been enormous,
Judging by the number of rolls of it
found .u the tombs and in mummy
cases. I'm the museum Of Naples there
are nearly one thousand eight hundred
manuscripts written on papyrus, which
We're dug out of a small part Of the
buried city of Herculaneum. From
these the number that must have eX-
listed i'm the Roman empire at the time
of the famous volcano eruption can be
teebly guessed at. Papyrus, save in
the quality Of durability, seems to have
been inferior to the paper now manu-
featured from rags Of linen and cotton,
Judging from the specimens which
have been preserved. The plant had
many other uses anciently in Egypt
and Ethiopia, People ehewed the
roots for their pleasant Juice and the
stalks were roasted, their soft, pupy
contents being afterward eaten. The
stalks also afforded materials for rc,es
and cablas,a and the leaves were utilized,
as they are at the present day, for max.
ing small boats, in which the inhabi-
tants of the banks Of the Nile venture
upon lbs waters