Rattan

the stems of certain palms. We are so apt to think of stately palm trees that it is a surprise to read of a slender, trailing, creeping, climbing palm; but some of the East Indian palms have vine-like stems, 20 to 1,000 feet in length, which produce leaves at joints or nodes only. Sometimes a stem runs for 100 feet with only a tuft of leaves at its end. These vines vary from the diameter of a knitting needle upward. They are cut into pieces, five to twenty feet long, bound into bundles, and shipped as rattan. The natives use rattan extensively in making mats and ropes. Sus pension bridges are swung on cables made by twisting rattan stems together. Native ships use rattan cables for anchor chains. Elephants are made fast with rattan tethers. In Europe and America imported rattan is used largely in the manufacture of rattan chairs, hampers, baskets, chaise baskets, walking sticks, umbrella handles, and whips. It is a substitute for whalebone. Rattan combines the qualities of steel, wood, and whalebone. Singapore ships large quantities of rattan. Much of the rattan of commerce is gathered in the tropical jungles of the Philippines. The most valuable rattan is produced in the island of Borneo. See Palms