国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト
『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

over a couple of warps instead of a single one, thus composing a band of three-
strand twined work. There is a similar band round the bottom. On the inside of the
basket this texture looks like a plain twined weaving.

There is still a third component of the basketwork. It is a minute round string
(diam. 0.2 mm.) of a dicotyledonous root, almost certainly from an Artemisia plant.
This little strand is not used everywhere, but only occasionally, especially for the
strengthening here and there of the three-strand twined work. It may be added that
this extra little strand has in any case not slipped out of a main weft one, but has
been handled fully individually by the basket-weaver. Sometimes it has been
wrapped on a warp strand, and there is no other wrapping anywhere in the weav-
ing (-fragment).

It was difficult to find out what material the old basket-maker had used in her
weft-strands. It was possible, finally, to establish that a good part of the material
best corresponds to the "tsaghan deris" or "white grass" of the Mongols or Lasia-
grostis splendens of the Botanical Museum. The stems of this grass have been split
to form two or more strings to be used together with dicotyledonous root strings
for weft strands — also in the three-strand twine. Indeed, as a matter of fact, the
clever basket-weaver has used both of these heterogeneous materials together in every
one of the weft strands. A whole series of cuts through the outsides of neighbouring
weft strands have been made, and one is surprised to see (through the microscope)
how grass and dicot. fibres alternate in a highly irregular manner. As a matter of
fact a gleaming and glossy grass surface may be seen in many parts of the plain
weaving, and dull root surfaces in the three-strand weaving. The wall has a net-
pattern made of glossy grass applied on top of the main weft element and showing
a marked contrast in colour to this. The result is thus a proof of the simple but good
basketry of the primitive Lou-lan people.

In these microscopic examinations Professor G. Edman of the Pharmaceutic In-
stitution has given me splendid assistance and sacrificed much time, for which I
give him my sincerest thanks.


NO 38: 13. SCRAPINGS FROM A WOODEN TROUGH.

The principal matter is a non-granular, most shapeless mass of a light brown-grey
colour.

If a small quantity of the substance is heated in a test tube in a Bunsen flame it
gives off water, brownish tar, and an intense smell of burnt milk. What remains
is a structureless black carbon.

The presence of lactic acid in the mass has been proved by the common iodoform
reaction and the special Uffelmann test (carbolic acid with dissolved ferric chlor-

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