=SILK.=—Four kinds of silkworm are collected for the spinning of yarn used in the embroidery on the Haussa gowns. The best of these is that which feeds upon the Tamarind tree, “Tsamia,” and is termed “Tsamian tsamia.” The silk cocoons are collected in Bauchi Province and are boiled in water with wood ashes, and subsequently washed. The silk becomes nearly white, and is carded and spun into yarn in the same manner as cotton. The species of insect which produces this silk has not yet been identified, but is almost certainly referable to the genus _Anaphe_ (cf. p. 117). A second quality of silk is that called “Tsamian doka,” and is obtained from the cocoon masses produced by the larvæ of _Anaphe Moloneyi_, which are found in the same locality, feeding upon the “Bokin doka” tree, which has been determined to be a species of _Macrolobium_. Several hundred worms congregate together and form a solid mass of pale brown tubular cocoons upon the bark of the tree, covering the outer surface with a whitish envelope of silk. This silk is treated in the same manner as the other, but, after boiling and washing, does not become white. Two other species, which are used for the same purpose, are called “Tsamian fakali” and “Tsamian bauri,” and feed on another species of _Macrolobium_ and a _Ficus_ respectively. They produce inferior kinds of silk. Much interest is attached to these Anaphe silks, which, in recent years, have been developed in the German Colonies of East Africa, especially, on a commercial scale. It is reported that, just previous to the declaration of war, German agents in British West Africa made endeavours to obtain as much of the wild silk as possible from Nigeria. Plantations of a species of _Bridelia_, the common food plant of _Anaphe infracta_, were made in the late German Colonies, and special machinery was in use there for the production of a commercial silk. The following figures give the values of the chief exported products from Nigeria as a whole, from 1913 to 1919:— 1913 1914 1915 1916 £ £ £ £ Palm kernels 3,109,818 2,541,150 1,692,712 1,739,706 Palm oil 1,854,384 1,571,691 1,462,162 1,402,799 Cocoa 157,480 171,751 313,946 393,101 Cotton lint 159,223 150,791 56,351 243,949 Mahogany and timber 106,050 86,522 54,559 49,361 Groundnuts 174,716 179,219 72,177 473,653 Hides and skins 197,214 505,785 302,420 538,917 Shea products 74,471 52,843 69,823 32,529 Rubber — 38,854 38,113 34,192 Benniseed — — 5,225 16,523