The American bromelias likewise resemble the aloes of torrid Africa by the form and arrangement of their leaves. To this useful family belongs the pine-apple (_Bromelia Ananas_), which grows best and largest in Brazil, where it is so common that the pigs fatten on the fruit. Formerly confined in our country to the tables of the wealthier classes as long as it was only supplied by our hot-houses, it can now be enjoyed at a very moderate expense, since thousands are imported by every West Indian steamer. The leaves of several species of bromelia furnish excellent twine for ropes. The inhabitants of the banks of the river San Francisco, in Brazil, weave their fishing-nets with the fibres of the Caroa (_B. variegata_), and the filaments of the Crauata de rede (_B. sagenaria_) furnish a cordage of amazing strength and durability. The foliage of the screw-pines, so widely extended over the East Indian and South Sea Isles, where they form a prominent feature in the landscape, closely resembles that of the bromelias, while the stem (round which the serrated leaves ascend in spiral convolutions, till they terminate in a pendulous crown); the aërial roots, and the fruit, remind one of the palms, the mangroves, and the coniferæ. The _Pandanus odoratissimus_, or sweet-smelling screw-pine, whose fruits, when perfectly mature, resemble large rich-coloured pine-apples, plays an important part in the household economy of the coral-islanders of the South Sea. The inhabitants of the Mulgrave Archipelago, where the cocoa-nut is rare, live almost exclusively on the juicy pulp and the pleasant kernels of the fruit. The dried leaves serve to thatch their cottages, or are made use of as a material for mats and raiment. The wood is hard and durable. They string together the beautiful red and yellow-coloured nuts for ornaments, and wear the flowers as garlands. When the tree is in full blossom, the air around is impregnated with a delicious odour.