THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. XI 



Fibre from Corn or Maize Leaves and Husks. Considerable at- 

 tention has recently been given in Austria to the extraction of a 

 fibre from the leaves and husks of the maize, or corn plant, and speci- 

 mens of paper and cloth have been distributed throughout the 

 United States by the Patent Office, with an explanatory pamphlet, 

 showing what can be produced from the above material. The cloth, 

 or woven fibre thus made, is simply a curiosity, and of not the slight- 

 est practical value ; but the paper has merit. This last achievement, 

 however, is nothing new, as the practicability^ of making good paper 

 from the leaves and husks of the^ Indian corn was demonstrated in 

 the United States more than a quarter of a century ago. But the 

 difficulty of making corn leaves and many other similar kinds of 

 fibre-yielding substances practically available for paper-stock is, first, 

 that the percentage of fibre contained in them is comparatively small ; 

 and, second, that the labor required to collect and prepare them can 

 be more profitably given to other departments of business. 



Straw. For many years the attempt has been made to render the 

 fibre contained in straw profitably available for the production of 

 white paper, but with indifferent success, until within the last year, 

 when the problem has been solved beyond a doubt. This realization 

 of the desired end is effected by boiling the straw in an alkaline lye, 

 in a rotary boiler, under a steam pressure of from one hundred to one 

 hundred and forty pounds per square inch. Under such a pressure 

 and temperature, the silica and other constituents of the straw, which 

 render its fibre brittle and difficult to bleach, entirely give way, and 

 separate to such an extent that they can be almost entirely removed by 

 simple washing, leaving its fibre soft and in a condition to bleach most 

 readily and economically. We regard this discovery as one of the 

 most important made during the present century, and as certain to 

 reduce ultimately the price of paper to a lower rate than has hereto- 

 fore prevailed. 



Jute. The cheapness and abundance of this fibre has of late 

 years attracted much attention, and its employment in the manufac- 

 ture of textile products, especially in Great Britain, has largely in- 

 creased. At the Great (London) Exhibition, as has been elsewhere 

 noticed, Brussels carpets and rugs were exhibited, of great beauty 

 and softness, which were manufactured almost entirely of this fibre. 

 It is also used to form the warps of cheap broadcloths, and to some 

 extent for mixing with silk, for which last purpose the lustre of jute 

 is a great advantage. The chief seat of the manufacture of jute into 

 fine goods is Dundee, in Scotland, and the quantity annually consumed 



