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the last ten years, so many other needs have arisen to which it 

 appears especially adapted, that the manufacture of clothing is forced 

 to take a comparatively unimportant place. Thus in chemical labora- 

 tories fine asbestus cloth, or even finely teased out asbestus fibre, is 

 now used very extensively for filtering various solutions for which no 

 other material yet discovered has been found so well adapted, espe- 

 cially for strong acids and alkalies which would quickly destroy the 

 ordinary filtering paper. The advantages of the asbestus filter are also 

 apparent in the fact it can be ignited without being consumed. It is 

 also rapidly coming into use in sugar refineries for filtering the 

 saccharine juices, and as a filter for water it has been found to possess 

 very superior qualities over most of the substances in use, and will 

 doubtless, before very long, become an important agent in the purifica- 

 tion of our supply of water in large cities. 



Its value as an ingredient in the manufacture of fire-proof paint has 

 already been alluded to slightly, in which respect it ranks with steatite. 

 Applied to woodwork it is capable of successfully withstanding a very 

 considerable volume of Maine and so confining the fire to a limited 

 space. As a material for fire-escapes also, owing to its very 

 considerable tensile strength, it is largely made into rope, the 

 fibres of which are sometimes strengthened by the addition 

 of brass or copper wires, from which ladders are then made, 

 which are practically indestructible. More recently, also, its pro- 

 perties as a non-conductor of electricity have been discovered and a great 

 demand has sprung up for it in the construction of dynamos, and other 

 portions of electrical apparatus requiring insulation. Wall paper, also, 

 printed in ornamental colored patterns, which when applied to the 

 walls of a room reduce the risk of conflagration to the least possible 

 decree, are manufactured even now in considerable quantity, and even 

 writing and fine printing papers are made which have the property of 

 resisting destruction by fire, and though becoming altered to some 

 extent, even then preserve the writing or printing which has been made 

 on them. A great difficulty, however, in the former case is to give the 

 paper a sufficiently hard and smooth glossy surface over which the pen 

 can glide freely ; but this defect will doubtless be remedied in time, and 

 with a fire proof ink the preservation of deeds and important papers can 

 thus be readily effected. 



