218 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1941 



and are then ready for commercial use. The filaments are also cut to 

 produce a staple fiber. The skeins have the consistency and texture 

 of silk and wool, which are our present protein fibers. Ford officials 

 have informed me that Henry Ford himself has shown considerable 

 personal interest in these experiments. The yarn has been woven 

 and knitted into goods and the company considers its suitability for 

 auto upholstery definitely satisfactory and practical. Later, the 

 Glidden Co. at Chicago set up a pilot plant for experimental purposes 

 of fiber production for the textile trade. 



The physical and chemical properties of textile fiber produced 

 from soybean are particularly interesting. I submitted a sample of 

 the product to Mr. von Bergen, of the Forstmann Woolen Co., late 

 in 1939. He reported that it closely resembled Lanital in color, lus- 

 ter, touch, and crimp. Its tensile strength was 0.94 gram per denier 

 dry and 0.26 gram per denier wet. The elongation of the filaments 

 was 112 percent dry and 47 percent wet. This means that soybean 

 fiber is about four tunes weaker than wool when dry and approxi- 

 mately eight times weaker than wool when wet. 



The fineness and diameter of the soybean fiber is exceptionally 

 uniform, approaching nylon in this respect. The fibers are more or 

 less smooth with fine dots and streaks or short striations, presumably 

 caused by air bubbles. Similar to protein fibers, soybean fiber does 

 not burn, but chars and produces the same odor as wool, which is 

 like burned feathers. He found traces of sulfur present and 

 yellowish-brown alkali fumes issue when it is heated in a test tube. 

 The fiber shows a high affinity for acid colors with no visible change 

 in the fiber itself. For identification purposes Mr. von Bergen sug- 

 gests a sulfur-content test to distinguish it from Lanital, if this is 

 ever necessary. Water does not wet soybean fiber as readily as it 

 does casein fiber and wool. Its specific gravity is 1.31. Recent 

 samples are more resistant to carbonizing and to boiling in dilute 

 acids and alkalies. 



Hence, the only deficiency is its tensile strength ; the filaments and 

 fibers otherwise show remarkable qualities. I am informed that in 

 more recent samples from Ford and Glidden the strength had been 

 improved. Development work on upholstery fabrics has progressed 

 satisfactorily and it looks as if the soybean fiber will soon be a com- 

 mercially practical textile fiber, ready for the textile trade to use. It 

 is now used in hat felts, suitings, upholstery fabrics, etc. A com- 

 mercial plant for the production of this fiber at the rate of about 

 IjOOO pounds per day is now planned. 



FIBERS FROM CORN 



A protein fiber can be obtained from corn meal, which is a corn 

 proteid, often called zein or maisin. It has received considerable 



