Smithsonian Report. 1941.— Kline 



Successive Steps in the Manufacture of a Plastic. 



1. At the starting line are these snowy cottcin linters. Taken from the eotton.seed after the spinnable 

 cotton has been ginned, these short, fuzzy fibers are bleached and scoured to a flulTv mass of pure cellulose. 

 2. Into this aeetylating mixer go the cotton linters, catalysts, and a vinegary solution of acetic anhydride 

 and acetic acid. Powerful machinery stirs the mixture during reaction. 3. Drastic transformation. 

 Acetylator tips up, and out pours an entirely new substance— cellulose acetate. 4. The cellulose acetate 

 is then hydr.)lyzed (or ripened) in huge storage .jars. .5. Cellulose acetate reappears in cakes which may 

 eventually become photographic film, transparent wrapping material, acetate rayon, or other plastics. 

 6. The plastic, Tenite, shown here is supplied in granular, blank, and sheet forms for molding. It is 

 available in plain and variegated colors, and in all degrees of transparency from crystal clear to opaque. 



