PROPERTIES OF THE FLOSS 



GOS9YPIUM 



FIBRE 



hitherto unobserved, offer an explanation of the way moisture 



to the interior. Among the ripe flosses of every grade is often 



lit a certain percentage of quite unripe hairs. These are very thin, 



have weak cutiil-s, ami show no twisting; they are the cause of mm-h 



depreciation, since they cannot be worked up nor dyed in the same manner 



as fully formed flosses. In practical work such hairs are known as " dead 



>nling to Hanausek (Tech. Mikroskopie, 1900, 5-8 ; also 



\\ intou ami Barber, transl., 1907, 58-68), dead cotton is commonest in 



coarser grades (Levantine and Indian) and rarest in Sea Island. [Cf. 



Flutters. Th' Cotto* I'lnnt. 1906, 59-92.] 



The i oiniiiercial value of cotton is chiefly affected by the length and 

 uniformity of the staple. Silkiness, fineness, strength, cleanness and 

 colour are the other important factors. Tables showing the physical 

 properties of the various staples of commerce are given by Hannan (Text. 

 > Comm., 1902, 94-6), while Flatters contributes micro- photographs 

 ami comparative descriptions of the flosses of the following trade samples : 

 Florida, Brown Egyptian, New Orleans, Peruvian Rough and Hingan- 

 ghat. As offered for sale, cotton always contains moisture varying from 

 7 to 12A per cent, over absolute dryness. With regard to the influence 

 of moisture on spinning, the reader should consult Dobson (Humidity in 

 ^/nulling, Sept. 17, 1894). 



When immersed in a solution of caustic soda, cotton fibre undergoes an 

 important change. The cell-walls swell and acquire silky gloss. Cotton 

 so treated is known as mercerised. The process was invented and 

 patented in 1851 by John Mercer, a Lancashire calico-printer. The 

 swelling of the fibre causes a shrinkage in length, it becomes more 

 transparent, gains in strength and weight, while its capability for taking 

 up certain dyes is vastly increased. 



Chemically, the mature fibre consists of almost pure cellulose with chemistry, 

 about 3 per cent, of other substances. The most important of these are 

 cotton wax, fatty and pectic acid, endochromic colouring matter, and 

 albuminous substances. The fibre is insoluble in water, alcohol, ether, 

 fixed and volatile oils or vegetable acids, but soluble in strong alkaline 

 solutions and is decomposed by concentrated mineral acids. Cupram- 

 monia causes a complete disorganisation of the cellulose deposits. 



[Cf. Royle, I.e., 1851, 122-6 ; Bolley, Chem. Technologie der Spinnfasern, 

 1867 ; Benno Neiss, Die Baumwollens pinner ei, etc., 1868 ; Bowman, Struct, of Cotton 

 Fibre in Relat. to Tech. Applicat., 1881, also ed. 1908 ; Hugh Monie, The Cotton 

 Fibre, it* Structure, etc., 1890 ; Morris, Cantor Lect. Comm. Fibres, Journ. Soc. 

 Arts, March- April, 1895, 6-7 ; McBryde, Chem. of Cotton, in Dabney, The 

 Cotton Plant, etc., 1896, 81-141 ; Hanausek, Mercer, und Deformation der Baum- 

 wolle, Vienna, 1897 ; Thorpe, Diet. Appl. Chem., 1898, i., 613 ; Cross and 

 Bevan, Paper Making, 1900, 95-6; Semler, Trop. Agrik., 1903, iii., 497-502; 

 Hubner and Pope, Infl. of Reagents on Tensile Strength of Cotton Yarn, in Journ. 

 Soc. Chem. Indust., Jan. 31, 1903, xii., 70-9 ; Clayton Beadle, Fibrous Constit. of 

 Paper Cotton in Tech., June 1904, 567-74; July, 60-5; Hield, Mercer, of Cotton, 

 in Text. Journ., June 15, 1905, 275-6 ; C. B. Williams, Cotton Plant, N. Carolina 

 Dept. Agri. Bull., 1906, xxvii., No. 9.] 



IX. INDIAN MANUFACTURES. 



The cotton manufactures of India may be said to be referable to three Hand-loom 

 groups : 1. Indian Hand-loom goods. 2. Indian Power-loom goods. Weavers. 

 3. Foreign Power-loom goods. 



These three have to be clearly borne in mind both in connection with 

 the present chapter and that on trade. The late Sir James Westland 



615 



