412 



FLAX 



Another system of treating flax was introduced by M. Claussen, a Belgian, and for 

 some time it attracted much attention. He separated the fibre from the stem without 

 steeping, and then, by the employment of acids and alkalis, ho got rid of the vegetable 

 extractive and other impurities, and produced a fibrous mass strongly resembling cotton. 

 Ho professed to make an article capable of being spun with cotton or wool. The 

 higher value of flax fibre, however", was a great obstacle, and at present the only uw> 

 made of his process is to convert scutching tow tho refuse flax fibre into an article 

 to be spun with wool, and even this is practised to but a very small extent. 



Messrs. Burton and Pye's patent (fig. 920) is a modification of the hot-water slcrp. 

 By this process the flax-straw, after the seed is removed, is passed through a machine 

 composed of plain and crimping rollers, by the combined action of which tho woody 

 part is rendered easily separable from the fibre. Tho latter is then placed in a A at, 

 holding about a ton, which is subsequently filled with cold water (fig. 921 ). This vat has 

 a perforated false bottom, under which steam, with a pressure of 50 Ibs. to an inch, is 

 introduced and disseminated by perforated tubes. Another tube convoys into the vat a 

 cold mixture of fuller's earth in water. Tho introduction of the mixture and the steam 



920 



is continued until the liquid in the vat reaches 80 Fahrenheit. Tho flax remains in 

 it at this temperature for thirty hours, when tho surface of tho liquid is covered with ;i 

 saponaceous froth. Then an apparatus of cross bars of wood, closely fitting into tho 

 interior of tho vat, and pressed by two powerful screws, expresses tho impurities from 

 the fibre. The supply of tho fuller's earth is stopped, and cold water is alone sup- 

 plied with tho steam, so regulated that the temperature is by degrees raised to 150, 

 the pressure being continued until tho water appears free from impurities. Tho watt r 

 is then withdrawn from the vat through a valve in tho bottom, and a pressure equal to 

 200 tons is applied to the mass of the flax. It remains under this pressure for four 

 hours, when it is half dry. It is then taken out and dried in sheds open at tho sides 

 to the air. The fibre produced by Mr. Pyc's method appears of good quality and 

 strong, but tho system has not as yet been carried out on a sufficiently large scale to 

 admit of a decided opinion on its merits. 



The same may be said of tho plan of M. . of Lille, who employs hot 



water at a temperature of 15 to 17 Centigrade (60 Fahr.), in which chalk and char- 

 coal have been placed. His process require! seventy-two hours on tho average, and 

 ho employs brick tanks. The water is, as in all the preceding cases, heated by steam. 



Before leaving the subject of stooping, reference may bo made to a process patented 

 by Mr. F. M. Jennings, of Cork, by means of which coarse flax libro is muli-ml 

 capable of being subdivided into minute filaments, or, in other words, made fine. 

 While the fibre of cotton is incapable of subdivision, that of flax, as viewed through 



