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874 



THE GENESEE FAEMEE. 



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a, Epidermis, 

 c. Fibres. 



TransTcrse Section of Straw. 

 S, Bark. 

 d, Shove, or "Woody center 



together by a giimray mucilage, -vvhicli 

 needs to be dissolved out, either by ex- 

 posing flax to rain and dew while spread 

 out on the ground, or steeped in a vat 

 or pond of water, or by the use of hot 

 water in the manner soon to be described. 

 The separation of this intercellular gum 

 is very iinperfect without fermentation 

 and washing, which, whej^ well donej 

 render the tissue of flax as near like 

 that of cotton as it can be. To dissolve 

 the mucilage and remove it without 

 damaging the filaments, by a cheap and 

 speedy process, and without fermenta- 

 tion, has been the study of many in- 

 genious chemists for the last quarter of 

 a centuary. 



The first establishment for using heat- 

 ed water to remove the cohesive matter 

 from flax fibres, and facilitate the sepa- 

 ration of the woody part, or shove, was 

 erected at Mayo, in Ireland, in 1848; 

 and Frof. Wilson informs us that now 

 there are over twenty at work in dif- 

 erent parts of Ireland, and several in 

 England, which consume between 30,000 

 and 40,000 tons of straw annually. In 

 this new and improved process fermen- 

 tation is not avoided, but ha'stened and 

 controlled, so that the desired result is 

 attained much sooner, with more cer- 

 tainty, and less injury to the filaments. 

 The temperature of the- steep is kept 

 between eighty and ninety degrees, and 

 regulated at will by the attendant. Oa 

 the Continent, yeast has been used to 

 start the fermentation with advantage. 

 In ten comparative experiments, made 

 with nine difierent sorts of flax, it result- 

 ed that the average produce of 1200 

 pounds of flax straw gave 144 pounds of dressed fibre in the liot steep, and only 118 

 pounds when steeped in the old way. In an old German process, sour wliey was nsed 

 with warm water for setting w'th decided advantage. M. Claussen uses a weak solu- 

 tion of potash or soda to dissolve out the nitrogenous matter in his patented process. 

 The use of caustic potash for this purpose was tried more than a centuary ago ; and 

 Prof. Wilson adduces a great deal of instructive and interesting history on this branch 

 of the art. A Mr. Watts, of Glasgow, obtained a patent last year for an improvement 

 in flax steeping, said to be much better than the plan of M. Claussen ; and a Mr. 

 Buchanan lias recently patented an 'improvement on the plan of Mr. Watts. This 

 latest improvement will be given in the language of the learned lecturer, referring 

 the reader to the lecture, as published by Mr. Saxton, for a full and most satisfactory 

 account of the subject. • • 



Figs. 2, 3, 4, Longitudinal sections of Fibres — h, 7i, h, Cavi- 

 ties. Figs. 3 and 4, Ordinary Cavities. Fig. 4, Karer liind. 



d 



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