APPLICATION OF CHEMICAL SOLVENTS. 295 



of the mixture is of course favourable to fermentation, 

 which is assisted materially by the nitrogenized constituent 

 (caseine) of the milk, 1 while the solvent power of the 

 lactic acid probably aids generally in the disintegration of 

 the straw, and the more perfect separation of the fibre. 

 The relations between temperature and fermentation were 

 very clearly shown and described by Hermbstaedt, whose 

 experiments in reference to the chemical principles involved 

 in steeping flax and hemp, were conducted at the com- 

 mencement of the present century. 



Many methods have been devised for dissolving out the 

 nitrogenized extractive matter of the straw by means of 

 chemical solvents, both acids and alkalies, and thus doing 

 away with the tedious and noxious process of steeping. 

 Both weak acid and alkaline solutions appear to a certain 

 extent to possess this property. Some ten years ago the 

 attention of the public was called to a process patented by 

 M. Claussen, in which an alkaline solution was employed for 

 effecting the preparation of flax fibre in a peculiar manner. 

 The attempt itself, however, to make " flax cotton," though 

 at first attracting some attention, was soon discovered to 

 be really no novelty, inasmuch as in 1775 Lady Moira 



1 In a paper " On the Development of the Fermentation Fungus in the Fluid 

 of Warm-water Flax-steeps" (British Association Reports for 1852), Dr. 

 Allman gives the details of his examination of the process of steeping by 

 Schenck's patent. The various phases in the development of the minute 

 organism constituting the fermentation fungus were described, and were 

 considered by him to be analogous with those noticed in the fermenting stage 

 of other albuminous liquids. By taking some of the fully developed, and 

 placing them in flax-tanks, where the fermentation was not commenced, it is 

 very much accelerated; and he suggested the question, whether or not it would 

 be advantageous to apply the principle practically to the process of "steeping," 

 as is, in fact, always done in brewing beer. In new tanks or vats it is always 

 found that the fermentation is not set up so readily as in old ones, which may 

 be accounted for by the fact, that some of these cells (organisms), formed 

 previously, adhere to the wood, and thus act at once upon the fluid directly 

 the tank or vat is charged. Some years ago, a method of accelerating the 

 steeping process was in operation on the Continent, where common yeast was 

 employed for the purpose of setting up the fermentative action, the flax being 

 placed in shallow tanks, and kept covered with water. 



