230 



BELL SYSTEM TECHNICAL JOURNAL 



previous publications from these Laboratories.* It is therefore con- 

 sidered that such a picture should contribute towards a better under- 

 standing of the moisture-sorbing f properties, not only of cotton, but 

 also of other similar fibrous materials, despite the hypothetical nature 

 of some of the assumptions upon which the calculations are based. 



o 8 



-J 7 



-|(\J 6 



\ 



— ■', 



\ 

 . \ 



1 = 



0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 



LOG PER CENT MOISTURE CONTENT 



Fig. 2 — Effect of previous history on resistance of raw cotton. 



The electrical insulation resistance of textiles, when dry, is enormous 

 compared with the resistance observed under atmospheric conditions. 

 A change of but 1 per cent in atmospheric relative humidity (R. H.), 

 equivalent to between 0.1 per cent and 0.2 per cent change in moisture 

 content (M. C), causes a change of about 25 per cent in resistance of 



* See references 1 and 2 of the list with which this article concludes. 



t "Adsorption" is here defined as the taking up of a gas or vapor by a solid, 

 "desorption" the giving up of a gas or vapor, and "sorption" the general process 

 without special indication of gain or loss. The use of these terms implies no as- 

 sumptions with regard to the mechanism of the processes they denote. 



