456 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



then taken out and spread in the sun to dry, after which it is 

 stacked or put up in heaps and covered with a matting of dry- 

 leaves to shelter it from wind or rain. It is afterwards beaten 

 with heavy sticks upon the dry, hard ground, and Avell rubbed 

 between the hands to separate the chaff and the dust. 



The southern process consists in simply setting the plants on 

 the end with the buts down, on the surface of the ground, and 

 so forming a stack. 



It will be observed then, that previous to the granting of Mr. 

 Blanc's patent, it was ascertained that most of the plants men- 

 tioned above, contained fibrin; that in the process of steeping 

 these plants, leaves were used to promote fermentation; that the 

 plants were set on their ends, the buts being down, and bury- 

 ing them in wet sand would produce the requisite fermentation. 

 It will be seen by reading the specification in Mr. Blanc's patent, 

 that his principle is neither the joint nor separate actions of the 

 processes known or discovered before October 5, 1855, the date of 

 his patent. His specification is as follows : 



" The nature of my invention consists in the discovery of certain 

 new and useful plants containing important fibres and textile sub- 

 stances, which can be used as either cloth, thread, ropes and pa- 

 per, and a new and useful process of extracting the fibre from 

 the woody substances of the plants, without injuring the fibre as 

 to its strength or beauty. In my process, I cut the plants in 

 August or September, close to the ground, and sink a pit in the 

 field where the plants grow, from six inches to two feet deep, 

 throwing the earth outside, forming an embankment around the 

 pit. I then commence in the centre of the pit, and set the plants 

 in a perpendicular position with their buts downwards, (and as 

 soon as the plants are cut, before they have time to die, and while 

 they are still green and alive,) and continue to set up around the 

 same, keeping them as near perpendicular as I can, and pressing 

 them closely together until I have filled the pit with the plants 

 or the sprouts of the trees, which I cut when young and tender. 



I then commenced covering the sides of the same with leaves 

 or straw, so as to sift-round it perfectly; then I commence throw- 

 ing the earth against the sides on the leaves, or straw, making it 

 several inches thick, until the whole is encased in a wall of earth 

 as high as the tops of the plants, leaving the top of the stack or 

 pile uncovered. The reason for my doing so is, that by exclud- 

 ing the surrounding current of the atmosphere, and the heat of 

 the sun, from the plants, I cause the^ gas contained in the natu- 



