Jan. 29, 1880] 



NATURE 



299 



which the warp is pulled in single threads through the 

 sow-box, or vessel in which the sizing liquor is contained, 

 and is afterwards dried by heated air or by passing round 

 cylinders filled with steam. The amount of size in the 

 so-called " pure" cloths varies from 5 to 7 per cent. In 

 such cloths the quantity of fibre is from 92 to 94 per cent., 

 the remainder being made up of mineral matter derived 

 from the raw cotton. Now as one element in determining 

 the value of cloth is its weight, it happened that at about 

 the time of the " cotton famine " which followed the civil 

 war in America, that certain unscrupulous manufacturers 

 introduced the practice of "heavy-sizing" — that is, in 

 plain terms, of substituting cheap mineral substances for 

 cotton. 



Some idea of the extent to which this adulteration is 

 practised may be seen from the following analysis of a 

 heavily-sized warp, published by the authors. It will be 

 noticed that only about one-third of the substance is 

 cotton fibre, the remaining two-thirds being made up of 

 clay, flour, and fats, with certain mineral chlorides. 



Cotton Fibre 



I Fibre 



j Natural moi.-ture 



( Moisture with size 



• Fats 



( Starchy matters 



! Natural ash 

 China clay 

 Chloride of magnesium.. 

 ... zinc 



33'"S 

 265 

 7-8i 

 3"°4 



16-16 

 roo 



32-07 



3"2S 

 084 



35 S3 



37-16 



Very large quantities of a variety of cloth known in the 

 Manchester trade as an " eight-and-a-quartcr-pound 

 shirting " find their way to India and China. The 

 general character of a very considerable proportion of 

 this substance may be determined from the following 

 numbers : — 



Warp 

 Weft 



10 Pure cloth. 

 9 Si2e, &c. 



To the general reader a word or two of explanation con- 

 cerning the extraordinary complexity of the composition 

 of a piece of modern grey cloth, as revealed by the fore- 

 going analysis, may be desirable. It will be seen that 

 the main weight-giving substance is China clay, which 

 has to be suspended in a sizing liquor of pretty stiff 

 consistency. In order to preserve the clay upon the 

 fibre it is necessary to keep the fabric slightly damp; this 

 is effected by the addition of some highly hygroscopic 

 material to the size, such as the magnesium chloride, 

 which is one of the most deliquescent substances known 

 to the chemist. The constant presence of moisture, how- 

 ever, renders the fabric very liable to mildew, especially 

 if the flour has not been properly fermented before it is 

 incorporated into the sizing liquid ; and it is in order to 

 prevent this that some antiseptic is added, usually 

 chloride of zinc. 



There is no doubt that in the outset the manufacturers, 

 as a body, set their face against the production of such 

 stuff. Twenty years ago these fabrics had an evil reputa- 

 tion : they were made by tenth-rate manufacturers and 



sold by tenth-rate agents. But the heat of competition 

 has changed all this. The immense quantities of these 

 goods which found a market in India and China — indeed, 

 they were mainly made for exportation — compelled the 

 great majority of Lancashire manufacturers to respond 

 to the demand for these combinations of China-clay 

 and starch with a modicum of cotton, a demand which 

 is very largely fostered by the numberless middle 

 men who come between the manufacturer and the con- 

 sumer. The usual result has followed : the very fact that 

 numbers are engaged in it has given the trade an air 

 of respectability. Qua fuerunt vitia, mures sunt. The 

 other day Mr. Consul Gardner reported from Cheefoo that 

 a bad name attaches to Manchester goods among the 

 Chinese, consequent on attempts " to sell glue as cloth," 

 and it is highly amusing to read how the Manchester 

 Chamber of Commerce waxed indignant, and how they re- 

 quested Lord Salisbury " to prevent the publication of 

 similar statements in the future" ! It is rather significant, 

 too, that whenever a book on the subject of cotton-sizing 

 is put forth, it should be thought necessary by the authors 

 to dwell upon the "moral aspects" of the question in 

 entire obliviousness of the salutary caution that to excuse 

 is too frequently to accuse. Some of the arguments in 

 extenuation would be amusing if they were not grotesque, 

 as in the book before us, where we read, on p. 99, that 

 "no one, we suppose, will deny that for coffin linings, 

 &c, a heavily-sized but cheaper cloth is not just as good 

 as a purer but more expensive article. If this be granted, 

 the existence of such a material is certainly a boon." 

 How very grateful the undertakers ought to feel for such 

 a boon ! 



It is hardly worth while to take up valuable space by 

 noticing the merits or demerits of a book such as this, 

 the object, or at least the tendency, of which is to show 

 the manufacturer how, by the application of certain 

 scientific facts and principles, he may seek to perpetuate 

 a system which, we honestly think, is simply a gigantic 

 fraud. Our authors comment adversely on the assertion 

 of a certain county court judge, in a case which came 

 before him, that the " warp-sizer and manufacturer, in re- 

 ceiving and giving the order for sizing some warp, had 

 entered into a conspiracy to defraud the public," but it 

 seems to us not improbable that the judge might be per- 

 fectly right. It is almost certain that such a system will 

 not be perpetuated : people will not sheathe themselves 

 with shirts of China-clay. The time was when Manches- 

 ter made cottons for the world, but her supremacy is 

 being rapidly undermined ; and who shall say that her 

 sins have not contributed to her downfall ? 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 



[ The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed 

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The Intra-Mercurial Planet Question 

 I have read, in Nature, vol. xx. p. 597, your editorial on 

 the above subject. To the language of that portion of it relating 

 to my observations I take most decided exception. You have, 



