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may be seen by the specimens of fans, hats, boxes, bags, 
baskets, mats, matting, crude ropes, brooms, ornaments, 
and toys; or it is manufactured into articles of commerce 
after processes which remove it considerably from its 
natural aspect or condition; for example, linen, which is 
made from the flax plant; cloth, twine, and rope, made 
from jute, hemp and abutilon-fiber; and paper made from 
wood and other fibers. 
Cork and its Products. Case 34.—This exhibit comprises 
the crude cork bark and specimens illustrating its prepara- 
tion for the cutting of corks; also a large number of articles 
illustrating its uses. Cork forms the outer portion of the 
bark of most woody stems. That of one species of oak, 
Quercus Suber, of the Mediterranean region, possesses 
peculiar properties of toughness, elasticity, and impervious- 
ness to liquids and vapors, which make it useful for bottle 
stoppers. Many attempts have been made to find sub- 
stitutes, but none have been found to possess an equal 
value. It has many other important uses. After re- 
moval from the tree, and the shaving off of its gray outer 
layer, it is alternately beaten with mallets and heated, to 
close up the natural fissures. Its removal does not injure 
the tree, since it will split off periodically if not removed. 
The cutting of cork requires extremely sharp instru- 
ments, operated by machinery running at a high rate of 
speed. The substance, as we are accustomed to see it, 
is prepared by means of boiling the cork bark and scraping 
off the rough outer portion. A large jacket of crude cork 
is exhibited near by, just as it was stripped from the tree. 
Paper Pulp and Paper. Cases 35 and 36.—Wood sec- 
tions used for paper pulp, and the various stages in the 
manufacture of the latter are illustrated, as well as a number 
of varieties of paper made from such pulp. 
Wood fiber, especially that obtained from the trunks of 
the spruce and poplar, enters largely into the manufacture 
of paper. In cases 35 and 36, the fiber is shown in its 
crude condition and in the various stages of refinement, 
