lip 



translucent cells (Fig. VIII. f.) similar to those found in the butt of the leaf. 

 The rest of the cellular tissue is densely filled with chlorophyll. 



The Maoris, in cleaning the fibre, cut through the outer or inferior surface 

 of the leaf, as far as the lax tissue in the centre, then tearing out that part 

 which contains one half of each of the bundles that cross the leaves, and the 

 intermediate bundles, with the small quantity of cellular tissue between them, 

 they throw away the inner or superior surface, together with the other half of 

 the large bundles of fibres. The cellular tissue, already broken up by tearing 

 it away from the rest of the leaf, is easily got rid of, and thus the fibre is both 

 finer and cleaner than that prepared by the machines. Of course the system 

 is very wasteful, and it would never do for us to follow it, but I would suggest 

 that it might be very advantageous to split the leaf longitudinally, so as to 

 divide the inner and Outer surfaces before putting it through the machine, 

 as by this means the bundles of fibres would be split into two, and a finer, as 

 well as a cleaner, article obtained. 



Gum. — -The gum of the flax plant, when first exuded, is a thickish, sticky, 

 colourless fluid, that runs down the leaf when it is cut. It gradually hardens 

 into a semi-solid, jelly-like, viscid substance, and ultimately into a thin tough 

 pellicle, which can be easily peeled off the leaf, and which generally retains the 

 markings of the cell-walls of the superior epidermis. When pure it is 

 colourless, or pale yellow. It shews no microscopical structure, but generally 

 contains small pieces of vegetable tissue, etc., and sometimes several animals, 

 which live in it. On exposure to the sun, it shrinks greatly, and after a few 

 days hardens into a tough solid substance, not easily broken. 



In its first, or fluid state, in which alone it exists in the interior of the 

 plant, it readily mixes with water. Both in its usual semi-solid state, and 

 after hardening in the sun, it softens and intuniesces in cold water, but only 

 partially dissolves. In boiling water, it dissolves readily, when in the semi- 

 solid state, but with difficulty after having been dried. Alcohol fads to 

 dissolve it, but turns it white. It is unaffected by the caustic alkalies, but 

 dissolves easily in acids. Iodine colours a solution of it yellow, without any 

 trace of blue. 



Neither alcohol nor neutral acetate of lead produce any effect upon a 

 solution in water ; but it is precipitated, of a yellowish- white colour, by 

 tribasic acetate of lead, by protochloride of tin, and by nitrate of mercury. 



These reactions show that it differs from all the gums, by not being 

 precipitated by alcohol, and further, from the gum-arabic group by its 

 insolubility in cold Water ; from the cherry-tree gum group, by its being 

 precipitated by nitrate of mercury ; and from the gum-tragacanth group by its 

 insolubility in caustic alkali, while it is allied to this latter by its intumescing 

 and partly dissolving in water. On the other hand, on all these points, except 

 the solubdity in cold water, it agrees with carrageen and linseed mucilage ; and 

 the latter, after having been dried, intuniesces in water, and only partially 

 re-dissolves. From all the mucilages, however, our flax gum differs in its 

 behaviour with neutral acetate of lead, which proves that it contains little or 

 no pectin, and in this respect it is like the true gums. It appears, therefore, 

 that flax gum is intermediate between the gum-tragacanth, or Barsorin group 

 of true gums, and the mucilages, and ought, strictly speaking, to be called a 

 gum mucilage. 



"We are thus led to the following conclusions : — 



1. That the object to be aimed at, in manufacturing the fibre, is the 

 separation of the fibro-vascular bundles from the cellular tissue and epidermis 

 of the leaf, and not, by any means, the breaking up of the bundles into their 

 ultimate fibres, which would entirely destroy their strength. 



2. That the bundles of fibres in the leaf are of different sizes. 



R 



