214 CHEMICAL PROCESSES 
which linen was boiled by the Dutch in a weak alkaline ley, 
and subsequently treated with sour buttermilk, of which no 
doubt the lactic acid was useful in removing the alkali, as well 
as in dissolving some of the impurities of the fibre, and thus 
was nearly identical with the Indian process of bleaching. Sub- 
sequently, salt of sorrel (that is, an oxalate of potash, or the 
same salt which is so abundant in the leaves of the Gram 
Cicer arietinum,) and sulphuric and muriatic acids were em- 
ployed, but were found to be too costly. The careful experi- 
ments of Hermbstaedt at the beginning of this century threw 
much light on the chemical principles involved in, and on the 
influence of temperature on the separation of the fibre of 
Flax. 
These chemical processes have again attracted much atten- 
tion, since the process patented by M. Claussen has shown how 
much the nature and appearance of fibre may be changed by 
the action of such agents. But this, like many other inven- 
tions, has many points of similarity with what had been done 
long before without attracting much attention. Of it we 
have the following account in the above ‘Jury Report,’ 
p. 97: “This process (patented August, 1850) consists 
essentially in boiling the cut and crushed stems of the Flax, 
Hemp, or other plant, in a dilute solution of caustic soda, 
containing about one two-thousandth part of alkali. The 
fibrous matter is then removed, and plunged into a bath of 
dilute sulphuric acid, consisting of one five-hundredth part of 
acid, in which itis boiled for about an hour. It is next trans- 
ferred into a solution, containing about ten per cent. of car- 
bonate of soda; and, lastly, when it has remained in the latter 
for an hour, it is plunged into a weak solution of sulphuric 
acid, consisting of one part of acid to two hundred or five 
hundred parts of water; in this it is left for about half an 
hour, and the process is completed. The effect of these several 
processes is ‘to divide and split up’ the fibre in a most 
remarkable manner, so as completely to alter its character. 
Flax thus treated is converted into a substance very nearly 
resembling cotton.” 
The idea of modifying the fibre of Flax and Hemp, so as 
to convert it into a kind of cotton, is by no means new. In 
1747, it was proposed to convert Flax into cotton by boiling 
