FIBRES. 289 



four-fifths of an inch. The amount of water contained, 

 when in a dry atmosphere, is twelve per cent. ; when in a 

 saturated atmosphere, fifty per cent. The fibre consists 

 mainly of bast-cells, whose walls are little or much thick- 

 ened. It is used extensively for cordage ; it is very useful 

 for cables for ships on account of its durability in water. 

 The old worn ropes are then used in the manufacture of 

 paper. 



270. Of all the kinds of " vegetable horse-hair," none 

 are so valuable as the Tillandsia Fibre, or Long Moss, 

 Tillandda usneoides, a member of the Pine-Apple family 

 (Bromeliaxxm). It grows in tropical and sub-tropical re- 

 gions. It is an epiphyte, " very common in the low 

 countries, from the Dismal Swamp, Virginia, to Florida 

 and Louisiana, hanging in long, dark gray tufts and 

 festoons from every tree." It has a three-parted green 

 calyx and three colored petals. In elasticity, strength, 

 durability, and appearance the Tillandsia fibre approaches 

 true horse-hair. It consists of the decorticated stems of 

 the plant, the epidermis being readily removed by a simple 

 process of retting. The fibres are sometimes an inch long, 

 and have a thickness of .004-.005 inches. The color is 

 black or brown ; when dry it contains nine per cent, of 

 water ; the amount increases to twenty per cent, in an atmos- 

 phere saturated with moisture. The ash forms over three 



.per cent. It is used in stuffing cushions, mattresses, etc. 



271, Fibres from which Paper is manufactured must 

 be obtainable in immense quantities, must also be soft, fine, 

 and readily bleached. Those most used are cotton, linen, 

 Hemp, Jute, Straw, Wood, young Bamboo-trees, bast of 

 Paper-Mulberry, Esparto Grass, etc. The textile fibres 

 are not used generally until the cloth into which they 



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