(96) 



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, 



