ON HEME 



189 



stagnant water that is putrid, rather than spring or running 

 water. 1 



I have steeped Hemp in different sorts of water ; and it ap- 

 peared to me, that the fibres of the Hemp steeped in putrid 

 standing water were softer than those which had been steeped in: 

 running water : but in water which does not run, they contract a 

 disagreeable colour, which, however, does no real injury to 

 the Hemp ; for that which has been thus steeped is afterwards the 

 most easily bleached. But yet, as this colour displeases, and the 

 Hemp is the less saleable for it, endeavours are always used, if 

 possible, to make a small stream of water pass through the steeping- 

 places, thereby to change the water and to prevent its becoming 

 putrid. 



I succeeded, likewise, in rotting Hemp by spreading it upon 

 a meadow, in the same manner as is practised for bleaching of 

 linen ; but this method is tedious and troublesome ; nor did the 

 fibres of the Hemp, so prepared, seem to differ much from those 

 of Hemp steeped in the common way. 



I have also tried the boiling of Hemp in water, in hopes of 

 bringing it speedily to the same condition as it is when taken from, 

 the usual place of steeping : but when, after having been boiled 

 upwards of ten hours, it was taken out of the water in order to be 

 dried, it was not at all fit for peeling. It is true, that while it yet 

 remained hot and wet, its bark separated easily from the reed ; but 

 then it peeled off like a ribbon ; the cellular web, which connects 

 the longitudinal fibres, and makes them adhere closely to each 



other, 



