I treated in the usual manner. 



Water used in c 



r experiment was supplied from the Sosei canal which 



passes through the city of Sapporo and contained a relatively large amount 

 of organic matter, with a slightly acid reaction. During the retting the acidi- 

 ty was somewhat increased, as naturally might be expected. 



II. Microscopical Studies. 



The samples, collected in different stages of the retting period as men- 

 tioned in the previous chapter, were subjected to research as to their histo- 

 chemieal changes during the retting. The result on the retted stem has been 

 compared to that of the original stem. 



^ Microchemical studies on flax stems, reported up to the present time, are 

 quite numerousi) but their results agree closely with each other and prove 

 that the bast fiber cells are bound not only with calcium pectate but also 



