MS 
On the Flax oj j\*ew Zealand s 
nution of the strength of a rope, in proportion to its 
feeing more twisted, arises in particular from the fibres 
of which it is composed experiencing different degrees 
of tension, the strength and inequality of which are 
increased by torsion. But it is evident that the more 
the fibres which enter into a rope are susceptible of 
tension, the less is the difference in the distribution 
of their strength, whence it results that the most ten- 
sible fibres, cmteris paribus, will always make the best 
ropes. 
It has been observed that certain kinds of hemp, with 
stiff, but very strong fibres, are often capable of less re- 
sistance, when employed to make ropes, than other kinds, 
the fibres of which are weaker, but softer and more flexi- 
ble. It is besides known, that stiff fibres break by a weak 
degree of torsion, which is resisted by those that have 
more flexibility. 
To ascertain the tensibility of the fibres of the flax of 
New Zealand, I took six of one- tenth of a millimetre, 
or 0.01-13 line in diameter, and suspended to lengths of 
fourteen centimetres, or five inches 2.062 lines, a weight 
which I gradually increased, examining by what quan- 
tity they were extended before they broke. The sum 
of these quantities, divided by the number of the fila- 
ments subjected to trial, gave for quotient the mean term 
of the tensibility of each. Having subjected to the same 
trial the filaments of the aloe, of hemp, of flax, and of 
silk, the results which I obtained were : for the flax 
1.1279 millimetres ; for the hemp 2.2558; for the flax of 
New Zealand 3.3837; for the aloe 5.0395; and for the 
silk 11.2790: so that the tensibility of flax being equal 
to half that of hemp will be expressed by 1; that of the 
JPhormium ten ax by one and an half ; tin at of the filaments 
of the aloe by two and a half ; and that of silk by five. 
It is thence seen what prodigious power of resistance is 
