1885.] 
India and Other Parts. 
63 
the fibres become discoloured or loaded with impurities, and 
chemical additions are expensive. The most important 
impulse given to the flax industry in Ireland was by the un- 
fortunate Earl of Strafford, temp. Charles I., who procured 
from Holland workmen and seeds, and is remembered in 
Ireland as a benefactor and chief promoter of the industry. 
The finest cambrics are prepared by the ancient system of 
soaking for lengthened periods, and the same method still 
prevails in most parts of Europe, using a cage 12 feet long 
by 8 feet wide and 3 feet deep, filled with flax-stalk weighted 
with stones, and anchored mid-stream from the month of 
May until September. Therefore, from following in detail 
these experiences, we must infer that pure water is the best 
and cheapest solvent, as it gradually, but perfectly, cleanses 
the fibre from the resinous substances which bind it together, 
and in the most economical manner, leaving only the phos- 
phatic and earthy residuum to be disposed of, by using 
afterwards alkaline lye or caustic soda, and which are 
required to bleach it for certain uses. 
The decay of plantations in many parts of India, and the 
fall in value of various productions, has drawn the attention 
of cultivators to fibre plants, which are too numerous to 
attempt to mention; but an imported one, producing China 
grass, from its value in commerce has merited attention. It 
is obtained from the stalk of the Bcehmeria ( Urtica ) nivea, a 
plant belonging to the Urticaceae or nettle order. And in 
sequence various patents have been obtained, professing 
effectual and economical treatment ; but all of them must 
be received with caution when we consider our cwn expe- 
riences, and that India and China are much older nations 
than ourselves, and that we have not yet been able to super- 
sede the very methods inherited from them. Thus, for 
example of an impossible one, in the year 1849 Messrs. 
Wright and Co. obtained a patent for the preparation of this 
fibre ; their process consisting essentially in boiling the 
stems in an alkaline solution after they had been previously 
steeped for twenty-four hours in cold water, and also for 
twenty-four hours in water at 90° F. ; the fibre is then 
washed thoroughly with pure water, and finally subjected to 
the aCtion of high-pressure steam. Another German patent 
has made a new and useful departure, using bisulphide of 
lime under pressure of steam on pine fibre (shavings or saw- 
dust), procuring wood-wool for suigical purposes, as also for 
clothing, but for which it cannot lie considered as a compe- 
titor to like substances, animal or vegetable. All Orientals 
are acquainted with several species of the Sapan tree, which 
