Page:The history of silk, cotton, linen, wool, and other fibrous substances 2.djvu/227

 bleaching flax. I find the period at which the bleaching can be most conveniently performed, is when the fibre is in the state called technically "a roving;" for the coarser yarns the first stages of the bleaching process will be sufficient, but this operation must be carried further, in proportion to the fineness of the yarn intended to be spun. The effect of the bleaching upon the fibre is, to disengage part of the adhesive matter, which connects the fine filaments together, and render the yarn susceptible of longation, between the receiving and delivering rollers in spinning, after it has passed through the hot water; I therefore claim as my invention, the preparing and manufacturing into the fibres hereinbefore particularly described; the leaf of the plant commonly called the pine-apple, by any mode or modes of preparation, and also the application of the said fibres, when prepared and manufactured, to the several purposes hereinbefore also particularly specified, the same being to the best of my knowledge (information, remembrance, and belief), now and not heretofore practised."

M. de la Rouverie affirms, that he procured a beautiful vegetable silk from the Papyfera or paper mulberry; cutting the bark while the tree was in sap, beating it with mallets, and steeping it in water; he obtained a thread from the fibres, almost equal to silk in quality; and this was woven into a cloth the texture of which appeared as if formed of that material. The finest sort of cloth among the inhabitants of Otaheite, and other of the South Sea Islands, is made of the bark of this tree.

According to M. Chevremont, Engineer of Mines, "ropes made of aloes have four times the resistance of those of hemp of the same diameter, and made by the same process(?). The fibres of the aloe contain a resinous substance which protects the ropes from the action of moisture: even at sea, and renders the tarring of them unnecessary. They are lighter than hempen ropes, and lose nothing of their strength by being wet(?). When plunged into water, they are shortened only two per cent., so that they become less rigid than ropes made of hemp(?)."

There appears to be a good deal of exaggeration in regard