of these may be removed by mechanical means almost as simple as those employed in the thrashing of wheat. In order, however, to remove the glutinous substance from the fiber, recourse must be had either to the fermentation produced in the steeping process, or to some other chemical agent. The present system of steeping in water, whether cold or hot, is, however, ineffectual for the removal of the glutinous substances adhering to the fibers, a large percentage of which is insoluble in water. The first process,

therefore, which is necessary in the preparation of the flax cotton is to obtain a perfect and complete disintegration of the fibers from each other by the entire removal of the substance which binds them together.

This is effected by boiling the flax for about three hours, either in the state in which it comes from the field, or in a partially cleaned condition, in water containing about one-half per cent. of caustic soda. After undergoing this process, the flax is placed in water, slightly acidulated with sulphuric acid; the proportions of acid used being one to five hundred of water. Any objection urged against the employment of such substances, even in the small proportions above stated, are at once met by the fact, that the soda present in the straw, after the first process, neutralizes the acid, and forms a neutral salt, known as sulphate of soda. This process producing, as it does, a complete separation of the integral fibers from each other, is equally adapted for the preparation of long fiber for the linen, or of short fiber for other branches of textile manufacture. When required to be prepared for linen, all that is necessary after the above process, is to dry and scutch it in the ordinary modes. The advantages which this mode of preparation possesses over any other mode in use, are stated in the official report of the Proceedings of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, to be the following:

1st. "That the preparation of long fiber for scutching is effected in less than one day, and is always uniform in strength, and entirely free from color, much facilitating the after process of bleaching, either in yarns or in cloth.

D.-1852.

2d. "That it can also be bleached in the straw at very little additional expense of time or money.

3d. "That the former tedious and uncertain modes of steeping are superceded by one perfectly certain, with ordinary care.

4th. "That in consequence of a more complete severance of the fibers from each other, and also from the bark and boon, the process of scutching is effected with half the labor usually employed."

Complete, however, as may be the separation by this mode of treatment, the fibers from their tubular and cylindrical character, are still adapted only for the linen or present flax manufactures, as their comparatively harsh and elastic character unfits them for spinning on the ordinary cotton or woolen machinery. At this stage, therefore it is, that the most important part of the invention is brought into operation.

The flax, either before or after undergoing the process required for the severance of the fibers, is cut by a suitable machine into the required lengths, and saturated in a solution of sesqui-carbonate of soda (common soda,) a sufficient length of time to allow of the liquids entering into and permeating by capillary attraction every part of the small tubes. When sufficiently saturated, the fibers are taken out, immersed in a solution of diluted sulphuric acid of the strength of about one part to two hundred parts of water. The action of the acid on the soda contained in the tube liberates the carbonic gas which it contains, the expansive power of which causes the fibers to split, and produces the result above described. The fiber is then bleached and after having been dried and carded, in the same manner as cotton, is fit for being spun on the ordinary cotton or wool machinery.

From this description of the process and the promised results, it will be apparent that this is a discovery of very great interest, if it proves successful. It has undergone various trials before the

Royal Agricultural Society of England, and other Associations, and has been reported upon favorably, and is undergoing a thorough trial at some of the best Flax mills in Ireland, reports from which will be looked for with great interest.

There was exhibited in the Palace, this invention in operation, preparing the Flax for use, and all the varieties of the fabric manufactured from it, and from the appearance of the different varieties, so far as the complete manufacture possessing the qualities described, the success appeared complete. As to the question of cost, it is not yet, I think, decided, that the manufactured article will be able to compete with cotton, but a great point is attained, if the flax-cotton and flax-wool can be obtained for manufacturing purposes, as claimed by Mr. Claussen. Samples of flax were exhibited, prepared by this process, designed to show the universal applicability of flax fiber to the purposes of textile manufactures.

The first samples were intended to show the various processes resorted to in the preparation of flax into a material capable of being spun alone, or mixed with various proportions of cotton on any ordinary cotton spinning machine.. The samples show: 1st. The flax as pulled, cut into suitable lengths by machinery. 2nd. As it appears after having undergone the first process of saturation in a solution of soda, required to remove the glutinous substance adhering to the fibers. 3d. The fibers as seen after the removal of the "shove" or woody part of the plant. 4th. The flax transformed into a cotton-like substance, by the expansive force of carbonic acid gas produced by the action of an acid upon the soda, taken up by the fibers in the previous stage. The 5th, 6th and 7th show the same, bleached, dried, carded and ready for spinning.

There were also shown samples of mule and throstle yarn of various numbers, some of which are composed entirely of Flax, and others of various proportions of flax and cotton. Both of these descriptions of yarn were exhibited, bleached and dyed in various colors, for the purpose of showing that flax, prepared upon this process, is capable of receiving the same opaque dye as cotton,

and, in the mixed yarns, no difference can be seen in point of color or of shade between the two materials. Samples of grey and bleached, dyed and printed cloth, woven from the yarns, prepared as above, were also exhibited. This description of yarn is called "Flax cotton yarn."

The second series of samples consists of yarns formed of various proportions of flax and wool, called "Flax wool yarn," the flax prepared mainly, as for spinning on cotton machinery. Those exhibited, spun on ordinary woolen machinery. Flannel, woolen cloths, milled and dyed, woven from these mixed yarns of various colors were shown.

The third series contains samples of flax prepared for spinning alone or combined with short silk upon the ordinary silk machine. The flax so prepared, dyed of various colors, and possessing, unlike the samples prepared for the cotton machinery, the brilliancy of color which is peculiar to silk. The yarns formed of equal or other portions of flax and silk, called "Flax silk yarns," were shown dyed, and no difference in shade or color is perceptible in the two materials. Silk woven from the yarn was also shown.

In the fourth series, samples iilustrative of the exhibitor's mode of preparing flax for spinning upon the ordinary flax machinery, and for its manufacture into linen fabrics.

A fifth series consists of various samples of hemp, jute and the fibrous substances prepared, either in whole or in part, as above; and samples of cloth, woven on a circular loom of Chevalier Claussen's, showing the applicability of the invention to articles of Hosiery. The advantages claimed as arising from the process, illustrated in the fourth series, for preparing flax for the linen manufacturers, are its simplicity, rapidity, certainty and cheapness. The first three samples were intended to show the applicability of the flax fiber for textile manufactures, other than linen or cambrics. It can also be spun alone, on cotton machinery, by the or

dinary cotton process. It has long been a desideratum with woolen maufacturers of all classes, to obtain a material cheaper than wool, possessing the same felting or "milling" properties. Cotton and China grass have not this property. The flax fiber is said to be stronger than wool, and to mill equally with it. The sample shown was milled from 54 inches wide (as it fell from the loom) to 28 its present width. To prove its felting properties fully, hats have been made from the fiber, mixed with an insignificant portion of rabbits' hair. The Chevalier, also exhibited a Rotary machine for knitting, &c., which will be noticed under the head of machinery. Samples of the flax as prepared by the above process are placed in our Agricultural rooms.

I have been induced to give thus fully the description furnished by Mons. Claussen, of his process and the advantages claimed for it, believing that it is among the most important of the inventions exhibited, calculated to benefit and advance the industrial interest of our country, and though it may not in its present condition, be equal to all that is claimed for it, still it is progress in the right direction, and I shall be greatly disappointed if it is not made available by the ingenuity of our countrymen in some form, so to cheapen the production of flax for the manufacturer, as to give a new impulse to its culture, and arrest the large amount of money now annually paid for flax fabrics, from the fiber grown on a foreign soil. The imports of goods manufactured from flax in the U. S. from 1841 to 1849, amounts to nearly six millions of dollars annually. The table of the exports from England, for the years 1843, 4 and 5, which we have before us, shows the amount to be over twelve millions annually. Our trade being mainly from there, is evidence of the importance at least of our use of the article in sustaining their manufacture of flax. Samples of the "flax cotton" in yarn, and fabrics were exhibited at the Annual Fair of the State Society at Rochester, in Sep. 1851, and in the minds of practical men who gave a full examination to the articles exhibited, they fully sustained the advantages claimed for them, in the remarks we have above given.