FLAX COTTON.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VIII, Issue 682, 14 February 1852, Page 4

FLAX COTTON.

The following description of the Chevalier Claussen’s mode of preparing flax for the purpose of manufacture, is extracted from the Times. The invention has excited the greatest interest among the agricultural and manufacturing classes in England and Ireland :—

in order that the Chevalier Claussen's invention may be perfectly understood it is requisite to explain as briefly as possible the structure of the flax plant, and tbe processes by which the fibre is at present prepared for spinning. One marked difference between the fibre of flax and cotton is, that while the former presents, when seen through the microscope, a long tubular form, the latter is flat and short. The former has felting qualities which cotton does not possess. Its specific gravity is also greater, and it possesses a glossy appearance. The consequence of all these differences is, that hitherto it has been found impracticable to spin them in the same, machinery, or mix them in one fabric, so as to be stamped with the same colours. Again, in the preparation of flix for linen manufactures, a variety of processes have to be gone through arising from the. structure of the plant. The fibre requires, by some means, to be separated from the other less valuable portions of the plant, with which it is connected on all sides by a gummy deposit. In effecting this the Irish Flax Society recommend the use of Schenk’s method of steeping, which it is unnecessary to explain further than that five days and nights are occupied thereby, and that the result is achieved by setting on foot a process of fermentation and decomposition, which at lasi liberates the fibre. Tbe operations of drying, breaking, scutching, and. bleaching .ollow, nearly all involving a certain amount of

delay and great nicely in the Until they have been performed thfp* I not fit for the spinners’ use ”fl fact, from its bulk, is not in a conveni?''! fl to be conveyed any distance from the] fl in which it is grown. M. Claussen fl poses io effect tbe required results b **fl expeditious and effectual means. Ii "“’.fl the flax straw for a short time in ■ containing 11b. of soda to 2cwt of liquor thus formed assumes the col fl porter, and at the end of about two fl two hours and a half, is allowed t 0 1? fl Having been washed out, the vats are ° • I filled with water, and a weak solution phuric acid thrown in. When the fl ax ?fl been allowed to steep here for a short fl the gummy glutinous matter around the fibfl has been completely disengaged, wbj| e I strength of the fibre, from the weakness I the chemical agencies used, is, as the Ch - I lier states, less impaired than if the separafil had been effected by the slow process of d| composition at present in practice. So f l the plan proposed by the Chevalier jj tat L an improvement upon old methods than a I original invention. If after due trial it 18 , ‘ out to be tbe best form of the steeping p roc J as yet suggested, a very great benefit J have been conferred on the flax grower auj tbe linen manufacturer.

But M. Clausseu’s patent embraces the defl sign of converting flax into a cotton, to bel used as a substitute for, or in combination! with, the genuine produce of the cotton irej and capable of being brought into tbe injflj'J at prices that will insure a good demand whet I foreign cotton is scarce, and be remuneratin | even when the supply is abundant. The gen. | eral principle of the operation is the discovery| of a chemical agency by which gases set fie* I in the tubular fibres of the flax split theta I into shreds, whereby ihe distinction between! the mechanical structure of flax and cotton id destroyed, and not only do they become appli.l cable to the same machinery, but even tbe specific gravity of the two (formerly different)j is equalized. The shining surface offlul fabrics can (M. Claussen says) at pleasureh removed, and the dull hue attained which clears away all difficulty as to mixing sei printing. Not cnly so but the inventor claims the ability to mix his fhx cotton with wool or silk, it being adapted for thence

combination by possessing felling propertied and for the other by the bright smooth appear-1 auce which in cotton manufactures must le done away with. The manner in which I all this is effected is briefly as follows: —Th fibre is first cut of the desired length; ill is then placed in a weak solution of common washing soda. After remaining there fora short time, until the tubular fibres are' completely saturated, it is placed in a vessel containing a weak solution of sulphuric acid. Sulphate of soda is thus formed, and the carbonic acid is driven off in the form of gas, which, in making its escape from the minute tubes of the fibres, splits them up into shreds. From the solution of sulphuric acid the fin, now become cotton, is again plunged into flit vessel containing soda, after resting in which for a short time it is dipped in a preparation which almost instantly bleaches it. This

preparation is hypochlorite of manganese. | When the fibre saturated with carbonate I of soda is plunged into the solution of hypo- | chlorite, the carbonic acid of the carbonate of I soda attacks the magnesia, and, forming cat- 1 bonate of magnesia, the hypoclilorous acid I is set free. This acid at the moment of liberation acts as a powerful bleaching ageol, and if it were allowed to remain long in contact with the fibre, or in great excess, would injure its strength ; but tbe soda from which the carbonic acid has been removed offers itself immediately as a base, and neutralizes all ths acid which remains after the bleaching process is completed. M. Claussen thus economizes his bleaching liquid, the bicarbonate of soda now formed being also a bleaching agent. The rapidity with which the whole of this experiment can be performed is truly astonishing, and the results were considered highly promising by the large meeting in presence of which the demonstration took place. M< Claussen exhibited specimens of his dressed flax, of his flax cotton, and of manufactures fr. m it by itself, and mixed with cotton, wool and silk. These were minutely examined by gentlemen whose experience qualified them 10 investigate such a subject, and no was found with the quality of the article 3; while several spoke of them iu very laudato 1 ! terms.”