io8

DYEING AND CALICO PRINTING.

detached ultimate fibres is greatly increased; they are, however, rarelybroken, most of them having the end perfect. Spiral fibres are here absent.In Maori-prepared Phormium the bundles are almost entirely free from

Fig. 7.

tissue, and quite so from spiral fibres. These are always broken up intomany fasciculi, which average, perhaps, some twelve or fifteen ultimate fibresin each fasciculus. Many ultimate fibres are semi-detached, and they are

Fig. 8. Fig. 9.

much more broken than in machine-prepared fibre. For examination of theultimate fibre, Captain Hutton recommends boiling for two or three hours ina weak solution of potash, and separation of the fibres by disseftion under the