100
MISCELLANEOUS FIBRES—CIIIXA-GHASS, CALLOOEE IIEMP, Ac. [Class lY.
Samples of hemp are contributed likewise by the Mu-nicipal Corporation of Castellon (153, p. 1338); D.
De -•, of Murcia (154, p. 133S); D. De -, of
Saragossa (155, p. 1338).
Some interesting samples of water-rett'ed flax fromAngermaland, in the north of Sweden , are exhibited byJohan* Johansson* (21, p. 1350). The flax is of verygood quality, though not well manufactured; it washowever deemed worthy of Honourable Mention.
In the Turkish collection, six samples of flax and twoof hemp are exhibited; the latter are from Djanik, andAVallachia : the former from Endemith, Djanik, Unia,Aidin, Drama, and Wallachia .
Miscellaneous Fibres.
In the various collections of raw produce, a very largenumber of other fibrous substances, used as substitutesfor cotton, flax, and hemp, are shown ; some of these arenew or but little known, and among them are severalwhich, from their valuable properties, seem likely, erelong, to become important articles of trade, and not merelyto form excellent substitutes for the substances alreadyemploved bv manufacturers, but even iu some cases tolead to the development of new branches of industry.
An interesting series of hemp, flax, and other fibroussubstances is contained iu the Liverpool collection ofimports, these include—
L
Dutch flax - —
Linum usitatissimuin
Holland -
JSl 9
Tons.
78
IS 50
Tons.
153
•i,
Firvptian ditto —
_
_
11 ii
-
-
Alexandria —
—
-
-
—
-
270
3.
Tow - - -
_
_
ii .,
-
—
-
-
-
—
3
3
4.
Hemp - - —
-
-
Cannabis sativa — —
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
5.
,, Polish Ryne
-
—
} > i , — -
-
-
—
-
—
-
-
—
6.
-
-
ii 11 ~ ”
-
-
-
-
-
—
-
-
7_
,, white crown
-
-
ii — —
-
-
Marienburg —
-
-
-
-
-
-
8.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
9.
,, Bombay —
—
-
Hibiscus cannabinus —
—
-
Bombay —
-
-
-
—
129
212
10.
J ute - - —
-
-
Corchorus capsularis -
-
-
East Indies —
-
-
-
-
8. GC0
12,216
11.
Sunn — — —
-
-
Crntolaria iuncea —
—
-
. —
-
-
—
-
-
81
12.
Coir rope - —
-
-
-
-
-
470
1.110
13.
,, yarn - -
-
-
ii ii ” ”
-
-
1 1 >
,
-
200
370
14.
_
_
Urtica nivea (?) — —
Canton and Hon
g
Kong
-
-
Bales.
150
Bales
320
15.
Picaba - — —
Attalea funifera — —
Para — —
Tons.
Tons.
16.
Manilla hemp —
...
_
-
-
Manilla- —
-
-
-
-
81
192
17.
-
_
Carnanba palm — —
-
-
Para — —
-
-
-
—
Occasional.
18.
_
_
Unknown — — —
—
-
Brazil — —
-
-
-
19. Spanish moss —
-
-
Tillandsia usneoides —
-
-
-
-
-
-
20.
Vegetable Silk -
—
Cliorisa speciosa - —
—
—
—
"
"
j
j
Samples of flax from Holland, Belgium, France , andRussia are shown in the Hull collection of imports, andthe quantity of flax imported annually is stated to beabout 310,000 cwts. Specimens of hemp are exhibitedalso from Prussia and Italy , the yearly import of whichis about 55,000 cwts.; and samples of East Indian hemp,Manilla hemp, and jute; of the latter, about 1,100 cwts.are annually imported.
Amongst fibrous materials; one of the most interestingis the China -grass,” of which numerous specimens areexhibited in various departments of the Building, someof the most complete and valuable series being in theEnglish Gallery.
Although China -grass fibre is comparatively a new-material in the hands of our manufacturers, yet it hasbeen known to men of science for a very considerabletime: but certain practical difficulties have hitherto pre-vented it from being usefully and profitably employed.China-grass fibre is obtained from Uitica nivea, abundantin China and in various parts of the Indian empire, whereit has long been used by the natives, who, by the simplemaceration of the plants, obtain from them a strong andvery useful fibre. Of the various fibres examined by Dr.Roxburgh, at the commencement of the present century,with a view to the discovery of some cheap and goodsubstitute for hemp, one of the most promising was the“ Callooee ” hemp, “ Kankhura,” or the “ Rainy,” of theIslands and Malay peninsula . This he found to he theproduce of an Urtica , to which he gave the name of(7. tenacissima. The plant was introduced in 1803, fromBencoolen to Calcutta , where it was cultivated for severalyears in the Botanic Garden, then under the charge ofDr. Roxburgh. A considerable quantity of Callooee hemphaving been imported into England in 1814, its practicalvalue was tested by some competent authorities; and asthe reports were highly favourable as to its strength andother valuable qualities, the Society for the Encourage-ment of Arts and Manufactures awarded a silver medalto Captain Joseph Cotton, of the East India Company , for
its introduction. The chief obstacle which interfered,however, with its use, was the difficulty which was foundto exist in the preparation of the fibre from the stems ofthe plants; none of the processes usually adopted withflax or hemp were found to be at all suitable to them ;and the rude, wasteful, and imperfect means employed bythe natives in preparing the fibre for the manufacture oftwine, thread, and fishing-nets, by the mere process ofscraping, were wholly inapplicable on a large scale, andgave, besides, only a very inferior result. 'When ma-cerated or retted in water, it was found that the fibreitself was more easily destroyed than the glutinous mat-ter of the stem. It was hoped that the introduction ofthe machines of Mr. Lee, and of Messrs. Hill and Bundy,already referred to (see p. 97), would have obviated thisdifficulty ; but such did not prove to be the case.
During the last forty years, various attempts have beenmade to devise a good and cheap process for preparingthis fibre, but hitherto without much success; and con-sequently, till quite recently, the cost of the fibre was suchas to preclude its being brought into the market as asubstitute for flax. But recent investigations have shownthat the Urtica tenacissima and the lielerophylla may beobtained, in almost unlimited quantities, in various partsof India ; and a process, which has lately been patented,appears, to a very great extent, to have removed thepractical difficulties which previously stood iu the wayof its employment by manufacturers; so that in a fewyears it is probable that the Callooee hemp will constitutean important addition to the fibrous materials employedin the arts.
The process of Messrs. L. W. Wright and Co., for thepreparation of China -grass, &c., for which a patent wasobtained in 1849, consists, essentially, in a very ingeniousarrangement for boiling the stems in an alkaline solution,after they have previously been steeped for 24 hours incold water, and for 24 hours in water of a temperature of90°. The fibre is then thoroughly washed with purewater, and finally subjected to the action ot a current of