distinguished French chemist, Professor Fremy, member of the Institute
of France, who is well-known for his researches into the nature of
fibrous plants, and the question of their preparation for the market.
Professor Fremy thoroughly investigated the matter from a chemical point
of view, and at length brought it to a successful and, apparently, a
practical issue.
One great bar to previous success would appear to have been the absence
of exact knowledge as to the nature of the constituents of that portion
of the plant which contains the fiber, or, in other words, the casing or
bark surrounding the woody stem of the rhea. As determined by Professor
Fremy, this consists of the cutose, or outer skin, within which is the
vasculose containing the fiber and other conjoined matter, known as
cellulose, between which and the woody stem is the pectose, or gum,
which causes the skin or bark, as a whole, fiber included, to adhere to
the wood. The Professor, therefore, proceeded to carefully investigate
the nature of these various substances, and in the result he found
that the vasculose and pectose were soluble in an alkali under certain
conditions, and that the cellulose was insoluble. He therefore dissolves
out the cutose, vasculose, and pectose by a very simple process,
obtaining the fiber clean, and free from all extraneous adherent matter,
ready for the spinner.
In order, however, to insure as a result a perfectly uniform and
marketable article, the Professor uses various chemicals at the several
stages of the process. These, however, are not administered haphazard,
or by rule of thumb, as has been the case in some processes bearing in
the same direction, and which have consequently failed, in the sense
that they have not yet taken their places as commercial successes. The
Professor, therefore, carefully examines the article which he has to
treat, and, according to its nature and the character of its components,
he determines the proportions of the various chemicals which he
introduces at the several stages. All chance of failure thus appears to
be eliminated, and the production of a fiber of uniform and reliable
quality removed from the region of doubt into that of certainty. The two
processes of M. Favier and M. Fremy have, therefore, been combined, and
machinery has been put up in France on a scale sufficiently large
to fairly approximate to practical working, and to demonstrate the
practicability of the combined inventions.
The experimental works are situated in the Route d'Orleans, Grand
Montrouge, just outside Paris, and a few days ago a series of
demonstrations were given there by Messrs. G.W.H. Brogden and Co., of
Gresham-house, London. The trials were carried out by M. Albert Alroy,
under the supervision of M. Urbain, who is Professor Fremy's chief
assistant and copatentee, and were attended by Dr. Forbes Watson, Mr.
M. Collyer, Mr. C.J. Taylor, late member of the General Assembly, New
Zealand, M. Barbe, M. Favier, Mr. G. Brogden, Mr. Caspar, and a number
of other gentlemen representing those interested in the question at
issue. The process, as carried out, consists in first treating the rhea
according to M. Favier's invention. The apparatus employed for this
purpose is very simple and inexpensive, consisting merely of a stout
deal trough or box, about 8 ft. long, 2 ft. wide, and 1 ft. 8 in. deep.
The box has a hinged lid and a false open bottom, under which steam is
admitted by a perforated pipe, there being an outlet for the condensed
water at one end of the box. Into this box the bundles of rhea were
placed, the lid closed, steam turned on, and in about twenty minutes it
was invariably found that the bark had been sufficiently softened to
allow of its being readily and rapidly stripped off by hand, together