Excerpt from The London Journal of Arts, Sciences, and Manufactures, and Repertory of Patent Inventions, 1847, Vol. 31 When the flax is brought to this state it is next submitted to a machine of a new construction, wherein the woody por tions are broken away and separated from the useful fibres. And, to complete the contemplated operations, the flax is lastly submitted to a machine, whereby the fibres are more minutely divided, and the short fibres or tow, the dust, and other extraneous matters contained in the flax, are removed. The improvements connected with the first or retting pro cess comprise the application of chemical means, governed in their operation by mechanical arrangements, whereby the resinous or glutinous matter which attaches the rhind or fibres to the stem of the rough plants is dissolved, and the cohesion of the fibres to the wood or stem is destroyed. This is effected in a short time, at a small cost, and at all seasons of the year, without loss of the useful parts by putrefaction on the one hand, or by an incomplete abstraction of the fibre from the woody matter on the other; and also without breakage of the fibre or any injury to the natural strength of the plant. As the technical term lint is commonly ap plied to the fibrous portions of rough hemp and flax, and the term boon is usually applied to the woody part of the stem, these terms will be so used in the subsequent descript' About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.