FIBRE. FIBRE. ierials afforded by (lie animal kingdom. For in- formation regarding the fibres obtained from the cocoons of insects, sec Siik and Silkworm. It, is to i lie first class that the greater number of dif- ferent kinds of animal fibres used for textile pur- poses belong; and the wool of the sheep far es cecils all the rest in importance. Bui the wool or hair of other quadrupeds is also to some extent used, as that of (he goat, the alpaca, the camei, the musk-ox, and the yak. all of which are, like the sheep, ruminants. The hair of comparatively few animals is sufficiently long for textile purposes, or can he procured in sufficient abundance to make it of economic importance. The warmlh of clothing depends much on the fineness of the hair, and on other characters in which wool par- ticularly excels. See Sheep; Wool; Goat; Angora; Alpaca; Camel; Mitsk-Ox; Yak. The useful vegetable fibres are far more nu- merous and various than are the animal. They are obtained from plants of natural orders very different from each other. They are obtained also from different parts of plants. Wood-cells are found in the hark, and are longer, finer, and tougher than those found in the wood. They form the principal part of the fibrous bark or bast layer of cells. These give toughness and flexibil- ity to the structure, and the extracted bundles of cells form the filamentous product, known as flax, hemp, and jute, derived from dicotyledo- nous plants. In monocotyledons the fibrous cells are built up with others into a composite struc- ture known as fibro-vascular bundles. Such fibre occurs in the palms, and in the fleshy-leaved agaves, the bundles being found not as in bark, but throughout the stem or leaf forming the sup- porting structure. These filaments, when sepa- rated from the soft cell-mass by which they are surrounded, may be known as structural fibre, of which the fibre of sisal hemp i* an example. The simple cells produced on the surfaces of the seeds of endogens, such as cotton and coeoanut. constitute a fibrous material, to which the name surface fibre has been given. For illustrations see plate of Fibre Plants under article Hemp. The fibre bundles, therefore, whether occurring as bast fibre or structural fibre, or whether in the form of simple cells, as surface fibre, may lie regarded as the spinning units; aggregations of bundles purified and cleansed of all extraneous matter, and simply twisted together. The netting structure of the plant, by which means the fila- ment is separated. The fibres of the leaves of en- dogens, being parallel to each other, are easily obtained of sufficient length for economical pur- poses ; while the reticulated fibres of leaves of exogens, even if long enough, which is com- paratively seldom the case, cannot be separated for use. The bast fibres of exogens, however. are often of sufficient length, and easily sepa- rable. The separation is generally accomplished by steeping in water, or by frequent dampen- ing with water so as to cause a partial rotting of the other parts of the bast, and of the bark which covers it. Since the fibres of endogens are in general discolored and injured by this damp process to a much greater degree than are those of exogens, mere mechanical means are usually preferred for their separa- tion, such as beating, passing between rollers, and scraping. The fibres of many leaves are separated by scraping alone. The fibres of seeds, as cotton, exist in nature attached to the seed. like the wool or hair of animals, ami require , to be collected ami cleaned. There are two natural groups of fibres — the commercial species, and the i i group of the so-called native fibres. Among the uncivilized races many species of fibre plant.-- which civilized man cannot afford to employ commercially have become -t useful for utensils, cords, and clo ing. While 30 or 40 pecies oi plants supply the world's demand for commercial fibres, hundreds of fibrous plaids could readily be enumerated. The list of commercial fibres may be increased from time 1" time. Of those now important there are six basl fibres, as follows ; Flax {Linum usitatissimum ) ; China gra - [Boehmeria ret-yea) ; hemp [Cannabis sativa) ; jute [Corehorus cap sularis and Corehorus olitorius) ; Sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea) ; and Cuba bast {Hibiscus tiliaceus) . There are two surface fibres: Cotton ( Oossypium spp.) and raffia [Raphia peduncu- lata) . The list of structural fibres numbers 15, representing agaves, palms, and grasses as fol- lows: Cordage fibres — Sisal hemp I Igave rigida var.) ; Manila hemp (Musa textilis) ; Mauritius flax ( Furcrau yigantea ) ; New Zealand flax I Phor- niiuiii h tin., i. Brush fibres — Tampico or istle {Agave heteracemtha) ; Bahia piassaba (Attalea funifera) : Para piassaba ( Leopoldinia Piassaba I : Mexican whisk, or broom-root (Epicampes ma- croura) ; cabbage palmetto {Sabal palmetto). Upholstering and matting fibres — Crin vegetal {Chamwraps humilis) : Spanish moss {Tillandsia uscoides) ; saw palmetto (Serenoa serrulata) ; coeoanut fibre (Gocos nucifera). Paper manu- facture — Esparto grass (Stipa tenacissi/ma) , a substitute for bath sponges; and vegetable sponge (Luff a .Egypt ica) . The sources of supply of these fibres are as follows : Flax is produced chiefly in Belgium. Rus- sia, Holland. Italy, Great Britain, and Ireland, the United States and Canada; China grass or ramie comes from China; hemp is obtained from Russia, United States, France, Belgium, Ger- many, Austria-Hungary. Italy, and the Nether- lands; jute from India and Cuba; bast from the West Indies; cotton is chiefly produced in the Vnited States, Egypt, and Peru; raffia comes from Africa ; sisal hemp is produced in Yucatan, tuba, and the Bahamas; Manila hemp is a prod- uct of the Philippine Islands ; Mauritius or aloe fibre comes from Africa; New Zealand flax from the country indicated by its name; Tampico or istle is a Mexican product; Bahia or Para pias- sabas, or 'bass' fibres, are' collected from Brazilian palms, other species of bass from African palms; broom-root is a Mexican product; the two pal- metto fibres are produced from species of Florida palms; crin vegetal .is derived from an allied palm, growing in Algeria: vegetable hair from Spanish moss is prepared in South Carolina and the Gulf States; coeoanut fibre comes from the East Indies; esparto grass is produced in Algeria, Spain, and Portugal; vegetable sponge largely in Japan. Other fibrous substances ap- pear in the form of straw plait from Italy, Japan, and China chiefly. The Eastern floor mat- tings and basketry are made from various fibres. The highest use for which fibre may be em- ployed is in the manufacture of cloth or woven fabric. The next higher uses are in the manufac- ture of threads, twines, cords, and ropes known as cordage. A third use is in the manufacture of brushes and brooms, for which a different class
