anxa 
 
 88-B 
 
 25853 
 
 REMARKS 
 
 ON THE 
 
 MECHANICAL STRUCTURE 
 
 OF 
 
 COTTON FIBRE. 
 
 BY 
 
 GILBERT J. FRENCH, 
 
 OF BOLTON. 
 
 (PRINTED FOR PRESENTATION.) 
 
 MANCHESTER: 
 CHARLES SIMMS AND CO. 
 August, 1857. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2018 with funding from 
 Getty Research Institute 
 
 https://archive.org/details/remarksonmechaniOOfren 
 
REMARKS ON THE MECHANICAL STRUCTURE 
 
 OF COTTON FIBRE. 
 
 SlK, 
 
 Permit me to bring under your notice certain particulars 
 respecting the mechanical structure of cotton fibres the results 
 of an investigation in which I have for some time been engaged. 
 
 When a filament of cotton is examined under the microscope, it 
 is seen to be twisted on its own axis somewhat like a corkscrew — 
 differing in this respect from fibres of silk, wool, and flax, which 
 evince no natural tendency to twist. 
 
 This peculiarity in the structure of cotton has been described by 
 Mr. Thompson of Clitlieroe, in a paper upon the Mummy Cloth of 
 Egypt, which he read before the Royal Society, and by which he 
 proved that that fabric was linen and not cotton, as had been pre¬ 
 viously supposed. 
 
 Mr. Thompson was indebted to the careful microscopic observa¬ 
 tions of Mr. Bauer for a clear indication of the distinctive peculia¬ 
 rities in the structure of cotton and linen fibres. He discovered 
 filaments of cotton to be invariably flattened cylinders more or less 
 twisted; whilst those of linen retained their cylindric form and 
 were without twist. 
 
 These facts were demonstrated by a careful drawing, showing 
 filaments of cotton and flax magnified four hundred times, which 
 
4 
 
 was engraved in illustration of Mr. Thompson’s paper . 1 About the 
 same time, at the request of Mr. Pettigrew of London, Dr. Ure 
 examined mummy cloth under the microscope with a similar result. 
 He does not, indeed, so strongly insist on the natural twist of the 
 fibre, but he distinctly alludes to its “ spiral structure ,” 2 and still 
 more distinctly exhibits that peculiarity in all the woodcuts of 
 magnified cotton fibres, figured in his Philosophy of Manufac¬ 
 tures . 3 
 
 The example here introduced is copied from a portion of the 
 engraving of Bauer’s drawing already referred to. It exhibits 
 parts of two fibres of ripe cotton, each one-hundredth of an inch 
 in length, magnified four hundred times. 
 
 The twist in cotton fibre has also been referred to by Dr. Royle 
 in his “ Culture and Commerce of Cotton in India,” where an 
 admirable example is figured of Sea Island cotton from a micro¬ 
 scopic drawing prepared by Mr. Cornelius Varley for Mr. Thomp¬ 
 son. 
 
 My own investigations, so far as I have been able to carry them, 
 entirely coincide with the facts here recorded; 
 but it may be satisfactory to say that an ordinary 
 microscope, such as may be purchased for a few 
 shillings, in the hands of an inexperienced obser¬ 
 ver exhibits the spiral structure of cotton fibres 
 as shown by the woodcut on the margin. 
 
 As, however, the unaided eye fails to detect the slightest twist- 
 
 ' This paper and engraving may be conveniently referred to in the Appendix to 
 Baines’s History of the Cotton Manufactures, where both have been republished. 
 
 2 Philosophy of Manufactures, Beeond edition, p. 101. 
 
 3 Ibid, pp. 86, 87, 80. 
 
o 
 
 ing even under the most favourable circumstances, it is not impro¬ 
 bable that this peculiar corkscrew mechanism of the fibres of 
 cotton has been observed by, and is known to, comparatively few 
 of those parties most interested in its use, which may account for 
 the fact that the natural twist has never been considered (so far as 
 I can learn) with reference to its possible effect on any of the pro¬ 
 cesses of the cotton manufacture. 
 
 On the authority of Mr. Bauer we learn that “ the twists or 
 turns in a fibre of cotton are from 300 to 800 in an inch.” 1 My 
 own observations upon different varieties of cotton lead me to 
 believe the average number of twists to be very much less ; 
 and in this I am supported by the opinion of G. Lawson Esq., 
 Demonstrator of Botany and Vegetable Histology to the Edin¬ 
 burgh University, who has recently examined specimens under the 
 microscope at my request. Mr. Lawson reports that “the number 
 of complete turns is in some cases equal to 200 in an inch, but 
 more usually they are much fewer.” 
 
 Mr. Bauer, \vho appears to have had favourable specimens for 
 examination, states that fibres of cotton taken from unripe and 
 unopened pods are always xtntvnsted cylinders, and this form they 
 retain ever after; but the fibres taken from ripe and open pods are 
 flattened and tivisted, and “ in that respect they undergo no 
 change through the operations of spinning, weaving, bleaching, 
 printing and dying, nor in all the subsequent domestic operations 
 of washing, &c., till the stuff is worn to rags ; and then even the 
 violent process of reducing those rags to pulp for the purpose of 
 making paper, effects no change in the structure of these fibres.” 
 “With Ploessks microscope,” he adds, “I can ascertain whether 
 cotton rags have been mixed with linen in any manufacured paper 
 whatever.” 
 
 From the authorities I have quoted, it may, I apprehend, be 
 assumed that spiral twisting is a condition inherent in the fibres of 
 ripe cotton, but which does not appertain to those which have 
 been gathered unripe. 
 
 1 Baines’s History of the Cotton Manufacture, p. 537. 
 
It would be interesting, and probably useful, to ascertain the 
 exact time at which the flattening and twisting of the fibre occurs ) 
 most probably it accompanies and is caused by the desiccation of 
 the fluid contained in the hollow cylinders of cotton upon expo¬ 
 sure to the rays of the sun after the expansion of the protecting 
 leaves. This can only be learned by a careful observation of the 
 growing plant; but there is good evidence that the fibres, before 
 and up to the time when the pod opens, are cylinders without any 
 twist. 
 
 I suggest that yarn might be spun from cotton gathered when 
 protected by the covering pod and before exposure to the direct 
 action of the sun’s rays, materially differing in many respects 
 from that which is manufactured from the usual (so called) ripe 
 cotton. It is very probable that so obvious an experiment may have 
 been already tried and proved to be unsuccessful; as, however, I 
 have never heard of it, I venture to suggest it, though it is merely 
 incidental to the main purpose of this communication. 
 
 Whatever means nature may employ to produce the flattened 
 and twisted arrangement of cotton fibre in the opened pod, it may 
 be fairly assumed that the cause acts uniformly, and is followed 
 by a uniform result. If the twist follows the course of the sun — 
 a supposition powerfully supported by analogy of the known effect 
 of its agency upon many other plants — then, the twist in all 
 fibres in the same pod must be in one and the same direction; so 
 also will be the case with each pod of the same plant, each plant 
 of the field, each field of the district, and with each district of the 
 hemisphere. 
 
 I have anxiously endeavoured to verify this hypothesis by care¬ 
 ful observation of such specimens of cotton, in a proper state for 
 the purpose, as I have been able to procure. These, I regret to 
 say, have been exceedingly scanty, a fact which induces me to 
 trouble you with this communication, as I have myself no oppor¬ 
 tunity of carrying out the enquiry or of obtaining the necessary 
 samples; so that I can only hope to show you such facts as 
 may induce you to take some interest in the subject, and also to 
 
assist by procuring, through your correspondents in cotton growing 
 countries, samples of cotton in the pod before and after its expan¬ 
 sion, from various latitudes in both hemispheres. 
 
 Such observations as I have been able to make lead me to 
 believe that the twist in cotton fibre follows the course of the sun. 
 It is true that in almost every seed with its attached cotton I have 
 yet examined, some of the fibres — more or less — appear to be 
 twisted, in a portion of their length, differently from the greater 
 adjacent mass ; but this I apprehend to be the result of accident, 
 as a very slight thrust disarranges the delicate filaments, and such 
 is inevitable in the packing process as now conducted. 
 
 I am, however, by no means desirous that you should trust to 
 my opinion in this matter, as I readily confess myself to be com¬ 
 paratively unpractised in the use of the microscope. I have there¬ 
 fore sought the assistance of the gentleman already mentioned, 
 whose experience and skill in this department of science make 
 his opinion of especial value. The following letter, though not to 
 be considered conclusive, corroborates my own previous observa¬ 
 tions and shows the importance of further investigation upon 
 proper specimens : — 
 
 University, Edinburgh, 8th July, 1857. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 I have made an examination by the microscope of the 
 specimen of Sea Island cotton sent by you, with reference to 
 the point mentioned in your letter, viz., the direction of the spiral 
 of the fibres, and I beg to report as follows : 
 
 The fibres are for the most part twisted from left to right (that 
 is, in the direction of the sun’s course); a few of the fibres, or at 
 least portions of them, are twisted in the contrary direction (right 
 to left, or against the sun’s course) ; and portions of the fibre 
 occur in which there is scarcely any twist at all, being in the form 
 of a crumpled ribbon. 
 
 It may here be stated that the development of the cotton fibre 
 has not been traced by any previous observer (so far as I can 
 
8 
 
 learn), with the special view either of ascertaining the prevailing 
 direction of the twist, or of investigating the conditions by which 
 it is regulated. It is therefore impossible, from the examination 
 of a single specimen of mature cotton, to predicate what may 
 occur in other kinds of cotton, or even to say with certainty that 
 the prevailing direction of twist in that specimen will also he 
 found in other samples of Sea Island cotton, although I think 
 such is extremely likely to be the case. The specimen of Sea 
 Island cotton now submitted is certainly more strongly twisted 
 than samples of Indian cotton which I examined some time ago. 
 
 In the event of your desiring a further prosecution of the sub¬ 
 ject, please bear in mind that unripe and unopened cotton pods 
 are most instructive in such an investigation. 
 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 G. LAWSON, F.R.P.G., 
 Demonstrator of Botany and Vegetable 
 Histology to the Edinb. University, 
 To Mr. Gilbert J. French, Sec. Bot. Soc. 
 
 Bolton, Lancashire. 
 
 I have examined numerous varieties of cotton wool, and find a 
 great disparity in the number of twists in a given length of fibre 
 when seen under the microscope. Unfortunately, I have no pre¬ 
 cise knowledge of the circumstances and locality of the growth of 
 the specimens, and therefore dare not offer any opinion as to the 
 probable cause of the greater or less twist. It would require a 
 long continued series of careful observations by skilful microsco- 
 pists, to arrive at any safe conclusion on this point. If I am at 
 all correct in the deductions which I venture to draw from the 
 facts already ascertained, and to which I shall now call your atten¬ 
 tion, you will agree with me that such an investigation is very 
 highly important to the future interests of the cotton trade. 
 
 Cotton is (I believe) invariably spun into yarn without reference 
 to the original and natural parallelism of its fibres. First the 
 
9 
 
 saw gin in detaching the filaments from the seeds, and afterwards 
 the scutching and blowing machine in its attempt to cleanse and 
 separate the closely packed masses of fibre, entirely destroy the 
 order in which these fibres had been previously arranged by 
 nature. This produces two results, both of them detrimental to 
 the succeeding processes of manufacture. I will mention the less 
 important first. 
 
 Cotton fibre, whether examined under the microscope or in the 
 flakes sometimes met with in bales with the natural arrangement 
 undisturbed, is found to possess a pearly lustre, which in the finer 
 kinds becomes almost iridescent. This quality appertains also to 
 flax, and in a higher degree to silk, but is not observed in cotton 
 thread or woven fabrics, except when imparted to them by fac¬ 
 titious appliances — a practice so common as sufficiently to prove 
 that the retention of the natural lustre is an object of importance. 
 
 This lustre is probably dependant upon the atomic arrangement 
 of the cotton fibre. If these minute particles occupy uniform posi¬ 
 tions from the base to the point of the filament, each separate fibre 
 and any aggregation of fibres arranged in natural parallelism 
 receive and reflect the light that falls upon them — hence the 
 lustre; but if this arrangement be reversed by placing the parallel 
 fibres in somewhat equal numbers from point and from base, there 
 can be no lustre, as the light is diffused from numberless reversed 
 points instead of being reflected from a smooth surface composed 
 of an aggregate of atoms uniformly arranged. 
 
 To make this more evident, let me refer to a similar effect pro¬ 
 duced by the same means upon another material. Spun silk is a 
 technical name for threads prepared from waste silk and such co¬ 
 coons as from accident or malformation cannot be reeled for use in 
 the usual manner. These are treated much in the same way as cot¬ 
 ton. The natural parallelism of the fibres is broken up by machinery, 
 and a new arrangement brought about by dint of carding and 
 roving. The threads resulting from this process resemble cotton 
 much more than silk, and have lost in a great measure the brilliant 
 lustre for which that material is principally valued. 
 
10 
 
 Forty years ago linen thread and linen cloth possessed a lustre 
 which is rarely met with in the manufactured flax of the present 
 day. When spun by hand, the natural parallelism of the fibres 
 was retained; but the practice in modern mills is, I am informed, 
 to cut each long lock of flax into four lengths, which, after being 
 heckled, are presented to the spinning machinery without regard 
 to the natural direction of the fibres. Hence, as in the case of 
 cotton and of spun silk, the reflecting surface of the material is 
 broken up, and there is consequently a loss of the desired lustre, 
 though the quality and strength of the thread may in all proba¬ 
 bility be improved. Arguing from the analogous effects upon silk 
 and flax, I venture to hazard the inference, that a permanent lustre 
 might be given to threads and fabrics of cotton by retaining the 
 parallel position of the fibres which nature has established in the 
 seed pod. 
 
 Assuming the hypothesis, that the twists in filaments of cotton 
 are in one direction, to be correct, I suggest that, by continuing 
 this arrangement throughout the process of spinning, the result 
 promises a thread of greater tenuity, with more strength and 
 smoothness, than can be produced by the present practice, which 
 twists one moiety of the fibres composing a thread in the direction 
 of the natural torsion and the other in the reverse direction. 
 
 I have shown that the spiral convolutions in ripe fibres of cotton 
 are permanent. No process of manufacture, or of washing and 
 wearing, succeeds in destroying or even modifying this peculiarity, 
 and, as a necessary consequence, each distorted fibre exerts an 
 unceasing effort to resume its natural position: hence the innu¬ 
 merable ends which perpetually show themselves on the most 
 carefully manufactured cotton threads and fabrics. Human inge¬ 
 nuity may be said to have almost exhausted itself in the marvellous 
 contrivances which have been applied to the removal or mitigation 
 of this evil. The daring expedients of passing delicate threads 
 and muslins over bars of red-hot metal, or through curtains 
 of flame, are equalled by the contrivances of the bleacher in 
 smoothing, polishing and fastening to the surface of the cloth 
 
each rebellious point. These expedients serve, however, but for 
 the time, since the friction of wearing and washing, and even 
 changes of temperature alone, induce action in the elastic fibres 
 thus unnaturally convoluted. They persist in an endeavour to 
 escape from their constrained position, and are assisted by every 
 strain upon the thread, as may he seen by the fresh points which 
 at such times perpetually start from its surface. 
 
 If in spinning cotton the system of parallelism which nature has 
 given to the filaments can be retained throughout the after pro¬ 
 cesses, and the suggestive hint which she offers by that system to 
 form the artificial twist in accordance with the natural torsion of 
 the fibre, were acted upon, yarn would be produced with some 
 amount of elasticity, on which a strain would have the effect of 
 bringing all the component fibres into closer contact, their ends, 
 whether point or base, all clinging inwards to the centre of the 
 thread. The most perfect possible yarn (if I may be permitted to 
 suggest its production as possible) would be that in which the 
 number of artificial twists in a given length coincide with the 
 natural twists in the fibres from which it is made. 
 
 It "would be altogether premature to descant on the advantages 
 which the cotton trade would derive from the use of yarn such as 
 I have described. To you and to all practical spinners and manu¬ 
 facturers these will at once suggest themselves; and though you 
 may perceive objections and impediments to its production which 
 I have not noticed, yet your practice and experience may make 
 you aware of means to overcome or elude these impediments, and 
 also of numerous promising advantages which have not occurred 
 to me. At all events, I trust I have shown such a case as may 
 prove a sufficient excuse for intruding the subject on your notice. 
 
 At the present time, when the cry is not for better but for more 
 cotton, it is probable that my suggestions may not be entertained, 
 though I believe that even now they are worthy the serious con¬ 
 sideration of fine spinners. But at some future period of de¬ 
 pression in the cotton trade, when active competition stimulates 
 improvement, I presume to predict that the views I have endea- 
 
voured briefly to explain will be acted upon; and cotton, which is 
 now held to be the humblest of all the fibres used for clothing 
 humanity, may be elevated to a higher and more useful position— 
 rivalling flax, and even silk, in the beauty of its lustre, delicacy, 
 strength, and durability, as it now surpasses them in the univer¬ 
 sality of its utility. 
 
 There is one objection to the successful execution of the plan I 
 have proposed, so obvious that it must instantly suggest itself to 
 every mind. I allude to the evident difficulty of procuring cotton 
 retaining its natural parallelism. Clearly the saw gin abroad and 
 the scutching machine at home destroy this in the most effectual 
 manner, and cotton, to be used as I propose, must not come within 
 their injurious grasp. 
 
 The primitive modes of separating the seed from the fibres have 
 been discontinued only because they could not keep pace with 
 the increased speed of other machinery, and have given place 
 to the American saw gin, which has nothing to recommend it 
 but the facility of its operation and the large amount of bad 
 work which it executes in a short time. I admit that in the 
 present state of the trade the extensive use of the saw gin cannot 
 be dispensed with, though its effect on the fibres is most injurious 
 even when they are spun by the present process. The delicate 
 and elaborate operations of carding are mainly intended to remedy 
 the injury inflicted by the saw gin by forcibly dragging into pa¬ 
 rallel juxtaposition those fibres which it had previously disrupted. 
 But I shall endeavour to show that by the ancient modes of oper¬ 
 ating upon the cotton pods, it may be effectually freed from the 
 seed and the natural parallelism retained in its integrity. 
 
 The primitive method of separating the fibre from the seed, as 
 practised by Indian females, was this. Conveniently seated, with a 
 smooth slab placed on the ground before her, the woman arranges 
 on it a quantity of cotton, freed by hand from the pod but retain¬ 
 ing the attached seeds; over this she presses a roller by the 
 action of her feet. The masses of fibre pass under the roller and 
 fall over the edge of the slab next her person; but as the seeds 
 
13 
 
 cannot pass beneatli the roller, it tears them from the fibres and 
 they fall over the edge of the slab at its opposite end. Now, to 
 manage this operation in the quickest and most effectual way, it is 
 evident that the bunches of fibre must be placed on the slab with 
 their points next to, and their seeds farthest from, the roller; for 
 if placed in a contrary position both seeds and cotton would be 
 pushed together over the farther extremity of the slab. It follows, 
 therefore, that the original position of the fibres with reference to 
 each other need not be materially changed by this operation. 1 
 
 The roller gin or cliurka, as formerly used in India, afforded the 
 same or a still better result. The cotton was passed between 
 fluted rollers of teak wood, placed so close together as to prevent 
 the entrance of the seeds which were necessarily left behind. For 
 the effectual working of this machine, 2 the cotton must have been 
 presented to its action points first, and consequently it would pass 
 from between the rollers undisturbed as to the parallel position of 
 the fibres. If this cotton could be received from between the 
 rollers in continuous flakes by any of the numerous ingenious 
 methods common in British cotton mills (assuming it to be toler¬ 
 ably clean), it would be in a state ready for carding, possessing all 
 the advantages of undisturbed parallelism of which I have endea¬ 
 voured to show the importance. 
 
 It is possible — perhaps not improbable — that the delicate 
 “ webs of woven air,” so fine as to be impalpable to the touch, 
 and woven from threads “ scarce discernible,” for which Eastern 
 India was so famous in former days, may have been made from 
 picked samples of cotton, freed from seeds in the manner de¬ 
 scribed above, carefully manipulated and spun in the undisturbed 
 integrity of its natural arrangement. It is scarcely possible to 
 imagine that such fairy-like fabrics could be produced from the 
 dislocated fibres which the British spinner is compelled to use. 
 
 Sea Island cotton, a beautiful and expensive variety used by 
 
 1 In Dr. J. Forbes Foyle's Culture and Commerce of Cotton in India , p. 541, there 
 is a figure of an Indian female using the foot roller. 
 
 Engraved in Baines’s History of the Cotton Manufacture in Great Britain , p. 66. 
 
14 
 
 spinners of the finest yarns, is freed from its seeds by a gin, simi¬ 
 lar in principle to the East Indian churlca; but its operation is 
 aided by the action of a vibrating iron comb, which, together with 
 the after treatment of tossing the fibres about in a wheel wdiere 
 they are exposed to a current of air, completely destroys their 
 natural parallelism, though it avoids the damaging effect peculiar 
 to the saw gin,— a machine which, by doubling many of the fibres 
 caught in its teeth, and dragging them through apertures top 
 narrow to admit the passage of the seeds, causes the ends of the 
 doubled filaments to be brought in contact with each other; their 
 convolutions then become entangled, and they remain permanently 
 doubled up as comparatively valueless waste cotton. 
 
 It cannot be doubted that if the importance of preserving the 
 natural position of the filaments w r as ascertained and acknow¬ 
 ledged, effectual means would soon be taken to import cotton in a 
 state fit for being spun in the manner I have proposed. 
 
 Let it be remarked that it is for certain purposes only, such as 
 warps of all kinds, sewing thread, lace, shirting, &c. &c., that the 
 proposed change would he at all useful. For the great bulk of 
 the manufacture it would be unsuitable, and altogether objection¬ 
 able for the wefts of such fabrics as have a raised or carded sur¬ 
 face ; but a richer and fuller pile might be imparted to these, by 
 the use of weft spun in a contrary direction, that is, in opposition 
 to, instead of in accordance with, the natural torsion of the fibre. 
 The effect of this would be to double the number of ends subject 
 to the raising action of the card. 
 
 I beg you to consider this communication as suggestive only. 
 It claims to prove nothing. But the suggestions are such as, I 
 hope, deserve attention, and this I respectfully solicit. I shall be 
 glad if you can in any rvay subject my propositions to the test of 
 actual experiment. 
 
 It is important that extended micoscropic observations upon 
 carefully selected samples of cotton in the pod, should establish or 
 confute the assumption of uniform direction in the natural torsion 
 of the fibre; and as the specimens required for this purpose can be 
 
15 
 
 more easily obtained soon after this season of the year than at any 
 other, I have somewhat hurriedly prepared this communication, 
 copies of which I purpose to address to a few gentlemen occupying 
 a prominent position in the cotton manufacture or trade; and also 
 to such members of the Society of Arts as may visit Manchester 
 during the ensuing week. 
 
 I have the honor to be, 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Your very obedient Servant, 
 
 GILBERT J. FRENCH. 
 
 Bolton, 1st August, 1857. 
 
 Printed by Charles Simms and Co., Manchester, 
 
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