LINEN. A species of cloth woven with the fibres of the flax plant (Linum writatissinsum). The origin of the manu facture of linen is lost in its antiquity. In the time of Herodotus linen was an article of export from Egypt, where it had been used from time immemorial ; but it is evident that in ancient times its use was limited to the noble and the rich. In modern times linen constitutes a staple manufacture in almost all European countries ; but more especially in Ger many, Russia, Switzerland, Flanders, England, Scotland, and Ireland. In England it has been prosecuted for every long period ; but until of late years its progress has been inconsiderable, com pared at least with that made in other branches of manufacture. This seems to be partly owing to the attempts to bolster up and encourage the manufacture in Ire land, partly to the absurd restrictions that were for a lengthened period laid on the importation of foreign flax and hemp, and partly to the rapid growth of the cotton manufacture—fabrics of cotton having, to a considerable extent, super seded those of linen. It is only within the last fifty years that any machinery has been used in England in the production of linen cloth, the first mills for the spin ning of flax having been constructed at Darlington about forty-eight years ago. The entire value of the linen manufac ture of Great Britain and Ireland is esti mated at £8,000,000, and the total num ber of persons employed in it about 185,000.
One of the great obstacles which has stood in the way of the extended enIti -ration of flax, is the trouble, delay, and expense attendant on its steeping, and preparation for the market. This has been now removed by an invention which dispenses with that process, and enables the grower, at the smallest possible cost, to send his fibre into the market. By this process, of which Mr. Donlan is the inventor, the results are obtained by a combination of chemical and mechanical processes, and all expenses connected with steeping being avoided, the fibre may he prepared at a cost considerably below the present process, and may be made applicable for the coarsest nail bags, or canvas, or for the finest Brussels lace.
Not only the expense, but the time is also less, which is consumed in the pre-; paration of the fibre. In the old way this occupied from 10 days to 3 weeks. By the unsteeped mode as many hours suf fice. The fibreproduced is also clean and in its natural state, and its strength is regular and uniform. These two last qualities being found to be constant in the unsteeped flax, has led to adaptation of it to cotton machinery. The patentee of the invention is the Chevfdier, P. Claussen, member of the Brazilian Insti tute, the inventor of the circular loom. The patent granted is for the preparation of flax in a short staple, so as to produce a substitute for wool and cotton, capable of being spun on cotton machinery ; and also for the mixture of the materials thus obtained, which can be carded together with silk, cotton, or wool, or separately as cotton for spinning into yarn. The right is likewise secured for preparing long fibre as a substitute for silk, for bleaching in the preparation of materials, for spinning and felting, and also in yarns and felts. From 1f cwt. of the flax fibre, prepared and cleaned upon the unsteepcd process, 1 cwt. of a substance identical with clean cotton can be produced at IL cost of 56 cents for materials. The cost of manual or mechanical labor required in the preparation, including the ex penses of bleaching, an operation per formed in a few seconds, does not amount to more than nineteen twentieths of a cent per pound. The mixture of the two substances, viz., wool with flax, reduced to short staple, forms a fabric exceedingly durable, while its cost may be judged by the fact, that while wool costs one dollar, the flax prepared and ready for spinning may be had for 121 cents per lb. ; so that with flax and wool spun together in equal quantities, the cost would be reduced by nearly one half.