STRAW MANUFACTURES (AS. Ntrea, strrnw, OTTG, stro, Ger. Stroh, straw; connected with AS. stnvmfiirn, stn'ototan, Goth. stray jan, 0110. stren-en, Ger. stream, to strew, and with Lat. sternere, Gk. aropevviwa, storen nynai, stronnynai, ()Church Slay. streti, Skt. star, to scatter). Besides the use of straw for the manufacture of paper (q.v.), straw is woven into a great variety of forms, as hats, baskets, and shoes. The most important branch of the straw-plaiting industry is the making of straw hats or of straw braid to be sewed into hats. Much of the straw braid which is used for hats in England and America is braided in China and .Japan.
The conversion of straw into braid is a simple process, requiring few tools but deft fingers. Wheat straw is the material commonly used. The straw pipes must be sufficiently long be tween the joints, flexible, and of good color. The straw is prepared for braiding by first pulling, instead of mowing the crop. It is then cut into lengths and permitted to dry and bleach in the sun, after which the outer sheath is removed and the straw is again bleached, this time in sulphur fumes. The straw is then sorted as to diameter, length, and color.
It is estimated that in Saxony and Bohemia alone, from 20,000 to 30,000 persons of both sexes and all ages are engaged in this industry. The
finest work is done in Tuscany, where the indus try was established in the thirteenth century. Here a particularly fine grade of straw has been produced since 1718, from which the famous Leghorn braids are made. The Tuscan straws are not split. In 1S40 looms were adapted to straw braiding. but they have not superseded hand labor. The plaits are known by the numbers of bents into which they are worked as 7 or 11 bents. The production of the finer grades of Tuscan braids is a most delicate operation, so trying to eye and nerve that the workman cannot engage in it for more than two hours at a time.
coloring matter of madder, to the preparation of the mercury compounds of many alcoholic radicles, and to several important syntheses in organic chemistry, notably those of lactic acid, alanin, and taurin. His publications include: Des ehemische Laboretoriam der Unicersitut Kristienia (1854) ; Theorien and Experimente rur Bestimmuny der Atomgcwichte (1859) ; and a German edition of Regnault's well-known text book of chemistry (begun 1851).