OP FLAX COMMISSIONERS.

G.—No. 4a. \

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the Camera lucida, and are expressed in fractions of an English inch. The microscope was fixed so that when a power of 500 diameters was used, l-1000th of an inch in a stage micrometer was magnified to half an inch. Each fibre was carefully drawn, and by means of an ivory rule and compasses the size of both the fibre and cavity could be ascertained with the greatest accuracy. In transverse section the cells appear more or less polygnall, and possess well marked pores or pits on the wall. These pits are very small, and not very numerous, —the pit on one cell always corresponding with another on the next cell. The wood-cells making up the fibres of New Zealand flax are thus porous or pitted cells. The pits are best seen in thin transverse sections of the fibro-vascular bundle, and require a power of 500 diameters for their demonstration. In structure and general appearance the fibres of New Zealand flax resemble those of Alanilla hemp, w-hile they entirely differ from those of Irish flax and Russian hemp. Both Russian hemp and Irish flax consist of bast-fibres, the fibre both of Alanilla hemp and New Zealand flax being the prosenchymatous wood-cells of the fibro-vascular bundles. AVhile these fibres thus differ imatomically and physiologically, they also differ chemically. If we take six test-tubes, and place in each a portion of one of the fibres, say, carded cotton in No. 1, Irish flax in No. 2, Russian hemp in No. 3, Manilla hemp in No. 4, New Zealand flax in No. 5, and a portion of pine wood in No. 6, then pour a little fuming nitric acid on each, on washing the fibres carefully wit— water and dilute ammonia we obtain very characteristic results. No change is produced in the appearance of tho carded cotton, the colour and general appearance remaining the same, but by microscopic examination it is found that the fibres have lost their peculiar twist to a considerable extent, and become more cylindrical. Irish flax —The bast-fibres remain unaltered in colour and general appearance, but under the microscope it was seen that the fibre was very distinctly marked with longitudinal striae, and the cavity in each fibre was well marked. Here and there portions of wood adhered to the fibres and these became deep brown in color. Russian hemp remained also unchanged in appearance, the fibres showing well marked longitudinal striae under the microscope. Portions of wood adhering to the fibres became colored deep brown. Alanilla hemp became at once deeply coloured by the nitric acid, and this colour remained after washing with water and ammonia. AVhen allowed to remain in water for some time it coloured the water yellowish brown. The bundles of fibres were stained, but were little altered in appearance — single fibres, however, becoming more or less twisted. New Zealand flax, when treated with acid like the others became deep brown, like the Manilla hemp, and when allowed to remain in water tinged it yellowish brown. The sample used had most of the ultimate fibres separate, and the action of the nitric acid was well marked, the fibres becoming twisted and contorted in a very peculiar way. The pine wood treated with nitric acid gave results similar to those obtained by treating Alanilla hemp and New Zealand flax, the wood becoming deep brown, and tinging the water in which it was placed of a yellowish brown hue. The wood cells were also twisted very slightly. We must therefore conclude that New Zealand flax is much more closely related to Manilla hemp than to Irish flax or Russian hemp ; and in this way we need not devote much time to comparing the fibres, either as regards their structure or relations. A. — Native Samples. No. 1* of samples of prepared flax may be taken as a good sample. In it the fibres, or wood-cells are united in bundles, but are separable without much difficulty. AVhen examined with the microscope it is found that the cells have a very considerable diameter, varying from '0006 to '0008, and that the cavity is small, having only a mean diameter of -00015. In this sample a single bundle was observed in which the cells were from 0007 to "0009 in diameter, tho cavity having a mean breadth of "0004. The ultimate cells were very difficult to separate one from the other, and the bundle appeared dull and wanting in lustre to the naked eye. Tho characteristic then of a good native sample of prepared flax is the small size of the cavity compared with the diameter of the fibre. All the strength of the fibre will depend on this, and also it is evident that the thick walled cells can be much more easily detached one from the other than fibres with thin walls. No. 3f of the samples examined consists of the fibre from the underside of the leaf, which is rejected by the Natives. The fibres vary much in character. Some of the bundles contain very few prosenchymatous wood-cells, and consist chiefly of spiral and porous vessels. Then again, tho epidermis adheres closely to the fibro-vascular bundles, and cannot be easily separated, while the cells containing chlorophyll are abundant. In this sample we not only have the bundles dirty from adherent tissue and matter inside the cavity of the fibre, but the bundles are both deficient in prosenchymatous cells, and these, when present, are of inferior quality. They are much more irregular in size, varying from '00035 to '0008, while the cavity varies in diameter from '0001 to '00035. This size of the cavity shows that the fibre is much weaker, and also that the ultimate cells will be much more difficult to separate one from the other, the thin wall not having strength to withstand the force necessary to separate the bundle into its ultimate cells. If we take the mean measurements of a number of cells of samples Nos. 1 and 2% we find that the mean diameter of 17 fibres is "000655, while the mean diameter of the cavity is '000154. Taking the diameter of the cavity as 1, the mean diameter of the cavity would be to the diameter of the fibre as Ito 4'25. If we take No. 3 sample, the mean diameter of 18 fibres is "000582, while the mean diameter of the cavity is '000191, the mean diameter of the cavity * HardkeTce. —Common swamp flax from Otaki; stripped and scraped with a shell, then washed for a few minutes in, running water. Selected leaves of twelve or eighteen months old. t From the same plants as Nos. 1 and 2, but stripped from the bloom (or outter) side of the leaf. The tissue obstinately adheres to and discolours these fibres. J Same as No. 1, but not washed. 2