Paul W. Allen
From: Industrial Fermentations, 1926
$4.95 + $1.50 P&H
from:
Allen's, The Retting of Flax & Hemp A Study of Flax and Kindred Fibers
"The fact that flax and ramie fibers always twist in a clockwise direction when drying, while hemp and jute fibers twist in the reverse direction, is the basis of a convenient method for distinguishing flax and hemp. Microscopic examination of these fibers after treatment reveals a fibrillar structure, the fibrils of flax and ramie being arranged in left-handed spirals, while those of hemp and jute are in right-handed spirals. In some cases, internal spirals with a reverse twist may occur.
The drying of the fibers is always accompanied by a twisting up of the component fibrils."