V—the Products of Fragmentation of Textile Fibres, as Seen in the Electron Microscope

Electron microscope pictures are presented of the products of wet dis-integration of various textile fibres in a Waring Blendor. The absence of clear-cut fibrils in the product from cuprammonium rayon is of particular interest. Dry abrasion of cotton fibres, and the use of a thermal precipitator to collect the resulting air-borne detritus at successive stages, permits of the examination of isolated particles and avoids the re-impaction which frequently occurs in dry grinding methods. Particles resulting from a mild acid treatment of cotton are also shown. A tentative explanation is given of the relation of the observed particles to known structures in the cotton hair.