IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF A FIBROUS MATERIAL SUITABLE FOR SPINNING AND WEAVING
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Louis Luc Péaud, of Boulevard Saint Denis,
No. 1, at Paris, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE TREATMENT OF A FIBROUS MATERIAL SUITABLE FOR SPINNING AND
WEAVING."
Scaled the 12th April 1876, and dated the 29th October 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Louis Luc Péaud
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 29th October 1875.
I, LOUIS Luc PÉAUD, of Boulevard Saint Denis, No. 1, at Paris,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF A FIBROUS MATERIAL SUITABLE FOR SPINNING
AND WEAVING," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to prepare and apply for spinning and
weaving the aquatic plants of the willow family, and particularly the
epilobium hirsutum (hairy willow). This plant grows best in marshy or

page_text: damp districts; it is met with in profusion at the edges of watercourses,
in marshes, and still more in the neighbourhood of the salt lakes of
Egypt; it is very vivacious, and will give two crops a year by cutting it
and transplanting immediately.
Between the bark and the ligneous part of this plant there is a com-
plete jacket of textile fibres of great richness and extreme solidity. It
is the discovery of these silky and resisting fibres of the willow which
has led me to apply it, after a special preparation, to spinning and
weaving.
The preparation of this plant to bring it to the state of tow capable
of at once undergoing the various spinning operations comprises the
culture of natural or artificial plantations, the gathering of the stems,
the decortication, the cleansing of the fibres, and the bleaching by a
methodical washing and drying.
The culture of the epilobium takes place in marshy soils or in damp
soils, and the presence of the water may be natural or produced by any
arrangement of drainage or irrigation, continuous or periodical. In the
spring, by preference, the stems of the willows are cut, and the cuttings
are transplanted to furnish a second crop, so that in Egypt, for example, 2
at the edges of the salt lakes, where the vegetation is so prolific, four
crops can be obtained, two of which are natural, resulting direct from
the plantations, and two arising from the transplanted cuttings. It is
evident however that in order not to impoverish the soil and to keep up
a continuous production, one field or portion should alternate with 2
another, so as always to have a certain amount of ground covered with
plants destined for propagation either by sowing or transplanting.
GATHERING OF THE STEMS AND DECORTICATION.
The cutting of the stems should take place before the seed is ripe.
After the stems have been cut the bark may be detached on the spot, or 3
it may be removed only after the plant has been stored. In the first
case an incision is made at the bottom of the stem, the two portions of
the bark are taken hold of and pulled, and the plant is thus stripped up
to the leaves. Afterwards the stalk is cut, and by taking hold of it with

page_text: one hand at the bottom the restant is removed with the other. The
leaves may advantageously serve as manure, and with the stems lights
may be made, or if necessary they may be employed for heating boilers.
When the stripping is done at the storehouse it is performed as
follows: The plant is taken there in bundles, then with a wooden knifo
the stems are split and the bark removed; next, with a small iron knife
the layer covered with the shrivelled pellicle, which becomes detached,
is scraped. The internal fibres are then met with, which become
separated into filaments of different fineness.
Again, in some cases the green bark may be detached from the
ligneous portions, scraped, dried in the sun, and the filaments drawn
therefrom, which are put in bundles ready for the market.
In order to completely remove the filaments from their pellicle they
are immersed and kept in boiling water at a suitable degree of immor-
sion; they are then withdrawn, dried in the sun, beaten to render them
more supple, and then combed by hand.
Again, the following process may be adopted :-When the stems attain
a certain height and have a slight red color, they are cut at about 4 or
5 inches from the root; the top of the stem is then taken hold of with
one hand, while the other is run rapidly down to the root so as to strip
off the leaves; the stem is then cut with a sharp knife above the level of
the roots, as these should propagate again immediately. The thin end
of the stem is cut, and bundles of 200 to 250 stems are made if the
extraction of the fibre has to be done at the store; but it is preferable
to separate the bark on the spot, because by burning tho waste a
manure can be obtained favorable to the development of the plant
itself.
In order to separate the bark from the fibres the following mode is
also good:-The stem is taken in both hands, then squeezing it with the
finger and thumb a twist is given to it, so that the internal pith is
broken; then passing alternately two fingers of the right hand and of
the left from one end to the other quickly, and exerting a certain
pressure, the bark and the fibres are completely separated from the stem
and form two strands. Packets are made of the strands of bark and of
fibres, united into bundles of different sizes, and tied at the end. They

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Louis Luc Péaud in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 13th April 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LOUIS
LUC PÉAUD, of Boulevard Saint Denis, No. 1, at Paris, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Louis Luc Péaud, Her special
licence that I, the said Louis Luc Péaud, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Louis Luc Péaud, my exc-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE TREATMENT OF A FIBROUS MATERIAL SUITABLE FOR SPINNING AND WEAVING,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Louis Luc Péaud,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Louis Luc Péaud, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
The object of my Invention is to prepare and apply for spinning and
weaving the aquatic plants of the willow family, and particularly the
epilobium hirsutum (hairy willow). This plant grows best in marshy or
damp districts; it is met with in profusion at the edges of watercourses,

page_text: in marshes, and still more in the neighbourhood of the salt lakes of
Egypt; it is very vivacious, and will give two crops a year by cutting it
and transplanting immediately.
Between the bark and the ligneous part of this plant there is a com-.
plete jacket of textile fibres of great richness and extreme solidity. It a
is the discovery of these silky and resisting fibres of the willow which
has led me to apply it, after a special preparation, to spinning and
weaving.
The preparation of this plant to bring it to the state of tow capable
of at once undergoing the various spinning operations comprises the 1
culture of natural or artificial plantations, the gathering of the stems,
the decortication, the cleansing of the fibres, and the bleaching by a
methodical washing and drying.
CULTURE.
The culture of the epilobium takes place in marshy soils or in damp
soils, and the presence of the water may be natural or produced by any
arrangement of drainage or irrigation, continuous or periodical. In the
spring, by preference, the stems of the willows are cut, and the cuttings
are transplanted to furnish a second crop, so that in Egypt, for example,
at the edges of the salt lakes, where the vegetation is so prolific, four
crops can be obtained, two of which are natural, resulting direct from
the plantations, and two arising from the transplanted cuttings. It is
evident however that in order not to impoverish the soil and to keep up
a continuous production, one field or portion should alternate with
another, so as always to have a certain amount of ground covered with
plants destined for propagation either by sowing or transplanting.
GATHERING OF THE STEMS AND DECORTICATION.
The gathering of the stems should take place before the seed is ripe.
After the stems have been cut the bark may be detached on the spot, or
it may be removed only after the plant has been stored. In the first
case an incision is made at the bottom of the stem, the two portions of
the bark are taken hold of and pulled, and the plant is thus stripped up
to the leaves. Afterwards the stalk is cut, and by taking hold of it
with one hand at the bottom the restant is removed with the other.

page_text: The leaves may advantageously serve as manure, and with the stems
lights may be made, or if necessary they may be employed for heating
boilers.
When the stripping is done at the storchouse it is performed as
follows: The plant is taken there in bundles, then with a wooden knife
the stems are split and the bark removed; next, with a small iron knife
the layer covered with the shrivelled pellicles, which becomes detached,
is scraped. The internal fibres are then met with, which become
separated into filaments of different fineness.
Again, in some cases the green bark may be detached from the
ligneous portions, scraped, dried in the sun, and the filaments drawn
therefrom, which are put in bundles ready for the market.
In order to completely remove the filaments from their pellicle they
arc immersed and kept in boiling water at a suitable degree of immer-
sion; they are then withdrawn, dried in the sun, beaten to render them
more supple, and then combed by hand.
Again, the following process may be adopted :-When the stems attain
a certain height, and have a slight red color, they are cut at about 4 or
5 inches from the root; the top of the stem is then taken hold of with
one hand, while the other is run rapidly down to the root so as to strip
off the leaves; the stem is then cut with a sharp knife above the level
of the roots, as these should propagate again immediately. The thin
end of the stem is cut, and bundles of 200 to 250 stems are made if
the extraction of the fibre has to be done at the store; but it is pre-
ferable to separate the bark on the spot, because by burning the waste
a manure can be obtained favorable to the development of the plant
itself.
In order to separate the bark from the fibres the following mode is
also good:-The stem is taken in both hands, then squeezing it with the
finger and thumb a twist is given to it, so that the internal pith is
broken; then passing alternately two fingers of the right hand and of
the left from one end to the other quickly, and exerting a certain
pressure, the bark and the fibres are completely separated from the stem
and form two strands. Packets are made of the strands of bark and of
fibres, united into bundles of different sizes, and tied at the end. They

page_text: are afterwards placed in clear water for some hours to remove a certain
coloring matter which the plant contains, and which causes the water to
become almost black shortly after the immersion.
CLEANSING OF THE FIBRES AND BLEACHING.
The bundles tied at the small end are hung to a hook fixed at a
suitable height; each strand is then taken hold of separately at the
larger end with the left hand, and the thumb of the right hand is passed
quickly into the interior. By this operation the fibres are completely
separated. After this two or three scrapings with a small knife are
sufficient to completely cleanse the riband of fibres. The fibre is then 1
promptly dried in the sun, and is ready for the market. But the
appearance of the fibres is much improved if they are exposed on the
grass after cleansing to a heavy nocturnal dew in autumn, or to a shower
of rain; or any other suitable process of bleaching may be employed.
After drying, the color is bleached, and there is then no fear of the 1
fibres becoming spoiled by mould, by a journey, or by a prolonged stay
in a warehouse. The bark thus detached, the tow dried and washed
is put into skeins and packed in order to be delivered to the spinning

page_text: And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim, the
treatment of the aquatic plants of the willow family, and particularly
the epilobium hirsutum, substantially as herein-before described, so as
to obtain fibres suitable for spinning and weaving; and I claim especially
the combined series of operations, hercin-before described, for preparing
the cpilobium hirsutum, and rendering its fibres fit for spinning and
weaving purposes.
In witness whereof, I, the said Louis Luc Péaud, have hereunto
set my hand and scal, this Eleventh day of April One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-six.
Witness,
ALBERT CAHEN,
Civil Engineer,
of Boulevard Saint Denis, 1,
at Paris.
L. L. PEAUD. (L.S.)