a pan fitted with a steam injector which blows
the slag into fibers. The fibers are cooled by running them through
water, and the finished product is used as a packing material.

=Asbestos.= Asbestos is a silicate of magnesium and lime, containing
in addition iron and aluminum. It is found in Savoy, the Pyrenees,
Northern Italy, Canada, and some parts of the United States. Asbestos
usually occurs in white or greenish glassy fibers, sometimes combined
in a compact mass, and sometimes easily separable, elastic, and
flexible. Canadian asbestos is almost pure white, and has long fibers.
Asbestos can be spun into fine thread and woven into rope or yarn, but
as it is difficult to spin these fibers alone, they are generally
mixed with a little cotton, which is afterwards disposed of by heating
the finished fabric to incandescence. Because of its incombustible
nature asbestos is used where high temperatures are necessary, as in
the packing of steam joints, steam cylinders, hot parts of machines,
and for fire curtains in theatres, hotels, etc. It is difficult to
dye.

APPENDIX

=Testing Textile Fabrics.= This is an age of adulteration, and next to
food there is probably no commodity that is adulterated as much as the
clothing we wear. Large purchasers of textile fabrics and various
administrative bodies, such as army clothing departments, railway
companies, etc., have adopted definite specifications to ensure having
good material and workmanship. Before the fabrics are accepted they
are examined carefully by certain tests to see if they meet the
requirements. Wholesale and retail merchants insist on various
conditions when purchasing fabrics in order to conform to the
increasing needs of the public. Hence every manufacturer, buyer, or
dealer in fabrics should be familiar with the tests used to determine
the quality of goods he is about to buy.

The tests used are as follows:

1. Identification of the style of weaving.

2. Testing the breaking strength and the elasticity by the dynamometer.

3. Determining the "count" of warp and filling.

4. Determining the shrinkage.

5. Testing the constituents of warp and of filling.

6. Testing the finish and dressing materials.

7. Testing the fastness of the dye.

=Directions for Determining the Style of Weave.= In examining a
fabric for the weave it is first necessary to determine the direction
of the warp and filling threads. This is a very simple matter in a
gre