THE STORY OF ARTIFICIAL SILK 
—— 
In one of his first experiments, he filtered 
caustic soda through six folds of strong 
bleached cotton. The result amazed him. 
He could hardly believe his eyes. 
I found that my filtering cloth had 
undergone an extraordinary change,” he said. 
“ It had become semi-transparent, contracted 
and thickened.” 
He showed it to his friends as a curiosity. 
He did not at first realize the immense value 
of his discovery. 
The filter-cloth, too, had become glossy. 
IT LOOKED ALMOST LIKE SILK. 
He tested its strength. It had become 
almost as strong as linen. It was more 
receptive to dyes. It was the most superior 
bit of cotton cloth that he, or anyone else, 
had ever seen. 
He found, by the aid of his microscope, that 
caustic soda actually improves the cotton 
fibre. It ripens it. It makes the filament 
round instead of flat, and consequently makes 
it glossier. 
In 1851, he had an exhibit at the Crystal 
Palace Exhibition. It attracted great atten-