The essential characteristics of both sorts are alike in this respect, that they are absolutely indestructible by fire, or even when exposed to the action of any known acid; the Canadian variety possessing in addition, in a very high degree, that strange peculiarity (which is also claimed for one of the Italian sorts), and is common also to plumbago and soapstone, of being a self-lubricator. Good Canadian fibre is known at once by its soft, greasy, soapy feeling; and one of the leading New York firms claims for its products, made entirely of Canadian asbestos, that they will resist even the flame of the blowpipe; and further asserts that this mineral transcends all previously thought-of materials for fireproofing, in that it is not only absolutely indestructible by fire, but that its power of resistance cannot be worn away or diminished by lapse of time or hard usage, as invariably happens in the case of such applications as tungstate of soda. Regarding its use, Germany is a very large consumer. In France the consumption is not so great, although manufacturers in that country are now beginning to bestir themselves, especially in regard to some very valuable kinds of paper, which they are making entirely out of Canadian fibre; and Paris has now set the world an example by the adoption of the Chevalier Aldini's plan of clothing firemen in a dress of asbestos cloth. America, however, is the country where the most rapid strides are being made in the development of every branch of this new industry, and there also the Canadian fibre alone is used. A considerable quantity of it is made use of in England, in the manufacture of some valuable kinds of packing for engineering work, millboards, felts, lubricants, paint, and the like; but in England we lack in some degree the readiness which is found on the other side of the ocean, in the adaptation of new materials and new methods of work. Whether it be that Englishmen are influenced by climatic or other causes, certain it is that they are slow to adopt new systems, to cultivate novel ideas, or to move out of old grooves. Consequently, when new materials, or even novel applications of those long used, are suggested, they ponder over them, hesitate, and weigh the chances, and in so doing not infrequently let slip valuable opportunities; whilst the keener and more enterprising American, once he sees the drift of the new matter, will, to use his own expression, "catch hold" at once. It by no means follows, however, that this is the fault of the manufacturers alone; they have naturally to gauge the requirements of their customers, and prefer to limit their make to what they know they can sell.