It is a moot point whether any other textile enters so extensively into industry in some form or other as cotton. Consequently cotton refuse is recoverable in immense quantities from the factories and workshops where this textile is converted from the piece into garments and other utilitarian articles. These trimmings for the most part are unsoiled, but equally imposing are the contributions from the domestic rag-bag and the refuse bins of other trades, whence the residue is forthcoming in a more or less soiled condition. But a simple cleaning process renders it suitable for further use. Should all possible or promising applications be exhausted to no effect then this residue can always be absorbed by the paper-mill. The paper-making industry may truthfully be described as the salvor’s sheet-anchor; certainly there is no excuse for consigning any cotton fabric to the flames while the paper-maker’s craft flourishes. But in the majority of instances this waste, as already mentioned, is associated with some other substance, for the simple reason that it constitutes an ideal inexpensive base, or foundation, for carrying the medium desired. Take the rubber mackintosh sheeting as a case in point. Here the cotton sheet foundation is impregnated with rubber to secure the desired waterproofness of the material. But the trimmings need only to be submitted to a solvent treatment to bring about the removal of the rubber, when the cotton base at once becomes released for the paper-maker. The rubber is also retrieved to advantage because it is quite pure. Emery cloth, which has been discarded as too worn for further use, may be similarly treated, the recovery in this instance being of triple value when conducted upon a large scale, comprising respectively the emery powder, the oil, the fabric base, and possibly the metallic dust. The extraction of nicotine from tobacco is a flourishing industry. This trade has been built upon the commercial utilization of waste, the raw material comprising tobacco declared as unsuitable for the generally recognized commercial applications. The nicotine is extracted for the preparation of insecticides and other commodities for which the juice is eminently adapted. To obtain the nicotine the discarded tobacco is placed in linen bags. Subsequent treatment follows certain lines. As may be imagined, owing to the extremely oleaginous or gummy character of the juice and grease, these bags become clogged during the extracting process. In course of time they become so saturated as to be unfit for further use, not through any failure of the actual fabric, but because the fine mesh of the material has become choked. Owing to their admitted repulsive character the bags were thrown away or burned.