A careful examination of this table will prove very instructive. The increase in yield varies from 31 per cent. to nothing, and the loss runs as high as 10 per cent., yet care was taken to make the product uniform in quality. On the days it rained there was a loss, with the exception of the fourth day, when there was neither a loss nor a gain. On the days it was partly clear, as just before or after rain, the table shows a loss in product. We can explain this fact by reason of the moisture-absorbing qualities of the cotton. On the rainy days it would absorb the moisture from the air until, when immersed in the acids, they were weakened, and the fibre dissolved more or less in weakened acid, producing what is known as "burning" in the batch. It will also be noticed that on days which show a loss, the time of the immersion was correspondingly short, as on the a loss, the time of the immersion was correspondingly short, as on the tenth, twelfth, and seventh days. ______________________________________________________________________ | | | | | | Specific Gravity. | Time. | | |_____________________|_______________________________| | | | | | | | | | |H_{2}S0_{4}.|HNO_{3}.|Hours.|Minutes.|Hours.|Minutes.| |________________|____________|________|______|________|______|________| | | | | | | | | | 1. Clear | 1.838 | 1.4249 | ... | 20 | 4 | ... | | 2. " | 1.837 | 1.4249 | ... | 20 | 2 | ... | | 3. Cloudy | 1.837 | 1.4226 | ... | 45 | 2 | ... | | 4. Rain | 1.837 | 1.420 | ... | 20 | 1 | 20 | | 5. Clear | 1.8377 | 1.42 | 1 | 15 | 2 | ... | | 6. Rainy | 1.8391 | 1.422 | ... | 35 | 1 | 40 | | 7. Cloudy | 1.835 | 1.4226 | ... | 20 | ... | 35 | | 8. Clear | 1.835 | 1.422 | ... | 35 | 1 | 10 | | 9. Partly Clear| 1.824 | 1.4271 | ... | 20 | 1 | ... | |10. " | 1.83 | 1.4271 | ... | 10 | ... | 25 | |11. Cloudy | 1.832 | 1.425 | ... | 10 | ... | 50 | |12. Rainy | 1.822 | 1.425 | ... | 10 | ... | 20 | |13. Partly CLear| 1.8378 | 1.4257 | ... | 60 | 1 | 40 | |14. Cloudy | 1.837 | 1.4257 | 1 | 56 | 4 | 40 | |________________|____________|________|______|________|______|________| | | | | | |Temp., Deg. C. | Percentage | | |_______________|___________________| | | | | | | | | From | To | Increase. | Loss. | |________________|_______|_______|___________|_______|