In order, however, to insure as a result a perfectly uniform and marketable article, the Professor uses various chemicals at the several stages of the process. These, however, are not administered haphazard, or by rule of thumb, as has been the case in some processes bearing in the same direction, and which have consequently failed, in the sense that they have not yet taken their places as commercial successes. The Professor, therefore, carefully examines the article which he has to treat, and, according to its nature and the character of its components, he determines the proportions of the various chemicals which he introduces at the several stages. All chance of failure thus appears to be eliminated, and the production of a fiber of uniform and reliable quality removed from the region of doubt into that of certainty. The two processes of M. Favier and M. Fremy have, therefore, been combined, and machinery has been put up in France on a scale sufficiently large to fairly approximate to practical working, and to demonstrate the practicability of the combined inventions. The experimental works are situated in the Route d'Orleans, Grand Montrouge, just outside Paris, and a few days ago a series of demonstrations were given there by Messrs. G.W.H. Brogden and Co., of Gresham-house, London. The trials were carried out by M. Albert Alroy, under the supervision of M. Urbain, who is Professor Fremy's chief assistant and copatentee, and were attended by Dr. Forbes Watson, Mr. M. Collyer, Mr. C.J. Taylor, late member of the General Assembly, New Zealand, M. Barbe, M. Favier, Mr. G. Brogden, Mr. Caspar, and a number of other gentlemen representing those interested in the question at issue. The process, as carried out, consists in first treating the rhea according to M. Favier's invention. The apparatus employed for this purpose is very simple and inexpensive, consisting merely of a stout deal trough or box, about 8 ft. long, 2 ft. wide, and 1 ft. 8 in. deep. The box has a hinged lid and a false open bottom, under which steam is admitted by a perforated pipe, there being an outlet for the condensed water at one end of the box. Into this box the bundles of rhea were placed, the lid closed, steam turned on, and in about twenty minutes it was invariably found that the bark had been sufficiently softened to allow of its being readily and rapidly stripped off by hand, together with the whole of the fiber, in what may be called ribbons. Thus the process of decortication is effectively accomplished in a few minutes, instead of requiring, as it sometimes does in the retting process, days, and even weeks, and being at the best attended with uncertainty as to results, as is also the case when decortication is effected by machinery.