Flax, before being spun into “yarn” for weaving linens, undergoes several processes, to separate its fibres sufficiently, and to rid them of all short and uneven portions. The first operation consists in a kind of fermentation called “retting,” the stalks of the flax being packed up in bundles and steeped in water, or exposed to damp air, spread out, till they soften and become fit for the next process, called “breaking.” This is done by contrivances which beat and bruise or give it several sharp bends, the object being to break off the outer part, called the “boon,” and leave the inner fibres or “harl” free; this, which is the part to be used, is thus in a great measure freed from the outer part, but to do so completely it is scraped with a blunt kind of knife till all the “boon” is gone. The next process is called “heckling,” a sort of combing, in which the flax is dragged through brushes of fine iron spikes, used closer and closer till the flax is combed out quite fine and perfectly free from knots or uneven pieces, being beaten from time to time to break or separate the fibres. During this process much of the short and uneven fibres collect in the “heckle,” and is called “tow,” which has to be separated and the fibres arranged similarly to “carding” cotton (see “Cotton Manufacture”). The flax has now to be drawn out, doubled, and drawn out again into “slivers,” also in the same way that is described for drawing out cotton, and these slivers are finally twisted into yarn, being previously wetted to take off their stillness. The yarn is then wound upon bobbins, forming the material from which linens, muslins, and other goods are woven. GLASS-PAINTING. Illustration: CARTOON, OR DESIGNING ROOM. Illustration: PAINTING.