ABSTRACT
Cellulose is found naturally in a nearly pure form as cotton, the hair from the seed of several species of gossypium, which grows in tropical and sub-tropical climates. In the form of cotton wool, and woven in the various cotton and linen fabrics, as well as in paper, cellulose is familiar. But regarded from the chemical point of view the question is more difficult. If cellulose in any of its forms is treated with a concentrated solution of caustic soda, and the altered cellulose thus obtained is exposed to the action of carbon bisulphide, a yellowish mass is formed in an hour or two which swells up enormously on mixing with water and finally dissolves completely. For all ordinary textile purposes, as have seen, the natural fibre of vegetable matter, consisting essentially of cellulose, is the basic material. Celluloid, formerly called xylonite, is another useful product of which the basis is cellulose.
