PINCHBECK

is a modification of bra ; see that article and Copper . PINE-APPLE YARN and CLOTH. In Mr. Zincke’s proce , patented in December, 1836, for preparing the filaments of this plant, the Bromelia ananas , the leaves being plucked, and deprived of the prickles round their edges by a cutting instrument, are then beaten upon a wooden block with a wooden mallet, till a silky-looking ma of fibres be obtained, which are to be freed by washing from the green fecula. The fibrous part must next be laid straight, and pa ed between wooden rollers. The leaves should be gathered between the time of their full maturity and the ripening of the fruit. If earlier or latter, the fibres will not be so flexible, and will need to be cleared by a boil in soapy water for some hours; after being laid straight under the pre ure of a wooden grating, to prevent their becoming entangled. When well washed and dried, with occasional shaking out, they will now appear of a silky finene . They may be then spun into porous rovings, in which state they are most conveniently bleached by the ordinary methods. Specimens of cambric, both bleached and unbleached, woven with these fibres, have been recently exhibited, which excited hopes of their rivalling the finest flax fabrics, but in my opinion without good reason, on account of their want of strength.