I conceive that the parallel from the technical point of view is a
double one. For just as every technical process cannot be considered
to be beyond improvement, there is always scope for technical
investigation; but the true residual phenomena of which I would speak
to-night are waste products. There is, I imagine, no manufacture in
which every substance produced meets with a market. Some products are
always allowed to run to waste, yet it is evident that every effort
consistent with economy should be made to prevent such waste; and it has
been frequently found that an attempt in this direction, though at first
unsuccessful, has finally been worked into such a form as to remunerate
the manufacturer.

It is my purpose to-night to bring under your notice methods by which
saving can be effected in the cloth industry. I am aware that these
methods have not much claim to novelty; but I also know that there are,
unfortunately, few works where they are practiced.

The first of these relates to the saving and utilization of the soap
used in wool scouring and milling. It is, perhaps, hardly necessary to
explain that woolen goods are scoured by being run between rollers,
after passing through a bath of soap, and this is continued for several
hours, the cloth being repeatedly moistened with the lye, and repeatedly
wrung out by the rollers. The process is analogous to ordinary washing;
the soap dissolves the greasy film adhering to the fibers, and the
"dirt" mechanically retained is thus loosened, and washed away. Now, in
order to dissolve this greasy matter, a considerable amount of soap must
be employed; and in the course of purification of the fabric, not merely
what may be characterized as "dirt" is removed, but also short fibers,
and various dye-stuffs with which the fabric has been dyed, many of
which are partially soluble in alkaline water; moreover, it invariably