Portion of ropes - Specimen details
| Catalogue Number: 65574 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Image | Plant Name | 31.01 MALVACEAE Gossypium sp | Entry Book Number | ||
| Artefact Name | Portion of ropes | Vernacular Name | |||
| Iso Country | Not defined | TDWG Region | Not defined | ||
| Parts Held | Portion of ropes | Geography Description | |||
| Uses | Portion of ropesUse: MATERIALS - Fibres User: Man | TDWG use | MATERIALS - Fibres | ||
| Storage | Bottles, boxes etc | Related Items | |||
| Donor | Hart Thos, Blackburn | Donor No | |||
| Donor Date | 00/00/1917 | Donor Notes | |||
| Collector | Collector No | ||||
| Collection Notes | Collection Date | ||||
| Exhibition | Expedition | ||||
| Number Components | Publication | ||||
| Notes: | Label source: Dear Brierley, Here is the the bit of rope. You will find some stages prior to formation of free rounded pellets, I think, I mean a small crust on some fibres here and these. LAB 31.10.17 Thomas Hart, 12 & 14 Town Hall Street, Blackburn. 20, .Oct 1917 - Following our correspondence in the early part of this year with reference to a peculiar deterioration in a piece of cotton driving rope. I have pleasure in sending you another piece of cotton rope which contains what appears to be a reddish s, and. This is somewhat similar to the other pellets, but is quite different in some respects; viz its colour also that it burns readily. It attacks the cotton very fiercely as the present rope only lasted 4 months on the drive. Could you please say if this, sand like matter is a fungus. I have noticed it in several old ropes lately: and wish to find out what is damaging the ropes. Letter 396, 1917: xii p.8 RBG Kew Nov 1st 1917, The Director RBG Kew presents his compliments to Mr Thomas Hart and begs to info, rm him in reference to his letter of October 20th that the samples of rope and the material like grains of sand sent at the same time have been examined. The grains appear to be of the same nature as the pellets in the previous sample. Their origin is att, ributed to friction causing disintegration of portions of the cotton fibre and rubbing of the fragments into hard grains, which may therefore be called small pellets. For the formation of definite pellets possibly the presence of a small amount of some gr, easy or sticky substance may be necessary. The sand like matter is not a fungus, but consists of cotton cellulose substance. No trace of any organic or chemical source of deterioration can be detected and the spoiling of the rope is apparenttly due to pur, ely mechanical causes. A small sample of the rope, which has not been used should be sent for comparison, and any available information as to the kind of mills or factories in which the rope has been found to deteriorate rapidly and asto whether instance, s of rapid spoiling have occurred especially where the air is very damp, since it is probable that moisture would give rise to increased friction. Memo on subject letter 396,1917, Mr Thos Hart - I thank you for you letter of Nov 7th and for you assurance, that the cause of the deterioration in the rope is not due to the presence of a fungus. As desired I have pleasure in sending you samples of the two types of rope (unused) in which these pellets have been found. Up to know the phases where the pellets ha, ve been found in the rope are as follow:- (1) A cotton mill in China. This firm have used my ropes for many years and I have never had a complaint from them before. The ropes were to replace a similar set which had run for 8 years. (2) A cotton mill in So, uth America. My ropes have been supplied for say 30 years to all parts of this continent and I have never had a similar complaint. (3) A woollen mill in Yorkshire. (4) A colliery Fan Drive in Lancashire (5) A colliery Fan Drive in Yorkshire. Letter Nove, mber 28th 1917 signed LAB - Sample of cotton rope from Thos Hart, 12 & 14 Town Hall Street, Blackburn, submitted with letter dated 8th November 1917 An examination has been made of the further samples of rope (used and unused) in the specimen containing f, ine reddish sand the portion of yarn showing the character recognised as giving evidence of damp were especially examined for fungi or the effects of fungal growth. The mould consists solely of disintergrating cotton fibre, and there is no evidence that f, ungi or bacteria have at any time been present, or have taken part in its formation. The small piece of the rope which had run for 20 years contains a relatively small number of black pellets. These are fairly soft and can be rubbed out of shape between t, he fingers. The lubricant or some other greasy material, forms a considerable part of these pellets, cotton fibre, and distintergrated in shoret lengths being also present, at any rate in some of them. In being soft and decidedly greasy these pellets diff, er considerable from those previously examined and should cause little or no secondary damage in the rope. The general conclusion arrived at is that the formation of hard pellets of cotton substance inside ropes must be attributed to internal friction com, bined with damp and sufficient compression. The use of internal lubricant is indicated as a preventative, to be applied if possible to such surfaces as correspond to those on which pellets have been found in ropes showing rapid wearing. | ||||