Mr. Stombaugh.

This was a simple bow knot which I put into it.

Mr. Eisenberg.

You put it into it?

Mr. Stombaugh.

Yes, sir.

Mr. Eisenberg.

So the knot does not reproduce the knots as you found them originally?

Mr. Stombaugh.

No; they do not.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Mr. Stombaugh. I wonder if you could tie the demonstration piece of string you have been using into the granny knot and bow knot, in the manner in which you received it.

Mr. Stombaugh.

There is the granny knot and here is the bow knot.

Mr. Eisenberg.

You are not here trying to approximate the diameter or the circumference of the string, but only the knots?

Mr. Stombaugh.

No.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Mr. Chairman, may I admit this string as an illustrative exhibit?

The Chairman.

It may be done.

Mr. Eisenberg.

That will be 664, Mr. reporter.
(The item referred to was marked Commission Exhibit No. 664, and received into evidence.)
Now, Mr. Stombaugh, did you examine this blanket to determine its composition?

Mr. Stombaugh.

Yes; I did.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Can you give us your conclusions?

Mr. Stombaugh.

The blanket is composed of a very small percentage of brown and green woolen fibers; an average of about 30 percent to 40 percent of brown and green cotton fibers, and the remaining portion brown and green delustered viscose fibers.

Mr. Eisenberg.

When you say "a very small portion of brown and green woolen fibers," could you be more specific; was it in the neighborhood of 1 percent or 10 percent?

Mr. Stombaugh.

I was unable to obtain a definite percentage. This is a rather long, involved, and inaccurate method of determination because one would need a brand new blanket to get a good quantitative analysis.
However, in the samples of the fabric that I made, I found approximately 1 to 2 percent woolen fibers, 20 to, I would say, 30, 35 percent cotton fibers, and the remainder of it viscose fibers. This is just an approximation from the microscopic slide that I made.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Would you have any reason to believe that the approximation was not made from a fair sample of the blanket?

Mr. Stombaugh.

No; I wouldn't. I took the sample myself.
However, the blanket is very well worn. Most of the nap has been worn off of it. It has had a lot of use, and much of the original composition has been worn off. Now, whether or not this same percentage of composition is missing from use or not I wouldn't be able to determine, but I would say that the approximation that I had given is fairly accurate for the blanket in its present condition.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Mr. Stombaugh, could you explain to us briefly how you were able to distinguish the three fibers, cotton, wool, and viscose?

Mr. Stombaugh.

Yes, sir. This chart shows the difference in the textile fibers when one observes them under a microscope. A cotton fiber appears to be, or rather, might be compared with an ordinary soda straw which has been flattened. You can see here that the fiber is hollow. The hollow is known as the lumen in cotton. The fiber is flattened and twisted much as teenagers do to soda straws in drug stores when they twist and crush the soda straws.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Pardon me, Mr. Stombaugh: this chart is a chart labeled "Textile Fibers," and having three illustrations labeled "Cotton," "Wool," and "Viscose"

Mr. Stombaugh.

That is correct.
A woolen fiber actually is a hair which originates from an animal and is composed of three basic parts, the outer part being the scales which are the rough area on the outside of the hair, the inner portion known as the cortex, and a center portion known as the medulla. Microscopically this is what you would look for to identify wool.