Science: Sniafiocco & Vistra

Little swatches of cloth, in gay colors and designs, reached the U. S. last week from Italy, accompanied by such explanations as: " 'Wooden overcoats' for live Fascists the rage this season.'' Some of the samples resembled wool or flannel, others mercerized cotton. All were specimens of Sniafiocco, a textile made from wood pulp and lately developed by engineers of Italy's big Snia Viscosa, makers of artificial silk.

As in making rayon by the viscose process, cellulose is first reduced to a viscous mass. For Sniafiocco the stuff is passed through a fine-mesh...