A new method is investigated to determine by means of potentiometric titration the degree of ripening of viscose. It is found that when the e.m.f. of a characteristic inflection in the potentiometric titration curve is plotted against a measure of the degree of viscose ripening a sharp minimum occurs at a point corresponding to the optimal degree of ripening. Moreover, evidence is offered to indicate the formation of sodium dithiocarbonate in viscose during ripening. This last fact leads to a reasonable postulation of the complete scheme of reactions taking place in a ripening viscose.

En cherchant à interpréter la courbe expérimentale de la titration potentiométrique de la viscose par l'AgNO3, 0.1 N, on a découvert que les composés sulfurés de la viscose devaient se trouver sous la forme “ortho.” Ceci a permis de proposer une nouvelle théorie du mürissement de la viscose.