Wood chips

Claim 1

A NATURAL WOOD CHIP FOR USE IN PULP MANUFACTURE OR THE LIKE COMPRISING A COHERENT, POROUS, FRAGILE BODY OF A SUBSTANTIALLY UNIFORM THICKNESS RANGING UPWARDLY FROM 5 MM. COMPRISING A SERIES OF LOOSELY-INTERCONNECTED INTEGRAL NATURAL CORE LAMIELLAE LYING IN SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL PLANES AND EXTENDING IN THE DIRECTION OF THE NATURAL GRAIN OF THE CHIP AND SUBSTANTIALLY IN THE DIRECTION OF THE THICKNESS DIMENSION OF THE CHIP, AND A PLURALITY OF RANDOMLY DISPOSED LIGNOUS FIBERS, INTEGRAL WITH AND EXTENDING LATERALLY FROM ADJACENT SURFACES OF IMMEDIATELY ADJACENT LAMELLAE, SAID CHIP COMPRISING EXPOSED OPPOSITE SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL SURFACES AT WHICH SAID LAMELLAE TERMINATE, SAID SPACED PARALLEL LAMELLAE FORMING A PLURALITY OF ENLARGED, FLUID-PERMEABLE, THROUGH-PASSAGES COMMUNICATING WITH SAID EXPOSED OPPOSITE SURFACES, SAID PLURALITY OF RANDOMLY DISPOSED LINOUS FIBERS EXTENDING INTO AND TRAVERSING SAID THROUGH-PASSAGES, WHEREBY, WHEN SAID CHIP IS IMMERSE IN A TREATING FLUID, THE FLUID WILL READILY PASS THROUGH AND INTO SAID THROUGH-PASSAGES FOR MAXIMUM SURFACE CONTACT WITH THE ADJACENT SURFACES OF SAID LAMELLAE AND PERMEATE QUICKLY THROUGH SAID LAMELLAE BY CAPILLARY ACTION TO PROVIDE THROUGH IMPREGNATION OF THE FLUID IN SAID CHIP.