Also zylo- (see X). [Early form xyloinite, irreg. f. XYLOIDIN + -ITE1, afterwards assimilated to Gr. ξύλον wood.] Another name for CELLULOID.
The invention originated with Alexander Sparkes, and was afterwards worked out by Daniel Spill (Engl. Mechanic, XXIX. 93/1), who patented it 1867–75. An American company formed in 1881–2 adopted the form zylonite.
1869. The Xylonite Company Limited [incorporated 19 May].
1870. Provis. Specif. Patent, No. 787. In the production of those products which are similar to or such as are known as xyloinite or such compounds as contain xyloidine or soluble gun cotton.
1885. Reader, 7 March, 455. Zylonite is the trade name of a substance that imitates amber, shell or ivory.
1888. J. C. Reade, in Pall Mall Gaz., 6 Dec., 3/2. The imitation ivory produced by the Xylonite Company, at their manufactory at Manningtree, in Suffolk.
1892. Eleanor Rowe, Chip Carving (1895), 52. Paper-knives, hairpin boxes, and various other small articles … made in Xylonite look remarkably well when carved.
