diff --git a/doc/sphinx/cython/importing.rst b/doc/sphinx/cython/importing.rst
index 0fcf7ca3d..510920206 100644
--- a/doc/sphinx/cython/importing.rst
+++ b/doc/sphinx/cython/importing.rst
@@ -1,14 +1,14 @@
 .. py:currentmodule:: cantera
 
-Importing Phase Objects
-=======================
+Creating Phase Objects
+======================
 
 These classes are composite representations of a substance which has
 thermodynamic, chemical kinetic, and (optionally) transport properties.
 
-.. autoclass:: Solution(infile, phaseid='')
+.. autoclass:: Solution(infile='', phaseid='', source=None, thermo=None, species=(), kinetics=None, reactions=(), **kwargs)
 
-.. autoclass:: Interface(infile, phaseid='', phases=())
+.. autoclass:: Interface(infile='', phaseid='', phases=(), thermo=None, species=(), kinetics=None, reactions=())
 
 .. autoclass:: DustyGas(infile, phaseid='')
 
diff --git a/interfaces/cython/cantera/composite.pyx b/interfaces/cython/cantera/composite.pyx
index 44dccc124..32104e5f6 100644
--- a/interfaces/cython/cantera/composite.pyx
+++ b/interfaces/cython/cantera/composite.pyx
@@ -1,18 +1,57 @@
 class Solution(ThermoPhase, Kinetics, Transport):
     """
-    A class for chemically-reacting solutions.
+    A class for chemically-reacting solutions. Instances can be created to
+    represent any type of solution -- a mixture of gases, a liquid solution, or
+    a solid solution, for example.
 
-    Instances can be created to represent any type of solution -- a
-    mixture of gases, a liquid solution, or a solid solution, for
-    example.
+    Class `Solution` derives from classes `ThermoPhase`, `Kinetics`, and
+    `Transport`.  It defines no methods of its own, and is provided so that a
+    single object can be used to compute thermodynamic, kinetic, and transport
+    properties of a solution.
 
-    Class Solution derives from classes `ThermoPhase`, `Kinetics`, and
-    `Transport`.  It defines very few methods of its own, and is provided so
-    that a single object can be used to compute thermodynamic, kinetic, and
-    transport properties of a solution.
+    To skip initialization of the Transport object, pass the keyword argument
+    ``transport_model=None`` to the `Solution` constructor.
 
-    To skip initialization of the Transport object, pass the argument
-    `transport_model=None` to the `Solution` constructor.
+    The most common way to instantiate `Solution` objects is by using a phase
+    definition, species and reactions defined in an input file::
+
+        gas = ct.Solution('gri30.cti')
+
+    If an input file defines multiple phases, the phase *name* (in CTI) or *id*
+    (in XML) can be used to specify the desired phase::
+
+        gas = ct.Solution('diamond.cti', 'gas')
+        diamond = ct.Solution('diamond.cti', 'diamond')
+
+    `Solution` objects can also be constructed using `Species` and `Reaction`
+    objects which can themselves either be imported from input files or defined
+    directly in Python::
+
+        spec = ct.Species.listFromFile('gri30.cti')
+        rxns = ct.Reaction.listFromFile('gri30.cti')
+        gas = ct.Solution(thermo='IdealGas', kinetics='GasKinetics',
+                          species=spec, reactions=rxns)
+
+    where the ``thermo`` and ``kinetics`` keyword arguments are strings
+    specifying the thermodynamic and kinetics model, respectively, and
+    ``species`` and ``reactions`` keyword arguments are lists of `Species` and
+    `Reaction` objects, respectively.
+
+    For non-trivial uses cases of this functionality, see the examples
+    :ref:`py-example-extract_submechanism.py` and
+    :ref:`py-example-mechanism_reduction.py`.
+
+    In addition, `Solution` objects can be constructed by passing the text of
+    the CTI or XML phase definition in directly, using the ``source`` keyword
+    argument::
+
+        cti_def = '''
+            ideal_gas(name='gas', elements='O H Ar',
+                      species='gri30: all',
+                      reactions='gri30: all',
+                      options=['skip_undeclared_elements', 'skip_undeclared_species', 'skip_undeclared_third_bodies'],
+                      initial_state=state(temperature=300, pressure=101325))'''
+        gas = ct.Solution(source=cti_def)
     """
     __slots__ = ()
 
@@ -20,10 +59,17 @@ class Interface(InterfacePhase, InterfaceKinetics):
     """
     Two-dimensional interfaces.
 
-    Instances of class Interface represent reacting 2D interfaces
-    between bulk 3D phases. Class Interface defines no methods of its
-    own. All of its methods derive from either `InterfacePhase` or
-    `InterfaceKinetics`.
+    Instances of class `Interface` represent reacting 2D interfaces between bulk
+    3D phases. Class `Interface` defines no methods of its own. All of its
+    methods derive from either `InterfacePhase` or `InterfaceKinetics`.
+
+    To construct an `Interface` object, adjacent bulk phases which participate
+    in reactions need to be created and then passed in as a list in the
+    ``phases`` argument to the constructor::
+
+        gas = ct.Solution('diamond.cti', 'gas')
+        diamond = ct.Solution('diamond.cti', 'diamond')
+        diamond_surf = ct.Interface('diamond.cti', 'diamond_100', [gas, diamond])
     """
     __slots__ = ('_phase_indices',)