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i nxDON : 
 
 I' H I N I t I) li 1- l: I C H A n D C I. A Y, 
 I!HKAI< STREIVI HII-I-. 
 
OF 
 
 BY CHARLES TOMLINSON, 
 
 LECTURER ON NATURAL SCIENCE IN KING'S COLLEGE SCHOOL, LONDON. 
 
 PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF 
 THE COMMITTEE OF GENERAL LITERATURE AND EDUCATION, 
 
 SOCIETY FOE PKOMOTING CHEISTIAN KNOWLEDGE; 
 
 SOLD AT THE DEPOSITORIES : 
 GREAT QUEEN STREET, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS; 
 4. ROYAL EXCHANGE; 16, HANOVER STREET, HANOVER SQUARE; 
 AND BY ALL BOOKSELLERS. 
 
 Fff'ia ^ 
 
C (D KI il^ 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introduction i 
 
 I. Cotton 3 
 
 II. Flax 14 
 
 III. Wool . 18 
 
 IV. Silk 22 
 
 V. Weaving 26 
 
 VI. Finishing Processes — Woollen Cloth . 31 
 VII. Bleaching, Calen- 
 dering, Dyeing, &c , . 34 
 
 VIII. Calico-Printing 38 
 
 IX. Floor Cloth 39 
 
 X. Carpets 42 
 
 XL Lace 46 
 
 XII. Hosiery 50 
 
 xiiL Hats 51 
 
 XIV. Ropes and Cordage ....... 54 
 
 XV. Straw Plait 55 
 
 XVI. Paper 58 
 
 XVII. Leather 62 
 
 xviii. Parchment 63 
 
 XIX. Glue 63 
 
 XX. Glass 66 
 
 sxi. Pottery and Porcelain 70 
 
 xxii. Mining Operations 78 
 
 PAGE 
 
 xxin. Coal 82 
 
 XXIV. Iron 86 
 
 XXV. Steel, and Casting in Iron and Steel 90 
 
 XXVI. Manufactures in Iron : 
 
 Railway-Carriage Wheels . . 94 
 
 Nails 95 
 
 Screws 95 
 
 Gun-barrels 98 
 
 Wire-drawing 98 
 
 Needles 98 
 
 Files 102 
 
 Saws 102 
 
 Cutlery 102 
 
 xxvii. Tin, Zinc, Brass, and Copper : 
 
 Hardware 106 
 
 Tin-Plate 107 
 
 Stamping 107 
 
 Buttons 107 
 
 Pins 110 
 
 xxvm. Artificial Illumination — Gas . . . Ill 
 
 xxix. Salt 115 
 
 XXX. Soda 118 
 
 xxxL Sulphuric Acid 119 
 
 xxxii. Sugar 123 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 On entering a -well-appointed Museum of Natural History, 
 the first impression made on the thoughtful observer, is the 
 method which pervades the whole. In becoming better 
 acquainted with the animals, the plants, and the minerals 
 which form the collection, he is made aware of the fact that 
 their methodical arrangement is not for the sole purpose of 
 facilitating study, but that such an arrangement actually 
 exists in nature. An attentive examination of their struc- 
 ture, functions, and conditions of being, causes the various 
 groups of natural objects to fall into their places in the 
 chain of being, and leads to the solemn conviction that their 
 relationship is the result of method, as their existence is of 
 design. 
 
 If we were to do for the Useful Arts and Manufactures 
 that which has been done with so much success for Natural 
 History, we should have a Museum of very grand propor- 
 tions, the contents of which would most impressively illus- 
 trate a considerable portion of the history of civilisation. 
 We should see collected therein various specimens of raw 
 material from different parts of the world — the influence 
 of climate or of dissimilar modes of treatment in producing 
 varieties of the same substance — the various changes which 
 the raw material undergoes in passing from its crude state 
 to that of a finished product — the various tools, machines, 
 and engines concerned in the manufacture. We should also 
 have models of workshops with the men at work — models, 
 sections, and drawings of machines ; pictorial representations 
 of processes ; and in connexion with this vast display would 
 be a library of reference for the use of the student in 
 Technology, as we are now accustomed to term the whole 
 business of the Useful Arts. 
 
 That such a museum does not exist in a nation so eminently 
 manufacturing as Great Britain, may well excite surprise. 
 Measures, however, are being taken to supply, to some extent 
 at least, the deficiency. Professors of Technology have been 
 appointed in London, Edinburgh, and Dublin, and collections 
 are being formed in those capitals for the purpose of illus- 
 trating their lectures. 
 
 Supposing such a museum to be in existence, and that 
 we were required to produce a work illustrative of its nature 
 and extent, its scope and object, the result would be much 
 such a work as the reader has now before him. The writer 
 has had considerable intercourse with the manufactories of 
 this country, and by far the larger proportion of the following 
 engravings were made under his direction. 
 
 The Useful Arts originated in the necessities of man's 
 nature which required food, clothing, shelter, warmth, arti- 
 ficial light, and thousands of comforts and conveniences, 
 many of which, commencing perhaps with luxuries confined 
 to the few, came in the course of time to be necessaries 
 claimed by the many. As men lived in societies, sub- 
 division of labour would naturally arise ; one set of men 
 would confine their attention to the production or prepara- 
 tion of one article only ; in course of time they would not 
 only become very skilful in their handicraft, a word which 
 itself implies shill of hand, but they would also, by constant 
 trials and repeated failures, hit upon the best means and 
 materials for bringing about a certain result. Thus would 
 originate an art, or trade, or mystery, terms which imply — 
 the first, shill, the second, xise, or experience, (i.e. trodden, or 
 frequently gone over,) and the third, secrets, known only 
 to the initiated, and only to be revealed to the apprentice 
 in the course of his seven years' teaching. 
 
 In this way originated the moi'e important or indispensable 
 of the Useful Arts, thousands of years before Science had any 
 real existence. They originated, we have said, in the necessi- 
 ties of man's nature, and so far resemble language, hearing, 
 seeing, walking, or any other necessary operation ; but it 
 would be diflficult to say what share of them belongs to 
 man's intellect, and what to the teaching of a higher power. 
 But for this last influence, there would be many processes in 
 the Useful Arts which could not possibly be accounted for in 
 the absence of Science, and some which even Science cannot 
 yet explain. We are, however, relieved ft-om the necessity of 
 speculating on this point, by the direct information of Holy 
 Scripture. We read (Exod xxxi. 3) that God himself filled 
 
ii . INTROI 
 
 Bezaleel, the son of Uri, with His Spirit " iu wisdom aud in 
 understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of work- 
 manship, to devise cunning works ; to work in gold, and in 
 silver, and in brass, and iu cutting of stones," &c. (See also 
 oh. xxxvi. 1. I. Kings vii. 14. Isaiah xxviii. 26 — 29.) 
 
 During the long period tliat Science either did not exist, 
 or existing did not advance, the Useful Arts attained a con- 
 siderable degree of perfection, and then remained stationary 
 because their object seemed to be attained. Science ceased 
 to advance because she mistook her object ; she was lagging 
 behind, investigating the causes of things instead of the laws 
 of phenomena, and it was not until Lord Bacon directed her 
 into this her true path, that Science made progress ; but her 
 progress once begun, was rapid. The career of discovery 
 which she is still pursuing with ardour, was graced by nume- 
 
 rous gifts to the Useful Arts, which, stimulated by her 
 progress, and encouraged by her example, underwent a great 
 and momentous change — the work of an individual was 
 multiplied a thousand-fold by a machine — the shop became 
 a factory — the power of the hand was replaced by the arm 
 of the steam-engine — power, in fact, became developed with 
 scarcely any limit, and production became all but illimitable. 
 To represent fairly such progress as this, our Industrial Mu- 
 seum would indeed require to be of vast proportions, and our 
 Illustrations to extend to great length. All we hope and 
 purpose to do, is to afford some glimpses of the great result, 
 and arranging the materials placed at our disposal in method- 
 ical order, to give the reader correct information so far as it 
 extends, and a desire to know more on a subject, to which, 
 under Providence, our beloved country owes so mix;h of 
 her greatness and pi'osperity. 
 
 King's College, London, 
 1858. 
 
I.— COTTON. 
 
 The first object that meets the eye on entering our Industrial 
 Museum is the Cotton Plant ; and we shall have no difficulty in 
 explaining how it thus comes to occupy the first rank among our 
 manufactures, when we learn that the cotton consumed in Great 
 Britain in the year 1856 amounted to 920,000,000 lbs., the cost of 
 which was ^23,958,000 sterling ; that the value of the goods pro- 
 duced amounted to J6 1,484,000 ; considerably more than half of 
 which, or goods to the value of .£38,275,770, were exported, and 
 of this su.m ^8,056,671 was received for yarn alone. With such 
 a demand on the cotton-growing districts of America, it is no 
 wonder that the British Government, the manufacturer, and all 
 who think at aU on the subject, should contemplate with some 
 uneasiness the prospect of a deficient supply of the raw material. 
 The failure of a single harvest in the United States would indeed 
 be to us a national calamity. Thousands of persons would there- 
 by be thrown out of employment, — not only persons engaged in 
 factories, but sailors and engineers, carpenters and builders, cai*- 
 riers and retail dealers in cotton goods, and many others whose 
 trades and occupations are subsidiary to this vast manufacture ; 
 — so mutually dependent are we upon each other's exertions, and 
 all, more or less so, on a due supply of the raw material. 
 
 It is curious that such vast machinery, and such vast and com- 
 plicated results, depend upon the downy covering of an oily seed, 
 which might at first sight appear to have been intended to protect 
 the gei'm of the future plant, and afterwards to be rejected. We 
 appropriate the covering and reject the seed. A cotton planta- 
 tion is a nursery for cultivating plants simply for the sake of this 
 downy substance : no other part of the plant being of any commer- 
 cial value, although cotton-seed oil promises to become so. The 
 country most celebrated for these extensive nurseries of the cotton 
 plant is the southern portion of the United States of America. 
 There are, doubtless, other portions of the world equally well 
 adapted to the growth of cotton, such as British India, parts of 
 Australia, the West Indies, &c. with the advantage of being in 
 our own colonies, and, therefore, more under control than an inde- 
 pendent country. But commerce, in spite of British enterprise, 
 is very much a matter of habit, and loves to run in the groove 
 which custom and precedent have worn out for it ; so long there- 
 fore as America continued to supply the raw material in sufficient 
 quantity, we thought not of deficient harvests, nor of being sup- 
 planted by rival consumers, nor of the chances of slave labour in 
 the United States being mitigated, or suppressed, when the con- 
 viction shall be forced upon slave owners, as assuredly some day 
 or other it must, that slavery is inconsistent with the Christianity 
 which both black men and white profess. We were satisfied too 
 with the answer to the question, why British India or Australia 
 did not grow cotton, when told, that the one wanted roads, and 
 that the other was an undeveloped country ; that in one the 
 natives did not clean and prepare the cotton as we require it, 
 and that in the other there was no labour to be spared. 
 
 Within the last two or three years, however, the prospect of a 
 deficient supply and the consequent rise in price, have so alarmed 
 our manufacturers, that earnest attempts are being made to 
 raise cotton in some of our colonies, so that we may no longer be 
 dependent on America for the great bulk of our supply. The 
 total quantity of cotton imported into Great Britain every year 
 was estimated, a few years ago, at about 800,000,000 lbs. Of this 
 quantity, the United States supphed about 636,000,000 lbs., or 
 about 84 per cent, of the total quantity imported ; while the 
 East Indies furnished only about 9 per cent. ; Brazil, 4 per cent. ; 
 Egypt rather more than 2 per cent. ; and British Guiana and 
 the West Indies, less than one-tenth per cent. The prices of the 
 cotton varied from 5d. to lOf^. per lb. ; but for picked sea-island 
 cotton, as much as 2«. Qd. per lb. was paid. 
 
 The cotton plant {Gossi/pium herbacetim), fig. 1, grows in India, 
 China, Arabia, Persia, Asia Minor, and some parts of Africa, and 
 is the variety cultivated with so much success in America. It is 
 a member of the order Mahacece., which contains our common 
 mallow, to which it bears some resemblance : the seed-vessel, 
 however, is different, — the surface of the seed- coat in the cotton 
 plant presenting a thick growth of vegetable hairs or filaments, 
 the length of which, or lengfJi. of staple, as it is called, greatly 
 determines the value of the cotton. 
 
 The discovery of cotton wool and cotton fabrics in ancient Pe- 
 ruvian tombs, proves that the cotton plant is indigenous in Ame- 
 rica. The G. Barbadense 'm the species which has supplied the 
 cotton of North America, and of the West India islands : that of 
 Brazil, Peru, and South America generally, is the produce of the 
 G. Peruvicmum, a species marked by its black seeds, and their ad- 
 hering firmly together. From North America, the G. Barbadeiise 
 was introduced into the Mauritius and the Isle of Bourbon, and 
 thence to India, where the plant has become a permanent vari- 
 etur, and its produce is called Bourbon cotton. The great bulk of 
 the native-grown cotton is produced from the indigenous species, 
 with little variation either of culture or of manufacture dm-ing 
 three thousand years. 
 
 The Indian cotton-plant, known to botanists as a distinct spe- 
 cies, under the names of G. Tndicum and G. herbacemn, has a wide 
 range in India, growing in the hottest and moistest as well as 
 the driest districts. The varieties arising from soil and climate 
 are all shorter in staple than the American cottons, and in this 
 consists their chief inferiority for the European market. But 
 the Indian cotton has advantages of its own : its colour is good : 
 it takes dye well ; and yarns spun with it swell in bleaching, 
 whereby fabrics woven with it acquire a close texture. The 
 famous miislins of Dacca show how fine the manufactures are of 
 which it is capable. In all the varieties the cotton wool fills the 
 seed-pod, and at length causes it to burst, thereby presenting a 
 ball of snowy-white or yellowish down, consisting of three locks, 
 one for each cell, enclosing and firmly adhering to the seeds, which 
 reseinble grapes in size and shape. In addition to the herbaceous, 
 there is the sJmib and the tree cotton. A specimen of the latter 
 is shown in fig. 6. But the herbaceous, which is an annual, is the 
 more valuable. The character of its foliage and flower in different 
 stages of maturity, may be further judged of by the border to fig. 
 5. The cotton plant requires a light sandy soil, and, contrary to 
 the character of most other plants, prospers in the vicinity of the 
 sea. The American sea-island cotton thrives on certain low sandy 
 islands, which extend from Charlestown to Savanna, and is re- 
 markable for its long fibre, and strong and silky texture. The 
 cultivators of Georgia grow three varieties of herbaceous cotton ; 
 the first, named Nankin cotton, from its yellow colour ; the se- 
 cond, _^/w?;,-*e«/ cotton ; and ihe i\nvd, sea-island coiion. The first 
 two grow in the midland and upland districts ; and a fine white 
 variety is known as upland cotton, or, from a method of cleaning 
 it, boived Georgia cotton. When the cotton is ripe, it should be 
 gathered with the seeds, to the exclusion of the outer husk ; for 
 if the whole pod be gathered, the husk breaks into small pieces 
 which cannot be readily separated. 
 
 The first preparation which the cotton undergoes is the sepa- 
 ration of the seeds, which if done by hand is a slow and tedious 
 operation. Hence, the locks are, in some parts of India and 
 China, passed through a couple of rollers, which being turned by 
 hand, the seeds fly ofi" as the locks pass through. Two of these 
 primitive cotton gins are represented in figs. 2 and 4. The cotton 
 is next cleaned by boieinf/, so called from a large boic, suspended in 
 the manner shown in fig. 7, the string of which is made to vibrate 
 in the midst of a heap of cotton, thereby causing the filaments to 
 
13. I'OETIOKS OF OABDS FOB OABDIKa. 
 
 17- SECOND OABDI^e ENGINE. 
 
 19. POETIONS OF CARDS FOB BOFFINQ, 
 
6 
 
 COTTON. 
 
 open and disperse in a loose flocculent state, during which par- 
 ticles of dirt escape and fall to the floor. A man can only clean by 
 hand one pound of cotton per day ; but by means of one of these 
 rude machines, the produce of his labour is increased from forty 
 to sixty-five fold. The gin in use in the United States will clean 
 as much as 340 lbs. in a day. This is Whitney' s saw-gin, in which 
 the cotton is put into a hopper, one side of which is formed by a 
 series of parallel wires, one-eighth of an inch apart. Close to the 
 hopper is a roller, set with circular saws, an inch and a half apart ; 
 and as they revolve they pass between the wires of the hopper, and 
 their teeth seize on the locks of cotton and drag them through the 
 wires, leaving the seeds behind. The cotton is removed from the 
 saws by means of a revolving cylindrical brush. 
 
 The two great objects for which a cotton -mill is erected and 
 furnished with much costly and complicated machinery are, first, 
 to place the fibres side by side in parallel lengths, and secondly, 
 to twist them into yarn. These objects were, until towards the 
 latter end of the last century, performed by hand, or with the 
 assistance of the spinning-wheel ; and so universally were young 
 females engaged on this employment of spinning cotton into yarn, 
 that the name of spinster was applied to them, which they still 
 retain. The most ancient implements were the distaff and the 
 spindle, the one consisting of a stick or reed about three feet long, 
 with a fork near the top, on which the combed or carded cotton 
 was wound, while the spindle was a reed, less than a foot in 
 length, serving as a winder to the thi'ead, the upper part being 
 furnished with a slit for securing the thread, and the lower end 
 having a whorl or wheel for steadying it. Fig. 9 represents an 
 ancient dame at work with the distaff and spindle. She is 
 drawing out a thread from the carded cotton, working and 
 twisting it with her fingers, and imparting every now and then 
 a turn or two to the spindle to increase the twist of the yarn. 
 When the spindle reached the ground a length was completed, 
 and the spinster wound it upon the spindle, secured it to the slit, 
 and proceeded with another length. 
 
 The natives of Hindostan had for ages a much quicker method 
 than this of spinning cotton yarn. In fig. 3 an attempt is made 
 to represent the Hindoo spinning-wheel ; but as the artist who 
 draws machinery does not always understand what he is copying, 
 and has a keener eye for pictorial effect than accuracy of detail, 
 so in the case before us we have a very pleasing picture, but a 
 very inaccurate machine. The large wheel should be furnished 
 with an endless band which should reach as far as the small 
 upright block of wood, and passing over a small wheel therein, 
 set it rapidly in motion, whenever the large wheel is slowly 
 turned by the hand of the spinner. To this small wheel is 
 attached the spindle containing a cop or small bundle of cotton, 
 from which the spinner draws out a yarn while it is in the very 
 act of being twisted. The Jersey loheel or Saxon wheel was in- 
 troduced into England about the reign of Henry VIII. It is 
 correctly represented in fig. 5, which also shows the mode of 
 v/orking it : its pleasant hum long continued to be a familiar 
 sound in every cottage, and indeed in every house, for fine ladies 
 did not scorn to occuf)y their leisure with the apjoropriate work 
 of spinning. The cotton was prepared for the wheel by being first 
 carded, combed or brushed with wire-brushes called hand-cards^ 
 consisting of wire teeth fastened to cards of leather ; two of 
 these are represented on the floor in fig. 5. The fibres being 
 thus made to lay in one direction, the whole of the cotton was 
 divided into a number of soft fleecy rolls or cardings, each 
 about a foot in length, and one of these being attached to the 
 spindle, the spinster turned the wheel with one hand and drew 
 out the carding with the other : when drawn out to a sufficient 
 length, it was wound upon the spindle, and another carding 
 being attached was in like manner twisted and drawn out until 
 a continuous roving was produced. This was called coarse 
 spinning ; and in order to produce a tolerably fine thread, it 
 was necessary to spin and draw out the rovings by repeating 
 the process of spinning. In these operations the quality of the 
 thread depended greatly on the skill and delicacy of touch of 
 
 the spinster. When a firmer and more equal yarn was required, 
 flax was employed ; but it was diflacult for the spinners to pro- 
 duce the required supply of yarn for the weavers, so that 
 cotton, calicoes, and linens fetched a very high price so long 
 as they were dependent upon the spinning-wheel. About the 
 middle of the last century, a poor but very clever man, named 
 Hargreaves, tried to make the spinning-wheel more productive. 
 He had often tried to spin with several spindles at once, holding 
 the several threads between the fingers of the left hand, but the 
 horizontal position of the spindles interfered with his success. 
 While he was meditating on his favourite subject, one of his 
 children happened one day to upset a spinning-wheel while it 
 was at work, and Hargreaves saw to his surprise that the spindle 
 continued to revolve, and give out yarn in a vertical, as well as 
 in a horizontal position. We do not know why this circumstance 
 should have excited surprise, only we are aware that things which 
 are very obvious when pointed out to us, are obscure enough if 
 left to our own sagacity to discover. The spindle of the spinning- 
 wheel had hitherto all the world over revolved in an horizontal 
 position, and now it was seen for the first time to revolve 
 vertically. Hargreaves took the hint ; the thought occurred to 
 him that if a number of spindles were placed upright and side 
 by side, a number of threads could be spun at one time. Accord- 
 ingly he contrived a frame with eight spindles in a row, and 
 eight rovings being attached to them, the loose ends were placed 
 within a fluted wooden clasp, which when shut held them tightly : 
 this clasp was drawn by the left hand along the frame to a dis- 
 tance from the spindles, while the spinner with his right hand 
 turned a wheel, which by an endless band set a drum in motion, 
 and the latter in its turn also, by means of endless bands, set 
 all the .spindles spinning. Eight lengths being thus spun, the 
 clasp was returned to its original position ; the spindles being at 
 the same time made to revolve gently, the finished yarn was 
 wound upon them ; the clasp being again opened, fresh lengths of 
 rovings were attached and spun out as before. The number of 
 spindles set in motion in one frame was increased from 8 to 80. 
 Such is the origin of the famous spinning-jenny, a representation 
 of which will be found among the spinning apparatus further on 
 (see fig. 31) ; but we may mention that the word jenny or 
 jinny, is from gin or engine, the new machine being called a giniiy, 
 and the process ginning. The writer of these pages was in- 
 formed by a grandson of Hargreaves, that the term originated 
 in a remark made by the wife of the inventor to her daughter 
 Mary, who was spinning with the new frame : " Thou gins away 
 famously." It is commonly said, that the word,/>»»y was named 
 after Jane, one of the inventor's daughters. Hargreaves kept his 
 discovery secret for some time, but the quantity of cotton spun 
 by his family excited suspicion, and the spinners broke into his 
 house and destroyed his machine. On this Hargreaves removed 
 to Nottingham, where he erected a small mill on the jenny plan. 
 He took out a patent for his machine ; but having sold several 
 machines before he thought of applying for legal protection, his 
 patent was of no use to him, and the spinning-jenny became the 
 property of the nation. 
 
 The next great inventor in the art of spinning cotton by 
 machinery, was a poor barber, named Richard Arkwright, who 
 becoming acquainted with a clockmaker named Kay, probably 
 received from him the crude idea of drawing out the cotton by 
 passing it between sevei-al pairs of rollers, moving at different 
 and increasing rates of speed. Several names are mentioned in 
 connexion with this great invention, but it is certain that Ark- 
 wright, if not the inventor, was the perfector of the invention. 
 Add to this the invention of a young weaver, named Samuel 
 Crumpton, who combined the spinning-jenny of Hargreaves with 
 the roller spinning of Arkwright in a machine called the 3Iule 
 or the mule-jenny, and we have the three great inventions of 
 this manufacture. In the last-named machine, the spindles, 
 instead of being stationary, were placed on a movable carriage 
 or mule, which was wheeled out to the distance of about five 
 feet in order to stretch and twist the yarn, and was wheeled in 
 
COTTON. 
 
 7 
 
 again, in order to wind it on the spindles. Crumpton was a 
 weaver by trade, and occupied a picturesque old mansion in 
 a retired and beautiful spot near Bolton. This house, named 
 Hall-in-the-icood, is represented in fig. 8. Crumpton's object in 
 his invention was to supply his own loom with good yarn, but 
 he could not keep his invention to himself : persons climbed up 
 to his windows to watch him at work, and the mule not being 
 protected by patent soon came into general use. The first 
 machine was constructed for some 20 or 30 spindles, but mules 
 are now made to carry from 2,000 to 3,000 spindles. 
 
 The southern part of Lancashire, with Manchester for its 
 capital, is the chief locality of the cotton trade ; the site having 
 been determined by the abundance of what may be called the 
 sinews of manufactures, viz. water power, fuel, and iron ; for with 
 these, machinery may be manufactured and set in motion at the 
 smallest cost, and many of the finishing processes for textile 
 fabrics, depending as they do on the agency of water and heat, 
 may be conducted with advantage. 
 
 Let us now trace the progress of a bale of cotton through 
 a cotton-mill, until it is sent out again in the form of a bundle 
 of yarn. Liverpool is the great mart for raw cotton, and here 
 the cotton sjpinners resort to purchase it. The bags or bales 
 are sent by rail to Manchester, and the first operation in the 
 mill is to unpack and to sort. In order to insure a cotton of 
 one quality, the bags as they are opened are spread in layers 
 one above the other, forming what is called a bing or bunker; 
 and when the cotton is taken for the various operations of 
 the mill, it is raked away from the vertical side of this cotton 
 stack, by which means a certain quantity of each bag is made to 
 mix up and blend with the other bags, the result being an equal 
 quality from specimens which differ somewhat in quality. The 
 locks of cotton being tangled in the gathering, and matted 
 together by pressure in the bale, and moreover being some- 
 what dirty, are now opened and cleaned. If the cottons are of 
 fine quality intended for fine spinning, they are beaten or batted 
 by hand as shown in fig. 10, with twigs of hazel or holly, three 
 or four feet long. In this operation the cotton is placed upon 
 a frame, the upper surface of which is made of cords, so as to 
 form a kind of elastic grating; and as the cotton is violently 
 beaten, the tangled locks become opened, the dust and loose 
 impurities fall to the ground between the cords, but the fragments 
 of seed-pods which adhere firmly ai'e picked out by hand. The 
 cotton thus cleaned is spread in a known weighed quantity, 
 upon a length of canvas contained in a frame as shown in 
 fig. 12, and is made to lie pretty evenly thereon, by means of 
 fans of wood shown in fig. 11, after which the whole is rolled 
 up into a lap for sujpplying another machine. For the ordinary 
 purposes of common spinning, the cotton is opened and cleaned 
 in a machine called a willow or cotton cleaning machine, fig. 13. 
 The cotton is placed upon an endless apron, the motion of which 
 feeds a couple of rollers which are furnished with coarse teeth : 
 these seize the cotton, draw the locks apart, and pass them 
 on to other rollers with finer teeth, by which the fibres are 
 further opened, while the impurities are thrown out at the 
 bottom. Some of the rollers revolve at the rate of about 500 
 turns per minute. In another machine, fig. 14, the cotton is 
 held and delivered slowly by a pair of rollers, during which it 
 is subjected to the blows of beatei-s arranged like the spokes of 
 a wheel and revolving with great rapidity, by which means 
 the particles of sand, dirt, &c., are shaken out, while the flakes 
 of cotton are wound upon a roller in such a way as to form 
 a continued sheet of a loose fleecy texture, also called a lap; 
 the same, in fact, as was done by hand in fig. 12. 
 
 The laps thus formed are made to feed the first carcling-evgine, 
 where the fibres are further separated and disentangled, freed from 
 the remaining impurities, and an approach is made to parallelism. 
 A cotton card is a sort of wire-brush, consisting of bent pieces of 
 hard drawn iron wire, called denls or teeth, fixed into a band or 
 fillet of leather, or of a compound of cotton, linen, and India rubber. 
 These fillets are made to cover the surface of drums of various 
 
 sizes, and the cotton is combed out upon these drums, and trans- 
 ferred from one to another in a manner which we will now briefly 
 explain. 
 
 Fig. 18 represents a portion of two combs, with the teeth placed 
 in opposite directions : if a tangled lock of cotton wool be placed 
 on the lower card, and this be moved towards the left, while the 
 top card is moved towards the right, and the operation be 
 repeated a number of times, it is obvious that the lock will be 
 disentangled and combed out, and the fibres laid side by side in 
 parallel order, or nearly so. The lock will, however, be buried 
 among the teeth of the comb ; and in order to disengage it, all 
 that is necessary is to reverse one of the cards, as in fig. 19, and 
 moving one upon the other, the lock will be removed from the 
 lower card to the upper. We shall now be able to understand 
 the action of the carding engine, the working parts of which are 
 represented in fig. 16. On the left hand side the lap is seen 
 a^jproaching the large drum of the carding-engine between a couple 
 of rollers. The di-um, moving upon its centre in the direction of 
 the arrow, takes up the fibres of the lap and distributes them 
 over its surface, and they are combed out by means of a number 
 of straight pieces placed over the drum and furnished with teeth 
 bent in an opposite direction to those of the' drum. As the fibres 
 come round, they are taken up by a smaller drum, moving in an 
 opposite direction to the large drum, from which they are removed 
 in the form of a delicate fleece by means of a dofhng comb, to 
 which a rapid chopping motion is imparted by attaching the rod 
 which bears it to a crank, or to a point a little out of the centre 
 of the wheel which gives motion to the comb. As the web is 
 i-emoved from the small drum, it is drawn through a cone-shaped 
 piece of metal : it is then passed between a couple of rollers, 
 which condense it somewhat, and it is lastly received into a can, 
 in which it coils itself up in a spiral form. It is now called a 
 card-end, or sliver. In fine spinning, the cotton is passed through 
 two carding-engines, the first being called a breaker-card (fig. 15), 
 and the second a finishing-card (fig. 17), in which the teeth are 
 set finer than in the former. 
 
 The spongy slivers from the carding-engine are next passed 
 between rollers revolving at different rates of speed, for the pur- 
 pose of straightening the filaments, unfolding such as are doubled^ 
 laying them side by side in parallel order, and by uniting a num- 
 ber of slivers and drawing them out into one, serving to correct 
 the defects of individual slivers. The draioing-frame (figs. 20, 21, 
 22) usually consists of three pairs of iron rollers, the upper one of 
 each pair being covered with leather, while the lower are fluted 
 in the direction of their length : the upper ones are also weighted 
 so as to produce considerable pressure. The under rollers are 
 driven by wheel-work at various rates of speed, and they cause 
 the upper ones to revolve by friction. At the back of the 
 machine are placed the cans full of slivers, and a number of these 
 ai*e guided usually along a channelled surface to the rollers, where 
 they are united, and the sliver, thus doubled many times, is 
 drawn out, in passing through the rollers, into a uniform sliver of 
 greatly increased length, which is also coiled up in a can placed 
 for its reception. The drawing is usually repeated a number of 
 times : for example, — for coarse spinning, six card-ends are usually 
 passed through the first drawing-head and formed into one 
 riband ; six of these ribands are again drawn and doubled into 
 one ; six of these are formed into a third sliver, and five of these 
 are passed through the last drawing-head ; so that the doubling 
 of the fibres of the carding has been multiplied 6x6x6x5 
 == 1080 times. For fine spinning the drawings are carried to a 
 much greater extent. 
 
 The cotton as it leaves the drawing-frame is in the form of a 
 loose, porous cord, the fibres of which are parallel. It is too thick 
 to be spun into yarn, and too tender to be further reduced in size 
 by further drawing alone ; if, however, a shght twist be given to 
 it, the fibres will be made a httle more compact, and the drawing 
 may be proceeded with. This double process of drawing and 
 twisting is called roving. The roving-machine, in its simplest 
 form (figs. 24, 25), consisted of two pairs of drawing-rollers for 
 
28. COMMON THEOSTLE. 
 
 29 ■WOEKING PAETS OF THE THEOSTLE. 
 
10 
 
 COTTON. 
 
 extending th.e slivers, of whicli two were generally doubled and 
 united, and the sliver as it quitted the drawing-rollers was 
 received into a can which was made to spin rapidly round, 
 thereby giving a slight twist to the sliver, and thus forming the 
 roving. The roving had next to be wound upon bobbins, which 
 was done first by hand, and afterwards by what was called a jack- 
 frame ; this led to the hohhin-and-f ij-frame, which is the roving- 
 machine now in use. The object of this machine is to give the 
 slivers a slight twist, and then to wind them on the bobbins. 
 The twist is accomplished by the revolutions of a spindle ; the 
 winding is a more complex operation. The spindle of which we 
 are now speaking is a round steel rod, a portion of which is 
 shown in fig. 27 ; and it is made to revolve rapidly by means 
 of the small cog-wheels, one of which is attached to the spindle 
 itself, and the other, which is in gear with it, is attached to 
 a horizontal rod, which derives its motion by being in gear with 
 one of the main moving shafts of the mill, which latter, of 
 course, derive their motion from the steam-engine of the esta- 
 blishment. The bobbin may be of the shai^e represented in fig. 
 23, or it may consist simply of a piece of hollow ti;be : it is 
 threaded upon the spindle, and the small bed or platform on 
 which it rests is made to revolve by another series of wheels, not 
 shown in the figure. The spindle has two arms, called the fly or 
 flyer : it fits by a square or six-sided hole to the top of the 
 spindle, and can be removed in an instant when it is required to 
 put on or take off the bobbin. One arm of the fly is hollow, and 
 the other solid ; and the roving-frame (fig. 26) may contain 
 100, 200, or more spindles, in a double row. This arrange- 
 ment being understood, the action of the machine is as follows : 
 — The sliver, having been drawn by the rollers, is twisted by the 
 rapid revolution of the spindle into a soft cord, or roving ; this 
 enters a hole in the top of the spindle and passes down the hollow 
 arm of the fly ; it is then twisted round a steel finger, as shown 
 in fig. 27, which winds it on the bobbin with a certain pressure. 
 In order to wind the roving evenly on the bobbin, the delivering 
 finger is made to move up and down, or rather the bobbin is made 
 to slide up and down on the spindle, an effect which is produced 
 by causing the bed upon which the bobbins rest to have a slow 
 rising and falling motion. It is further necessary, as the winding 
 proceeds and the bobbin increases in thickness, that the spindle 
 should slightly diminish its siaeed, otherwise the roving might be 
 improperly stretched or broken : this is effected by causing the 
 strap which connects the motions of the moving shafts to act on 
 a conical, instead of a cylindrical drum, so that by properly 
 moving the strap along its surface a varying rate of speed is 
 insured. It will be understood that the spindle and the bobbin 
 are driven at diflferent rates of speed, for if they both moved 
 at the same rate, the roving would be twisted merely, and 
 not wound upon the bobbin; but by making the bobbin revolve 
 a little quicker than the spindle the winding is accomplished. 
 For example, if the bobbin revolve fifty times and the spindle 
 forty, forty turns of the bobbin will have nothing to do with 
 winding ; but there are ten turns of the bobbin above those of 
 the fly which will perform the winding. Hence, forty turns of 
 the spindle produce twist, while fifty turns of the bobbin wind 
 ten coils of the roving upon its barrel. 
 
 There are two sets of bobbin-and-fly frames, viz. the coarse and 
 the/;??, or the first and the second roving-frames : they are the same 
 in principle, only the first has fewer spindles, and is fed with 
 slivers from cans filled at the drawing-frame and placed at the 
 back of the machine. The second roving-frame is fed with rovings, 
 or, as they are sometimes called, slubbings, from bobbins filled at 
 the first roving-frame : these bobbins are arranged on upright 
 skewers, fixed in a shelf or creel placed behind the roller-beam, as 
 shown in fig. 26. The roving from these bobbins is made to pass 
 through wire eyes, to prevent it from being torn obliquely from 
 the bobbins. In fig. 26, the most important part of the apparatus, 
 namely the roller-beams, is not made out, but the position of 
 the rollers will be imderstood by referring to figs. 24, 25, and 29. 
 It should be mentioned, that before the sliver enters the back 
 
 pair of drawing-rollers, the guides through which it is led having 
 a slow side motion to and fro, shift the sliver alternately to the 
 right and to the left about three-quarters of an inch, to prevent 
 the leather covering of the top rollers from becoming worn or 
 indented by the sliver passing constantly over the same line of 
 surface. The bobbin-and-fly frame is superintended by a female, 
 whose duty it is to join the broken slivers, to remove the full 
 bobbins, and to place empty ones in their stead. 
 
 The rovings are usually finished either at the throstle or at the 
 mule-jenny. In the throstle (figs. 28, 29), the roving from each 
 bobbin passes through three pairs of drawing-rollers, by which it 
 is extended to the requisite degree of fineness. On coming out of 
 the last pair of rollers, each roving is guided by a small ring, or 
 a notch of glass let into the frame towards the spindles ; these 
 revolve with great rapidity, so that the flyers make a low musical 
 hum, which is said to have given the name of throstle to this 
 machine. The roving, or yarn, as it may now be called, passes 
 through an eyelet at the end of one of the arms of the fly, and 
 proceeds to the bobbin, on which it is wound by the following 
 contrivance. The bobbin fits loosely on the spindle, and one end 
 rests upon a shelf As soon as the fly is set spinning, the yarn 
 drags the bobbin after it, and makes it follow the motion of the 
 spindle and fly ; but the weight of the bobbin, and its friction on 
 the shelf, cause it to hang back somewhat, the effect of which is to 
 keep the yarn stretched, and to wind it on the bobbin much more 
 slowly than the fly revolves. The yarn is equally disti-ibuted on 
 the bobbin by giving it a slow up and down motion. Thus it 
 will be seen that the throstle is similar to the bobbin-and-fly 
 frame, only in the latter the bobbin is made to revolve by a 
 distinct movement, while in the former the pull of the yarn, 
 which is now sufficiently strong, produces the effect. The 
 throstle spins a strong, wiry thread, well adapted for warps, as 
 those threads are called which represent the length of a piece of 
 woven cloth. The throstle does not spin very fine yarn, because 
 this would not bear the drag of the bobbin ; fine yarn therefore is 
 usually spun at the mill. 
 
 The spinning-mule (several of which are shown in fig. 32, 
 which I'epresents a portion of one of the floors of a cotton-mill 
 at Manchester) consists of two principal portions : the first, 
 which is fixed, contains the bobbins of rovings, and the di-awing 
 rollers ; the second is a sort of carriage moving upon an iron 
 railroad, and capable of being drawn out to a distance of about 
 five feet from the fixed frame. This carriage carries the spindles, 
 the number of which is half that of the bobbins of rovings. 
 Motion is given to the spindles by means of vertical drums, 
 round which are passed slender cords, communicating with the 
 spindles. There is one drum to every twenty-four spindles. 
 
 The carriage being run up to the point from which it starts in 
 spinning, the sjjindles are near to the roller beam ; the rollers 
 now begin to turn and to give out yarn, which is immediately 
 twisted by the revolution of the spindles ; the carriage then 
 moves away from the roller beam, somewhat" quicker than the 
 threads are delivered, so that they receive a certain amount of 
 stretching, a circumstance which gives value to this machine. 
 The beneficial effect is produced in this way ; when the thread 
 leaves the rollers it is thicker in some parts than in others, and 
 those thicker parts not being so much twisted as the thinner 
 ones, are softer, and yield to the stretching power of the mule so 
 that the twist is equalized throughout, and the yarn becomes 
 more uniform. When the carriage has completed a stretch, or 
 is drawn out from about 54 to 64 inches from the roller beam, 
 the drawing-rollers cease to give out yarn, but the spindles 
 continue to whirl until the threads are properly twisted. In 
 spinning the finer yarns, the carriage sometimes makes what is 
 called a second stretch, during which the spindles are made to 
 revolve much more rapidly than before. The drawing, stretching, 
 and twisting of a length of thread being thus completed, the 
 mule disengages itself from the parts of the machinery by which 
 it has hitherto been driven, and the spinner then seizes the 
 carriage with his left hand, and pushes it back to the roller beam, 
 
COTTON. 
 
 turning at the same time with his right hand a i3y wheel, which 
 gives motion to tlie spindles. At the same time a coppincj 
 wire, as it is called, is pressed upon the threads by the spinner's 
 left hand, and they are thus made to traverse the whole length 
 of the spindle, upon which they are then wound or built in a 
 conical form which is called a cop. These cops are used for 
 placing in the shuttle in weaving, and form the loeft, or short 
 cross threads of the cloth. 
 
 One man is able to attend to two mules, guiding in the carriage 
 of one mule by hand, while the carriage of the other is being 
 moved out by the steam engine. Much skill is required in 
 pushing back the carriage. As a preparatory step, the spinner 
 causes the spindles to revolve backwa,rds for a moment to 
 slacken the threads just completed, and throw them off the points 
 of the spindles previous to winding them. In pushing the 
 carriage back he must attend to three things ; he must guide the 
 copping wire so as to insure the regular winding of the yarn on 
 the cop ; he must regulate the motion of the spindles, and he 
 must push the carriage at such a rate as to supply the 
 exact amount of yarn that the spindles can take up in a given 
 time. 
 
 The spinner is assisted by boys or girls to piece the broken 
 threads. He also employs a scaoenger to collect all the loose 
 or waste cotton, called_^^, which lies on the floor, or hangs about 
 the machinery. This is afterwards used chiefly in cleaning the 
 machinery. It is calculated that the waste from the diflereut 
 machines in spinning cotton, amounts to oz. per lb. or nearly 
 j^th of the original weight. It is the duty of the piecer to 
 join the broken ends of the threads as the carriage moves from 
 the upright frame. The breaking of the thread depends, in some 
 degree, on the temperature and the state of the atmosphere. 
 During an east wind the threads sometimes break faster than the 
 piecers can join them, audit seems probable that the rapid whirling 
 of so many thousand pieces of machinery, produces in very dry 
 weather a large amount of electricity, which may prevent the 
 proper spinning of the fibres. At such times it is not un- 
 common to keep the atmosphere of the room moist by jets of 
 steam, and to maintain a temperature of from 68° to 76°. 
 Indeed, fine yarn cannot well be spun at a lower temperature. 
 
 The self-acting mule does the work of the si^inning mule 
 without the assistance or attendance of any one except the 
 piecer. It is one of the most extraordinary machines in the 
 cotton manufacture. 
 
 It will be understood from the foregoing description, that 
 throstle-yarn is wound upon bobbins, while mule-yarn is formed 
 into cops. If this yarn is intended to form the warp, or length 
 of a woven piece, it is wound off into measured lengths of 840 
 yards each. These are called hanks. The reel for winding and 
 
 counting hanks (fig. 33) is six-sided. It is a yard and a half in 
 circumference, and is mounted in a carriage which carries the 
 spindles or skewers that bear the bobbins or cops. The carriage 
 has a slow traverse motion, parallel to the axis of the wheel, for 
 spreading the thread upon its surface. When the wheel has 
 completed 80 turns, a check is struck, showing that a lei/ or i-aj) of 
 120 yards has been formed : seven of these raps make a hank of 
 840 yards. The woman who minds the machine ties the hanks 
 round with a string, slips them off the wheel, and proceeds to 
 wind another set. The size of the yarn is ascertained by 
 weighing the hanks, and applying the following rule : — Divide 
 1000 grains by the number of grains in a ley, and the quotient 
 wiU give the number of hanks to a pound. This rule is based on 
 the fact that a ley is one-seventh of a hank, and 1000 grains 
 equal to one-seventh of a pound. The average number of hanks 
 to the pound is, for coarse spinning, from ten to forty : for 
 candle-wicks, coarse counterpanes, &c. such low numbers as 
 two hanks to the pound are manufactured. In the Great 
 Exhibition of 1851, yarns of the degree of fineness represented by 
 No. 600 were exhibited ; and, as a matter of curiosity, small 
 specimens of various degrees of fineness, up to 2150 and even 
 2170, were shown. Such yarns are, of course, very costly ; 
 indeed, it is not uncommon for lace-makers to pay 100 guineas 
 and upwards per pound for their thread. 
 
 Fine yarns are disfigured by a number of minute, loosely 
 projecting fibres, which must be removed before they can have 
 that level, compact aj^pearance which is required in the manu- 
 facture of bobbin-net lace thread, and for hosiery. This is done 
 by passing the yarn rapidly through a gas flame, as shown in 
 fig. 34, whereby the loose filaments are completely burnt off, and 
 the yarn is improved in appearance and value. 
 
 When two or more yarns are twisted together, they form what 
 is properly called tliread. There are various kinds of thread, such 
 as lace thread, stoching-threaA, sewing-thread, &c. The machine for 
 doubling and twisting yarns into thread (fig. 35) resembles the 
 throstle, already described (fig. 29). The yarns are unwound 
 from bobbins or cops, and are then led through a very weak solu- 
 tion of starch, which enables them to be twisted into a more 
 solid thread, and on emerging from the trough, the yarns, to the 
 number of two, three, four, or six, according to the required size 
 of the thread, are guided between a couiile of rollers, which lay 
 them parallel ; they are then passed down to the eyelet of the flier, 
 the rapid revolutions of which twist them into a solid cord or 
 thread, which is wound upon the bobbin. The twist usually given 
 to the doubled yarns is in an opposite direction to the twist of the 
 individual yarns. The thread is made up into hanks for dyeing or 
 bleaching, after which it is wound upon bobbins, for the purpose 
 of being made up into balls or wound upon reels (see fig. 36). 
 
FLAX. 
 
 13 
 
 49. SPEEADtKG-FEAME. 
 
 48. TOW CAKPIKG ENGINE. 
 
 52. THE TLAX SPINNING-WHEEL. 
 
 51. THE ROOF OF MARSHALL'S ONE-STOEIED ELAX-MILL. 
 
n.— ELAX. 
 
 Op the four great materials of clothing, and other textile fabrics, 
 viz. cotton, linen, silk, and wool, linen is one of the most ancient. 
 The art of preparing the fibres of flax and weaving them into 
 linen cloth, had reached a high degree of perfection among the 
 Egyptians so early as the time of Joseph, for we read (Gen. xli. 
 42) that Pharaoh arrayed Joseph in vestures of fine linen, while 
 specimens of the very same fine linen are occasionally brought 
 before our notice on partially unrolling some of the mummies 
 which have been removed from their original place of sepulture 
 to swell the crowd of curiosities in our museums. 
 
 The flax plant {Linum vsitcdissimum, fig. 37) is an annual. It 
 sends up slender fibrous stalks two or three feet high, with 
 narrow altei'nate leaves and delicate blue flowers ; these are suc- 
 ceeded by globular seed-vessels, the cells of which enclose bright 
 slipjDery brown flattened and elongated seeds called linseed, which 
 furnish the well-known oil. The stalks are hollow tubes, the 
 filaments of which supply the material for cambiic, linen, and 
 similar fabrics. Flax has a wide range of growth, especially in 
 temperate regions ; it floiirishes in the British Islands, and 
 accommodates itself to a variety of soils, a mixture of sand and 
 clay being the best. It forms an important part of the agricul- 
 ture of Ireland, reclaimed bog-land furnishing good crops. It 
 occupies the ground only a short time, namely, from April to 
 July, so that another crop can be taken from the soil during the 
 so.me season. The seed for sowing is usually of foreign growth, 
 that of Riga being preferred, but the soil and climate of Egypt 
 appear particularly suitable to this crop, and a large amount of 
 our impoi'ts of late years have been from that country. The 
 seed is first sorted into seed for sowing, and seed for crushing 
 out the oil. The quantity sown per acre varies, but it is found 
 that thin sowing promotes a coarse growth of the plants, while 
 thick sowing produces tall and slender stems of fine fibre. 
 When the young plants have risen to the height of two or three 
 inches, they are carefully weeded by women or children, who 
 creep along upon their hands and knees, with their faces to the 
 wind. This is found not to crush the plants so much as if they 
 went on their feet, and, on a breezy day, the wind will raise the 
 plants to their former position. In June, the delicate blue 
 blossoms open, and flax is then one of the most beautiful of crops. 
 In some cases to prevent the crop from being laid by the wind, 
 stakes are driven into the ground at regular intervals, and small 
 ropes tied to them, as shown in fig. 38. When the seed bolls 
 appear, and before the seed is quite ripe, the flax must be pulled : 
 if left until the seed is ready to drop, the plant dies, its juices 
 become exhausted, and the fibre loses its silky and elastic 
 character. The pulling is carefully done by smaU handfuls at a 
 time, and these are laid across each other to dry ; after which they 
 are collected into bundles, and arranged as in fig. 39, with the 
 root ends on the ground. 
 
 In order to separate the woody portion of the stem from the 
 fibre, the plant is steeped in water, but, if the seed is sufficiently 
 ripe to be separated, it is done by passing the upper ends between 
 the teeth of a comb, or ripple as it is called, consisting of smooth 
 round iron teeth standing about twelve inches out of a block of 
 wood, and fastened down to a long stool, where two men, seated 
 one on each side, alternately draw a handful of flax between the 
 teeth of the comb, as shown in fig. 40. Then comes the steeping 
 or retting as it is called, for which purpose the flax is placed in 
 ponds of soft water, or in a slow-flowing river, with stones to 
 sink it beneath the surface, and a covering of straw to shade ofi" 
 the light. In the course of from eight to twelve days, during 
 which the plant has been fermenting, the woody portion is 
 sufiiciently retted or rotted to sejjarate easily fi-om the fibre. 
 The flax is therefore taken out of the water, and placed on the 
 
 banks to drain, after which it is spread out on the land to dry. 
 Betting produces a very unpleasant and unwholesome odour in 
 the neighbourhood, and imparts a noxious quality to the water. 
 Instead of water-retting, or steeping the flax in a pond, dew-retting 
 is adopted, where the flax is exposed to the influence of dews 
 and rain ; this requires a longer time than the former operation, 
 hence, mixed retti?ig is sometimes adopted, where the flax is 
 macerated in water, and the retting is finished in the air. A 
 still better method of retting is by means of steam, for which 
 ]Durpose the flax is steeped in large circular vats, and the 
 temperature is raised by a steam pipe to about 90° Fahr. In 
 the course of a few hours fermentation sets in, and the decom- 
 jDosition of the resinous or gummy matter of the stalk proceeds 
 rapidly. After about sixty hours the decomposition is complete, 
 and the flax may be taken out and dried either in the oj^en air 
 or by artificial means. In some cases, the vat-retting is assisted 
 by an alkaline solution. The cultivation of flax, including the 
 retting, is such a delicate operation, that, according to its 
 greater or less success, the price of the fibre may vary from 40/. 
 to 80/. per ton. 
 
 When the flax is dry it is bruised, in order to separate the 
 woody pai'ts. Various implements are employed for the purpose, 
 among which is the brake (fig. 41). This consists of two wooden 
 frames, attached to each other by a hinge, furnished with bars, 
 those of the upper frame fitting into the spaces of the bars in 
 the lower frame. The upper set of bars may be brought down 
 upon the lower set by means of a treadle, on i-eleasing the 
 pressure from which, a spring attached to the upper frame 
 separates the two. It is by a repeated action of this kind that 
 the woody portions of the flax are bruised and separated from 
 the fibre, an object which is now also accomplished by means of 
 rollers. 
 
 The next operation is scutchinr/, which still further cleans the 
 fibre. The scutching frame (fig. 42) is a board, set upright in a 
 block of wood, with a sht cut out of the side. The bruised flax 
 is held in the left hand and inserted in the slit so as to project 
 from it ; here it is repeatedly struck with a flat sword or scutcher 
 (fig. 43), the blows being directed close to the slit, through which 
 the flax is gradually drawn, by which means the woody portion 
 or boon, as it is caUed, is got rid of. The cleaning of flax is 
 sometimes accomplished by machinery, fluted cylinders being 
 employed for breaking, arms or beaters projected from a 
 horizontal axle for scutching, while revolving brushes complete 
 the cleaning, and greatly improve the appearance of the flax. 
 The brushing machine (fig. 44) is sometimes used at this stage, j 
 
 When the flax arrives at the mill in order to be spun into 
 linen yam, the first operation is to divide it into lengths, the 
 necessity for which will be understood when it is considered that 
 flax varies in length from 26 to 36 inches, and that the part nearest 
 the root is coarse and strong, the middle part fine and strong, and 
 the upper part finer but not so strong. In some cases flax is 
 divided into four parts, which are named respectively middles. 
 Olds, and middle and end-middles. The flax must not be divided 
 by cutting but by tearing, so that the rough or ragged ends may 
 twist together into an equal thickness. The dividing machine 
 (fig. 45) consists of upright wheels for holding the flax, and a 
 centre wheel furnished with oval teeth for dividing it ; the centre 
 wheel moves with great speed, while the outer or holding-wheels 
 move slowly, so that the dividing wheel has time to perform its 
 work before the handful of flax which the boy puts in has time 
 to escape from the pressure of the holding- wheels. 
 
 The filaments of flax thus divided are next cleaned, split into 
 finer fibrils, and arranged in paraflel order by a process called 
 heckling. At the same time the short fibres, which form tow, 
 
FLAX. 
 
 which are unfit for spinnings together with dust and dirt, are 
 removed. The heckle is a comb of iron or steel teeth, sharply 
 pointed, let into a brass or iron plate, and attached to a block of 
 wood. Heckles are of various degrees of fineness, according to 
 the degree of fineness required in the line, as the flax fibre is now 
 called. In using the heckle, the workman takes a stride, or lock 
 of flax, by the middle, throws it upon the points, and draws it 
 towards him. By repeating this operation many times, with 
 different heckles, the tow is separated and the line prepared for 
 spinning. 
 
 Heckling is often performed by machinery, for which purpose 
 a quantity of flax is spread out, and fixed in an iron vice or 
 holder (fig. 46). A number of these being filled, they are 
 hooked on to a revolving dnim (fig. 47), so as to allow one set 
 of projecting ends in each holder to fall upon an internal drum, 
 which is covered with sharp heckling teeth, and made to revolve 
 with considerable speed in a direction contrary to that of the 
 external drum. When the holders have travelled a certain way 
 upon the outer drum, they are thrown off upon a rail, whence 
 they are removed to a second heckling machine, when the other 
 side of the strick is heckled. They may even be made to jmss 
 through a third machine, where the teeth are set finer on the 
 drum. The holders are then opened, and the stricks are re- 
 arranged, so as to allow those parts of the fibres to be acted on 
 which had previously escaped the points. The bi'ushing machine 
 (fig. 44) is arranged somewhat on the plan of the heckling 
 machine ; but its inventor does not divide the flax into so many 
 lengths as is usual, nor does he make so free a use of the heck- 
 ling points. 
 
 The line now consists of long, fine, soft, glistening fibres, of 
 a bright silver-grey or yellowish colour. As the tow collects 
 among the heckle points, it is removed from them by means of 
 brushes attached to wooden cylinders. The tow, being similar 
 to cotton in its fibre, is somewhat similarly treated : it is trans- 
 ferred from the brushes to a revolving drum covered with cards 
 as in fig. 15, from which it is removed by a crank and comb, as 
 in fig. 16 : it is then carded a second time, and is reproduced as 
 a continuous sliver (fig. 17). This is transferred to the drawing- 
 frames (figs. 20, 21, 22), and is extended by means of rollers in 
 the usual way, the parallelism of the fibres being assisted by 
 heckling points. The slivers are next formed into rovings, wound 
 upon bobbins, and spun into a fine, but not very strong thread. 
 
 An improved form of Tow Carding Enrjine is shown in fig. 48. 
 In this engine, the tow is passed round the carding cylinders, 
 and is removed by three separate dofifers, arranged at different 
 distances, so as to take off three distinct qualities of tow. These 
 are formed into slivers, and are led off at the side of the machine, 
 where they are deposited in cans for the drawing-frame. 
 
 A few years ago, a proposal was made to convert flax into a 
 cotton-like substance, by steeping it in a solution of carbonate 
 of soda, and then adding a dilute solution of sulphuric acid. 
 The hollow cylinders of the fibres becoming charged with the 
 acid solution, carbonic acid gas is instantly generated within 
 them, the expansive force of which splits up the fibres into a 
 vast number of riband-like filaments, which considerably resemble 
 raw cotton. This fax cotton, as it is called, admits of being 
 treated in the same manner as cotton. 
 
 We now return to the heckled flax or line. The operations 
 preparatory to spinning are spreading, drawing, and roving. The 
 line is first placed upon the feeding-cloth of a spreading-frame 
 (fig. 49), in such a way that the ends of one strick may reach to 
 the middle of the next. The flax is then passed between a pair 
 of rollers, which deliver it through heckling points to another pair 
 of rollers, and these, moving much more quickly than the first 
 
 15 
 
 pair, increase the length and diminish the thickness of the line, 
 and form it into a flat narrow riband or sliver, which is deposited 
 in a tin can. The slivers are transferred to a drawing-frame, 
 where a number of them are drawn out repeatedly, as in the 
 case of cotton, and they receive a slight degree of twist at the 
 roving-frame, where they are wound upon bobbins, preparatory 
 to spinning. 
 
 The flax spinning-wheel (fig. 52) has been, for the most part, 
 superseded by those vast collections of machinery, which present 
 so impressive a spectacle in the interior of a flax-miU. Still, 
 however, the delicate manipulations of the hand have not been 
 altogether superseded by the coarser but more productive results 
 of the machine. Among the prizes awarded by the Jury (Class 
 XIV.) of the Great Exhibition of 1851, was the sum of ten 
 pounds to Ann Harvey, of Belfast, for perfection in quality of 
 hand-spun flax yai'n ; a similar xjrize to a little girl ten years of 
 age, belonging to the Heepen Spinning School, Bielefeld, Ger- 
 many ; and a similar prize to Jane Magill, of Belfast, 84 years of 
 age, for the finest hand-spun yarn. We must, however, turn 
 from the spectacle of youth and age competing together with 
 equal success, and conclude this notice with a few words on 
 machine-spun flax yarn. 
 
 The spinning of flax resembles the throstle-spinning of cotton, 
 with the additional fact that the flax fibres require to be wetted 
 in order to make them adhere to each other, and to render them 
 more pliable and easy to twist. The spinster at the domestic 
 wheel is accustomed to moisten the fibres with her lips ; in the 
 factory, water of the temperature of about 120° is contained in 
 a trough which runs the whole length of the spinning-frame ; 
 the rapid motion of the spindle causes a dewy spray to be con- 
 stantly thrown off, and gives to the air of the room a hot, 
 steaming effect. The yai'n is made into linen thread, by doubling, 
 which thread, after having been bleached, is formed into balls or 
 wound iipon reels. The yarn itself is also wound upon reels, and 
 then made up into leas, hanks, bundles, and hunches. Thus 300 
 yards of thread form one lea, 3,000 yards one hank, 60,000 yards 
 one bundle, and three bundles make one bunch. The size or 
 fineness of linen yarn is reckoned by the number of leas to 
 the pound weight. From 300 to 400 leas is reckoned fine spin- 
 ning ; but the old woman of 84 years of age already noticed 
 produced 760 leas. Ann Harvey's was about 600 leas. 
 
 Fig. 50 represents the interior of one of Messrs. Marshall's 
 flax-mills in the neighbourhood of Leeds. It consists of one 
 magnificent room on the ground floor, 396 feet long by 216 feet 
 wide, presenting an area of nearly two acres. In this noble 
 room, the machinery is arranged in parallel lines along the length, 
 with sx^aces between and among them for the attendants. The 
 room is lighted from the roof, which is formed of brick-groined 
 arches, 66 in number, supported by iron pillars, with a conical 
 skylight in the centre of each arch. Under the floor of this 
 room are the shafts for imparting motion to the machinery, 
 together with gas and water pipes, carpenters' shops and ware- 
 houses, hot and cold baths for the use of the operatives, &c. 
 On ascending to the roof of this 2-acre room, the visitor is sur- 
 prised to find himself in a grass field (fig. 51) with sheep feeding, 
 and the conical skylights rising hke so many glass tents or gi'een 
 houses. The use of the grass on this extensive roof is to 
 prevent the sun from acting on the mixture of coal tar and lime, 
 which forms the covering to the roof Over this a layer of earth, 
 eight inches thick, supports the grass. The mode of draining 
 this roof is by making the iron pillars, which support it, hollow 
 pipes, so that the rain water readily passes down them to be 
 disposed of below. The upper extremity of each pipe is covered 
 with a grating, to prevent the channel from being stopped up. 
 
16 
 
 WOOL. 
 
III.— WOOL. 
 
 The woolly covering of the sheep furnishes an excellent 
 material for various kinds of clothing ; and, accordingly, we find 
 in most countries where this animal is pastured, that the 
 spinsters of every family are, or have been, more or less occu- 
 pied with it. It is remarked that King Edward the Elder, in 
 order to give his children a proper princely education, " set his 
 sous to school and his daughters to wool-worh not the pro- 
 duction of absurd pictures in a material which does not admit 
 of pictorial effect, but the sjiinning of woollen fibres into yarn, 
 and afterwards weaving them into some kind of cloth. At a later 
 period, the art of spinning and weaving wool rose from a 
 domestic to a national employment ; and to mark its importance 
 and the estimation in which it was justly held, the seat assigned 
 to the highest law ofiicer of the crown in the House of Lords 
 was a woolsack, which it continues to be to this day. 
 
 The Domestic Sheep (fig. 53) is suj^posed to have descended 
 from the Argali (fig. 55), which is still found wild on the moun- 
 tains of Siberia and Kamtschatka. It resembles the Mouflon, or 
 wild sheep of the mountains of Sardinia, Corsica, and Asia 
 Minor. By cultivation, it gradually loses its horns, and ex- 
 changes a hairy for a woolly coat. 
 
 Wool is a peculiar modification of hair. When viewed under 
 the microscope, it presents a number of oblique lines, as many 
 as fi-om 2,000 to 4,000 in the length of an inch, thereby indicating 
 a scaly surface, which, together with its curved or twisted form, 
 fit it lov felt ill g, on which so much of its value depends. 
 
 The woolly variety of hair forms the under-clothing of a lai'ge 
 number of quadrupeds, although, in the greater proportion of 
 them, it is concealed by the external coat of smooth, straight, 
 coarse hair. In the wild sheep there is au excess of woolly hair ; 
 this admits of being modified and improved in various degrees 
 by domestication, by choice of pasture and climate, and other 
 means, until the original coarse wool is replaced by wool of 
 difierent qualities, all of which are very superior to the original 
 fleece, and admit of being grouped into two classes, namely, the 
 short or carding wool, which is used in the manufacture of broad- 
 cloths, and lotig or combing-tvool, which is used for worsteds. 
 Each of these divisions contains a large variety of sorts, accord- 
 ing to their fineness, the length and soundness of the staple, 
 and other particulars. In the Great Exhibition, some choice 
 wools from Austria excited the admiration of the trade, for their 
 " substance in the staple, and fineness and elasticity of the com- 
 l^onent fibres, the spiral curves of which are close and regular, 
 and are immediately resumed, after being obliterated by stretch- 
 ing the fibre, — the length of which is also considerable for wool 
 of this carding quality, the most valuable for the finest de- 
 scriptions of cloth." 
 
 The wool, in its natural state, is nourished by a secretion from 
 the glands of the skin, known as the yollc : it also serves to mat 
 together the fibres of the wool, and thus to form a defence for 
 the animal against wet and cold. In some breeds, the yolk is 
 equal to about half the fleece, and as it does not add to the value 
 of the shorii fleece, it is usually washed out before shearing, in a 
 running stream (fig. 56), the yolk being a true soap, and there- 
 fore soluble in water. If the yolk were left in the fleece after 
 shearing, it would ferment, and impart a harsh quality to the wool. 
 Wools are also known in commerce as fleece wools and dead wools, 
 the first being obtained from the annual sheejD-shearing (fig. 58), 
 the latter from the dead animal. The best wools are generally 
 those that are shorn towards the end of J uue or the beginning 
 of July. 
 
 The celebrated Merino wool is obtained from the migratory 
 sheep of Spain. Immense flocks of these sheep were conducted 
 twice a year, namely, in April and October, a considerable jour- 
 .ney to enable them to pass the summer in the mountains of the 
 
 north, and the winter in the more southern plains. The excel- 
 lence of the wool was supiDOsed to be due to the equality of 
 temperature preserved by these migrations. About the year 
 1765, the Merino was introduced into Saxony, and, after some 
 years, became naturalised in that country. By this means, the 
 Saxon breed was improved, and, in due time, the Saxon fleece 
 was found to be superior to the Spanish. The Merino has also 
 greatly improved the breeds of other countries, such as those of 
 Sweden, Denmark, Prussia, &c. In Hungary, the flocks were, at 
 one time, among the most wretched in Euroi)e, the milk being the 
 chief object, for the sake of the butter and cheese obtained from 
 it. The introduction of the Merino, however, with increased 
 care in the management of the flock, so far improved the native 
 breed that the Hungarian fleece competed with that of Silesia and 
 of Saxony, and has beaten the Spanish Merino in every market. 
 The Merino has had less influence on the sheep of England, than 
 on those of other countries, since the chief object of the English 
 farmer is to fatten sheep for the market, and to regard the wool 
 as a secondary product. The system of artificial feeding (figs. 
 54, 59) enables the farmer to send his sheep to market quickly ; 
 whereas if the wool be the object, the animal requires a long time 
 to arrive at maturity, and the increased value of the wool cannot 
 be set against the disadvantage of having the sheep longer on 
 hand. Hence the plan has been, in this country, to purchase 
 the finer foreign wool, and to rear our sheej) for the sake of the 
 mutton. The j)rincipal demand for English wools is for flannels 
 and for coarse cloth, such as that used for coachmen's great coats. 
 
 The introduction of the sheep into Australia added greatly to 
 the wealth of the colony. New South Wales had no sheep of its 
 own, and a small flock was originally introduced from Bengal. 
 These sheep are described as being more like goats, with a coarse 
 and hairy fleece ; but the climate agreed with them, and they 
 impi'oved, and still more so when the South Down (fig. 53) and 
 Leicester varieties were added to the flock. In a short time, 
 both the fleece and the carcase became doubled iu value, and the 
 introduction of the Merino still further improved the breed. It 
 occurred to Captain (afterwards Lieutenant-Colonel) Macarthur 
 that, if the fleece of the common Merino became finer and softer 
 under the climate of New South Wales, it was not improbable 
 that even the Saxony wool might be increased in value. He, 
 therefore, imported some sheep direct from Germany, and found, 
 after fairly testing the experiment, that if the Saxon fleece had 
 not been improved, it was superior to any other in the colony. 
 Fig. 60 is taken from a sketch of part of the Camden estate of 
 Captain Macarthur. The success of these experiments has been 
 complete. The first importation of wool from New South Wales 
 in 1807 was 245 ll)s. : in the year 1848, it amounted to 23,000,000 
 lbs. valued at upwards of 1,200,000/. The discovery of gold in 
 Australia arrested for a time the progress of wool-growing, but 
 it is probable that the amount of toil and expense required for 
 securing the precious metal by direct means, will have satisfied 
 industrious men, that the more indirect methods of agriculture 
 and honest trade are as well, or even better calculated to make a 
 man prosperous. 
 
 The two great divisions of wool into carding and combing give 
 rise to two distinct branches of the woollen manufacture, namely, 
 clofli and rvorsted, the last word being the name of a small town iu 
 Norfolk, where this class of goods was first made. Until about 
 thirty years ago, worsted fabrics were made of wool alone, with 
 the exception of bombazines, and some other mixtures ; but in 
 that year, goods, consisting of a worsted weft and a cotton warp, 
 came into use. In 1836, the wool of the Alpaca, an animal of 
 the Llama tribe, belonging to the mountain ranges of Peru, was 
 introduced : this wool is of various shades of colour, is remark- 
 ably bright and lustrous, has great length of staple, and is 
 
WOOL. 
 
 19 
 
 extremely soft. It soon acquired a high rank in the worsted 
 trade. About the same time, Moliair, the wool of a goat from 
 Asia Minor, came into use, and led to the production of many 
 beautiful fabrics, while the combination of silk with these new 
 materials led to further varieties in articles of clothing and 
 furniture. 
 
 During the year ending 31st December, 1856, there were im- 
 ported into the United Kingdom from British possessions out of 
 Europe, 81,893,148 lbs. of sheep and lambs' wool ; from other 
 parts, 31,343,751 lbs. making a total of 113,236,899 lbs. Also, of 
 wool of the Alpaca and Llama tribe, 2,974,493 lbs. 
 
 First, with respect to the manufacture of broad-cloth. The 
 three varieties of wool most in request are the German, the 
 Australian, and the Cape, while the wools of Odessa and New 
 Zealand are also more or less in request. Wool arrives in England 
 in its natural state, or in the grease, as it is called, with the yolk 
 and dirt adhering. Or the wools may be hand-washed, where the 
 sheep, previously to shearing, has been washed in a running 
 stream. Scoured loools have been scoured and cleansed after the 
 shearing. 
 
 The first operation at the factory is called sorting, or dividing 
 the wool into qualities, such as primes, seconds, and tJiirds. This 
 is done at a table formed of horizontal bars of wood, so that on 
 opening the fleece and separating the qualities of wool, loose dirt, 
 &c. may fall through. The wool may then be scoured or washed, 
 to get rid of the animal grease ; after which it may be dyed, or 
 the dyeing may be left till the cloth is woven. In the one case 
 the cloth is said to be v)ool-dycd, and in the other, piece-dyed. 
 Supposing the wool to be dyed, it is passed through the loilhj, or 
 iwllhj — resembling the willow of the cotton manufacture — (fig. 61), 
 consisting of a large wooden cylinder or cone, furnished with iron 
 spikes, enclosed in a wooden case, also furnished with spikes. 
 The wool is supplied to this machine by an endless web, or 
 feeding-cloth, and passing between feeding rollers, is exposed to 
 the action of the spiked cylinder, which, revolving rapidly, tears 
 apart the fibres and disperses the dust and dirt through a grating 
 below. The wool is next picked, in order to remove seeds and 
 foreign matters, or locks of wool which have not properly taken 
 the dye, or which belong to other sorts. The wool is next spread 
 out on a stone floor, and sprinkled with Gallipoli or palm oil ; 
 layer being piled upon layer after each oiling. The wool is again 
 passed through the willy, in order to mix the oil and the wool 
 thoroughly. The wool is now ready for the scribbler, which is 
 similar in princiijle to the cotton-carding engine (figs. 15 — 19). 
 Scribbling is, however, a coarser process than carding, and its 
 object is to form the oiled wool into a broad thin fleece or lap. 
 Wool goes through the scribbler two, three, or four times, so that 
 the fibres may be well opened ; after which it is carded. The 
 object of the wool-carding engine (fig. 62) is not to place the fibres 
 parallel, as in the case of cotton, but to open them and make 
 them cross each other in all directions. The large cylinders, or 
 card-drums, and the small cylinders, or urchins, all covered with 
 carding wires, prepare the wool, and the last cylinder, or dojfer, 
 which is covered with straight parallel strips of wire, allows the 
 doffing knife to remove the wool in the form of separate slivers, 
 each the length of the dof&ng-cylinder, and these fall into the 
 plates of a plated cyhnder, called the roller-boid, which being 
 partly covered with a case or shell nearly in contact with it, the 
 slivers are rolled into cardings, and are received upon an apron 
 at the opposite end of the machine. The cardings have next to 
 be twisted into yarn, for which purpose a machine, founded on 
 the spinning- jenny (fig. 31), and called the slubbing-billy (fig. 63), 
 was introduced. It consists of a wooden frame, within which is 
 a carriage moving upon the lower side rails, and containing a 
 number of spindles, which are made to whirl round by means of 
 cords, passing round the pulley of each spindle and connected 
 with a drum, which extends the whole breadth of the carriage, 
 and to which motion is given by turning the handle of a large 
 wheel, which is connected by a strap with the drum. The 
 cardings are arranged upon a slanting apron at the end of the 
 
 frame, and pass under a roller, called the billy-roller, which presses 
 lightly upon them. In front of this roller is a movable rail, 
 which, when it rests upon the cardings, prevents them from 
 being drawn through, and when elevated prevents the cardings 
 from being drawn forward by the retiring of the spindle-carriage. 
 The twisting of these cardings and the winding them up on the 
 spindles does not differ greatly from similar operations already 
 described on the spinning-jenny. The cardings, as fast as they 
 are pi'oduced at the carding-engine, are brought by children, and 
 attached to the ends of the cardings resting on the sloping apron : 
 this joining is performed by a slight lateral rolhng motion of the 
 fingers of the right hand. By the constant activity of the little 
 pieceners, the cardings on the apron are always kept at the proper 
 length. The slubbing-billy is now mostly superseded by the 
 slubbing-machine (fig. 64), which does not greatly differ from the 
 cotton-mule (fig. 32) ; but the operation of slubbing has been 
 partially superseded by a machine called the condenser. The wool 
 is now in the condition of yarn fit for weaving, and will be again 
 noticed when we come to speak of that operation. 
 
 In the preparation of worsted yarn, care is taken to dispose all 
 the fibres in parallel lines, as in the case of cotton and linen, and 
 not, as we have seen in the case of short wool, to allow them to 
 cross in various directions, to assist them in felting together in a 
 subsequent process. The long wool is scoured, dried, and 
 willowed, preparatory to combing, which is one of the distin- 
 guishing operations of long wool. The wool-comber is furnished 
 with a couple of combs, one of which is shown in fig. 65, a post 
 (fig. 66), to which it can be attached, and a small stove, called a 
 comb-pot (fig. 67), for heating the teeth of the combs. The wool- 
 comb consists of several rows of sharp steel teeth of different 
 lengths, fixed to a wooden stock or head, covered with horn, from 
 which proceeds a perforated handle, made to fit into certain 
 projections in the upright post. The comb-pot is a fiat iron 
 plate, heated by means of fire or of steam, and above this is a 
 similar plate, with sufficient space between the two to admit the 
 teeth of the comb. The heated comb being attached to the post 
 with the teeth iipwards, the workman takes a handful of wool, 
 sprinkles it with oil, rolls it up in his hands, and then throws 
 one-half of it over the points of the comb ; he draws it repeatedly 
 through them, and leaves each time a few stray filaments in the 
 comb. When the wool is thus disposed of on the comb, the 
 latter is removed to the stove ; an empty comb is taken there- 
 from, mounted on the post, and filled with wool as before. The 
 man then takes both combs, sits down, and holds one of them on 
 his knee with his left hand, and with the other comb in his right 
 hand he introduces the teeth of one into those of the other, draws 
 them through, and thus transfers all the wool to one comb. This 
 process is repeated again and again, until the fibres are laid 
 parallel. When the operation is complete, a quantity of short 
 wool, called 7ioyl, about one-eighth of the quantity employed, 
 remains in the comb ; this is transferred to the short-wool 
 manufacture. The long wool, after leaving the comb, requires to 
 be combed again at a lower temperature before it is fit for the 
 spinner. Wool-combing is a laborious and unhealthy occupation, 
 and is performed in some mills by self-acting machinery. The 
 wool, as it is combed into slivers, is formed into narrow bundles, 
 called tops ; these being unrolled, the slivers are separated and 
 thrown loosely over a pin, within reach of an attendant who, 
 taking a sliver, spreads it flat upon a feeding-board or ajpron, 
 presenting the end to the first pair of rollers of the sliver-box, or 
 breahing-frame (fig. 68), which draw the sliver in. When it has 
 passed half through, the end of another sliver is placed upon the 
 middle of the first, and they are drawn through together. A third 
 sliver is placed on the middle of the second, and in this way the 
 short slivers are united and extended by other pairs of rollers into 
 one long and uniform sliver, which is received into a can. A 
 number of these are drawn into one at the drawing-frame (fig. 69) ; 
 these are also received into cans, and afterwai-ds pass through 
 the operations of roving and spinning, which resemble in principle 
 those operations as described under cotton. 
 
20 
 
 SILK. 
 
94. DOUBLING OR THROWING MACHINE. 
 
IV.— SILK. 
 
 There are few things more wonderful in nature or in art than 
 the mighty results which are frequently brought about by small 
 and apparently inadequate means. Nothing can appear more 
 insignificant than a single polype ; yet, by the united efforts of 
 millions of polypes, vast reefs of solid rock rise up in the ocean, 
 and form clusters of islands for man to inhabit. A caterpillar, 
 spinning from its own intestines a structure which we may term 
 either its cradle or its grave, may also appear an insignificant 
 object ; but, when we find myriads of these caterpillars en- 
 couraged and protected by many nations of the earth, their 
 united labours lead to results of a very surprising character. 
 
 The Chinese are the most extensive cultivators of the silk- 
 worm. From their country, the culture spread to Japan, to 
 Tonquin, to Siam, to Hindostau, to Persia, to Greece, to Italy, 
 and to France. We obtain supplies of silk from all tiiese 
 countries except Tonquin and France, the latter country con- 
 suming all that it produces. The climate of Great Britain is not 
 adapted to the successful culture of the silkworm, nor do we receive 
 any silk from our colonies. China affords the great supply, and 
 this has gone on increasing. In 1830, we received 4,842 bales, 
 and in 1857, we imported 94,612 bales from China — an increase 
 of nearly twenty-fold. The cost of the last-named import was 
 about 12,000,000/. sterling, or more than double the value of our 
 imports in tea. There are several reasons for this prodigious in- 
 crease. In 1830, our intercourse with China was tlu'ough the 
 East India Company, and our trade was restricted to a single 
 port. Since that time, the trade has been made free, and four 
 additional Chinese ports have been opened to us. Besides this, 
 a murrain had attacked the silkworms of Europe, which led to 
 inci-eased imports from China. The production of Indian silk is 
 limited to a few districts of Bengal Proper, and the supply is 
 very scanty, amounting last year to no more than 9,011 bales. 
 The quantity from Turkey and Persia is also very small. The silk 
 of Persia is inferior in value to that of China, by as much as 30 per 
 cent. The silk of the North of Italy is 60 per cent, better than 
 that of China, and still more valuable than that of the average 
 of British Bengal The production of any raw material which 
 requires skill and care in the preparation, may be taken as a test 
 of civilisation ; and, measured by such test, Turkey and Persia 
 are at the bottom of the scale, Bengal comes next, China next, 
 Italy next, and France, notwithstanding the disadvantages of 
 climate, probably takes rank above Italy. 
 
 The insect which furnishes the most ready and available sup- 
 ply of silk is the caterpillar of the mulberry-tree moth [Bomhi/x 
 mori), fig. 82, belonging to the tribe of mealy-winged nocturnal 
 insects. The production of silk, however, is by no means con- 
 fined to this insect : it is a common working material in the 
 insect world, as well as a weapon of offence and defence. Thus, 
 the garden spider (fig. 70) makes its web of this material ; and 
 when its labours for the season are over, deposits its eggs in a 
 warm silken bag (fig. 72), which it attaches to a flat surface (fig. 
 71) in some sheltered place, where it remains throughout the 
 winter ; the warmth of the following spring being sufficient to 
 hatch the eggs. As the spiders, like other insects, let them- 
 selves down by a silken line, so they ascend by means of the 
 same material, often in a very ingenious manner, as in fig. 75, 
 where a goat-moth caterpillar having been put into a glass 
 tumbler, escaped therefrom by means of a silken ladder, as 
 shown in the figure. In Bengal, the nests or cocoons of the 
 Tusseli silkworm (figs. 73, 74) furnish a large supply of coarse, 
 dark-coloured silk, which is woven into a cheap durable cloth. 
 When the larvEe are near their full size, they are too heavy to 
 crawl in search of their food with the back upwards, as is usual 
 with most caterpillars ; but travei'se the small branches, sus- 
 
 pended by the feet. The cocoon is of an oval shape, attached 
 to a branch by a thick, strong, silken cord. The Arbidy silk- 
 worm, also a native of Bengal, produces an abundant supply of 
 delicate, glossy silk, which does not admit of being unwound 
 from the cocoons, and is, therefore, combed, carded, and spun 
 like cotton : the thread is woven into a coarse kind of white 
 cloth, of so durable a texture, that a person can scarcely in his 
 lifetime wear out a garment made of it. There are silk- 
 producing insects in other parts of the world, which furnish 
 local supplies of silk. In some parts of South America, cocoons 
 of grey silk, eight inches in length, have been described ; 
 but none of these insects yield a silk which combines so many 
 valuable projjerties as the ordinary silkworm. 
 
 The eggs of the silkworm moth (fig. 76) are smaller than gi-ains 
 of mustard seed : they are slightly flattened ; and are at first of a 
 yellowish colour, but change in a few days to a slate-colour. In 
 temperate climates, they are kept through the winter until the 
 mulberry-tree puts forth its leaves in the spring. The white- 
 fruited mulberry-tree {Moms alha), fig. 87, a native of China, is the 
 proper food for this insect ; and it is remarkable that, while other 
 trees nourish innumerable tribes of insects, the mulberry-tree 
 is seldom attacked by any but this one insect. The worms, 
 when first hatched, are about a quarter of an inch long, and of 
 a dark colour (fig. 76) : they must be fed on young and tender 
 leaves, and if their food be properly supplied, they will remain 
 contentedly upon it, and manifest no roving propensities. In 
 the course of eight days, the creature rapidly increases in size, 
 so that its skin has become too small for its body : it now re- 
 mains three days without food, during which a secretion forms 
 under the skin — on the surface of the new skin, in fact ; and this 
 enables the caterpillar to cast off the old one. But it also assists 
 itself in this object by means of silken lines, which it attaches 
 to adjacent objects. , These hold the old skin tightly, and the 
 animal creeps out of it ; the whole of the covering of the body, 
 including that of the feet and of the jaws, being cast off'. The 
 moulted worm is of a pale colour and wrinkled : it now I'ecovers 
 its appetite, and grows so rapidly that the new skin is filled out, 
 and, in the course of five days, another moult is required. Four 
 of these moults and renewals of the skin bring the caterpillar 
 to its full size (see figs. 77, 78, 79), when it is nearly three inches 
 long, and consists of twelve membranous rings, which contract 
 and elongate with the motion of the body. There are eight pairs 
 of legs, the first three pairs being covered with a shelly or scaly 
 substance, which also invests the head. The mandibles are 
 strong and are indented like a saw, and are in constant use at 
 this time, the appetite of the animal being voracious. Beneath 
 the jaw are two small orifices through which the insect draws its 
 silken lines. The silk is a yellow transparent gum, secreted in 
 slender vessels, and wound, as it were, uf)on a couple of spindles 
 within the stomach ; which vessels, if unfolded, would measure 
 ten inches in length. Along the sides of the body are nine 
 pairs of spiracles or breathing holes : near the mouth are seven 
 small eyes, but the two spots higher wp, which so much resemble 
 eyes (fig. 79), are only portions of the skull. When at maturity, 
 the caterpillar is of a rich golden hue : it then leaves off' eating 
 and selects a corner in which to spin its cocoon. It first forms 
 a loose structure of floss-silk, and within it the closer texture 
 of its nest of an oval shape (fig. 80) : the caterpillar remains 
 working within it until it gradually disappears ; it takes no food, 
 but, constantly spinning its beautiful winding-sheet, its body 
 diminishes one-half, and the cocoon being complete, it once more 
 changes its skin and becomes transformed into an apparently 
 lifeless chrysalis or aurelia (fig. 81), with a smooth brown skin, 
 and pointed at one end. It remains in this state for two or three 
 
SILK. 
 
 23 
 
 weeks, and then emerges in the form of a perfect winged insect, 
 the silk-moth (fig. 82). In order to escape from the cocoon, it 
 moistens the interior with a liquid which dissolves the gum that 
 holds the fibres together, and, pushing them aside, escapes. The 
 perfect insect has but a short life, and only one object to accom- 
 plish ; namely, to provide for the continuation of the species. 
 She lays her eggs in the course of two or three days, and then 
 dies. 
 
 The silkworm is a delicate insect, and requires careful nursing ; 
 it is liable to many diseases, among which is one characterised 
 by the formation of a minute cryptogamous plant or mildew 
 within the body of the living insect. When it is exposed to damp 
 and fermenting food and litter, there forms in the fatty matter 
 of its body a number of sporules, supported by minute stems, 
 specimens of which, highly -magnified, are represented in fig. 84. 
 These increase to such an extent that the vegetation pierces the 
 skin, and imparts a general mealy character to the body (fig. 83) ; 
 it soon ripens its seed, which floats in the air to every part of 
 the nursery, inoculating the healthy worms ; the first jpatient 
 soon dies, and its dead body continues to be a source of con- 
 tagion. The disease is called mmcardine in France, from the 
 name of a sugar-plum, which it somewhat resembles. The 
 Italians name it calcinetio, from the chalky or mealy appearance 
 of the skin. A solution of blue vitriol applied to the woodwork, 
 frames, &c. of the nursery, is useful in destroying the seeds of 
 the fungus ; but the best preservatives are rigid cleanliness, and 
 attention to ventilation. The Government of France have, at 
 different times, offered premiums for the best modes of curing 
 aud preventing disease in the silkworms ; and, at the time we 
 are writing, the Austrian Government has placed a large sum of 
 money at the disposal of the Central Sericultural Society of Italy 
 with a similar object. Some idea of the extent of the silk- 
 growing operations in France may be formed from the fact that, 
 in the department of the Drome, upwards of 3,000,000 mulberry- 
 trees are required to supply the food of the worms. 
 
 When the crop of cocoons is gathered in, about one-sixtieth 
 part is set aside for the production of eggs, the finest cocoons 
 being selected for the purpose. The female cocoons are heavier 
 and rounder than the male, and a due proportion of each sort is 
 taken : they are preserved in a dry room. The main crop of 
 cocoons is next sorted according to their qualities, the vitality of 
 the enclosed chrysalis is destroyed by heat, floss silk is removed, 
 and the cocoons, being immersed in warm water to soften the 
 gum, a number of the loose ends are twisted together, passed 
 through a metal loop, which rubs ofi" dirt and impurities, and is 
 then passed on to the reel, which has a shifting side motion, so 
 that the thread of one revolution may not overlay that of another ; 
 for, if allowed to do so, they would be glued together before the 
 gum had time to harden in the air. When a single filament 
 breaks or comes to an end, its place is supplied by a new one, 
 that the united thread may be of equal thickness. The cocoons 
 are not entirely wound off, but the husk containing the chrysalis 
 is added to the floss silk under the name of waste- Eleven or 
 twelve pounds of cocoons yield one pound of silk, from 200 to 
 250 cocoons weighing one pound, so that not less than 2,817 are 
 required for a pound of silk. This estimate refers to the ordinary 
 cocoon, which is of a bi'ight yellow colour. Major Bronski, of 
 Bordeaux, has succeeded, under improved cultivation on a plan 
 of his own, in obtaining a race of silkworms not subject to 
 disease, producing large and equal-sized cocoons of a pure white 
 colour, the silk of which is equal in all its length, strong and 
 lustrous, and of an average length of 1,164 yards. 
 
 The reeled silk is made up into hanks, the forms of which, as 
 weU as the qualities, differ in various countries, as will be seen 
 from the figures 86, 91, and 92. When the raw silk reaches the 
 factory, it passes through a number of processes which vary with 
 its ultimate destination. It is wound and cleaned for weaving into 
 Bandana handkerchiefs, and is further bleached for gauze and 
 similar fabrics. With this amount of preparation it is called 
 dumb singles ; but when woimd, cleaned, and throion, it is called 
 thrown singles, and is used for ribbons and common silks. If 
 wound, cleaned, doubled, and thrown, and twisted in one direc- 
 tion, it becomes tram, and forms the woof or shoot of gros de 
 Naples, velvets, and flowered silks. If wound, cleaned, spun, 
 doubled, and thrown, so as to resemble the strand of a rope, it 
 is called organzi?ie, and is used for warp. When the natural gum 
 of the silk is left in it, it is called hard ; but if removed by scou7-- 
 ing, it becomes soft. 
 
 The first operation is to open the hanks, and stretch them upon 
 light six-sided reels of lance wood, called sicifts (fig. 90), from 
 which they are transferred to bobbins, arrangements being made 
 to wind the filament upon them in a spiral or oblique direction, to 
 prevent lateral adhesion (fig. 88). The bobbins thus filled are 
 removed to a cleaning or picking machine, where the filament from 
 each bobbin is passed over a glass or iron guide-rod, and then 
 drawn through a brush or cleaner, in order to separate impurities. 
 Each filament is dragged fi'om its bobbin through the cleaner to 
 another bobbin, and, should a knot or a mote occur, the filament 
 is prevented from passing through a bar of metal, which bar 
 becomes depressed, and the bobbin is thereby lifted off the 
 friction roller, from which it receives motion ; the attendant, 
 noticing this, removes the impediment, and again sets the bobbin 
 in motion. The next process is spinning, not the twisting together 
 of short fibres as in the case of cotton, flax, or wool, but of the 
 continuous filament of clean silk. The spinning is accomplished 
 by means of the bobbin and fly (fig. 93). Where a number of 
 filaments are twisted together, the process is called doubling or 
 throiDing, which last term appears to have been derived from the 
 rope-maker, who throiDS twists into his rope. In doubling, the 
 silk filaments are arranged parallel on a horizontal wheel, and 
 passed through the eye or loop of a rotating fly (fig. 94), by the 
 rotation of which a number of filaments are twisted together. 
 The twist varies according to the ^^ses intended. In spinning 
 single filaments, the twist is to the right ; for tram, the filaments 
 are doubled and then twisted to the right ; for organzine, the 
 filament is twisted to the left, then doubled and twisted to the 
 right, and so on, the textxire of various woven fabrics depending 
 on these variations. 
 
 Fig. 89 represents a contrivance in the doubling frame for 
 stopping the bobbin, should one of the filaments break. If two 
 threads are to be doubled, each thread is passed under the hook 
 of a wire which it supports, and, should the thread break, the 
 wire falls down on a lever, which it depresses, and its opposite 
 end arrests the motion of a bobbin. 
 
 Some of the heavier descriptions of silk thread, such as sewing 
 or fringing thread, are prepared at a throstle frame, similar to 
 that used for cotton (see fig. 29) ; the floss silk, and the refuse of 
 throwing, are worked into yarns for cheap shawls and hand- 
 kerchiefs. The waste is sent to the spinner in small balls, which 
 are sorted, heckled, cut up into short lengths, purified by boiling, 
 and, lastly, carded and formed into yarn by processes similar to 
 those adopted for cotton, or, instead of cutting u]^ the waste, it 
 may be drawn into slivers, by a modification of the machinery 
 used for flax. 
 
10:<. THE SHUTTLE. 
 
 104. THE FLY-SHU'J'TLI . 
 
WEAVING. 
 
 25 
 
 114. ACKB IVIJ'S LOOM-SHKD AT HALIFAX.— ( Wo; s/ed Goot/J. ) 
 
26 
 
 v.— WEAVING. 
 
 Weaving is one of the most ancient of arts : it is mentioned 
 by Moses (Exod. xxxv. 35) as one of the arts taught by those 
 whom the Ahiiighty had filled with wisdom of heart, " to work all 
 manner of work, of the embroiderer in blue, and in purple, in 
 scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver." The fine linen of 
 ancient Egypt deserved its high character, as we know from the 
 best judges of the present day, who have had opportunities of 
 inspecting it in the mummy cloths which have been so curiously 
 I^reserved during several thousand years. It is described as 
 being close and firm, yet very elastic ; and the J'arn, both of the 
 warp and of the woof, remarkably even and well spun. In one 
 specimen the thread of the warjj was double, consisting of two 
 fine threads twisted together ; the woof was single. In other 
 specimens the warp had three, and even four times the number 
 of threads in an inch that the woof had. Some of the finest of 
 these mummy cloths ajjpear to be made of yarn of about 100 
 hanks to the pound, with 140 threads in the inch in the warp, 
 and about 64 in the weft. 
 
 If we examine a piece of cloth produced by what is called 
 plain weamng, it will be found to consist of two distinct threads 
 or yarns, which traverse the iceh, as the piece of cloth is called, 
 in opposite directions, at right angles to each other. Those 
 threads which form the length of the web, are called the ^oarp, 
 and they extend from one end of the piece to the other. The 
 thread or yarn, which runs across the web, is called the weft or 
 woof. This may consist of one thread continued through the 
 whole piece of cloth, passing alternately over and under each 
 yarn of the warp, until it arrives at the outside yarn, when it 
 passes round that yarn, and returns back over and under each 
 yarn as before ; but in such a manner that it now goes over 
 those yarns which it previously passed under, and under those 
 yaras which it before passed over, thereby firmly weaving the 
 warp together. Fig. 95 shows the anatomy of a fragment of 
 cloth produced by plain weaving. Variety is produced by 
 causing every third, fourth, fifth, or sixth, &c., threads to cross 
 each other, as in twilled weavinff, fig. 96, where the same thread 
 of weft remains flushed, or disengaged from the warp, while 
 passing over three thi'eads, and is held down by passing under ihQ 
 fourth thread. Ordinary calico, linen, &c., are produced by plain 
 weaving ; while satin, bombazine, kerseymere, &c., are the pro- 
 ducts of twilled ; and to distinguish them from the former, they 
 are called twills or fweels. 
 
 It is usual in modern weaving to arrange the warp horizon- 
 tally : in the ancient loom, it was suspended vertically, as in 
 fig. 97, with stones suspended at the bottom for keeping the 
 threads stretched. In the modern Egyptian loom, fig. 99, the 
 warp is arranged nearly vertically, terminating in a weight for 
 keeping it stretched. Fig. 100 represents an Oriental winder 
 preparing the warp threads for the weaver. The Hindoo loom, 
 fig. 98, is also of a very primitive character. It consists of two 
 bamboo rollers, on one of which the warp is wound, and on the 
 other the woven fabric. The threads of the warp are alternately 
 raised by a pair of Jiealds, and the weft is inserted by a kind of 
 long netting needle. The Hindoo carries this rude apparatus to 
 a couple of trees, which may afford some shelter, where he digs 
 a hole for a seat, and stretches his warp, by fastening two bam- 
 boo rollers at a proper distance from each other, with pins in 
 the turf ; the healds he fastens to a branch of the tree or to a 
 bamboo pole stretching from tree to tree, and, with his great 
 toes inserted into two loops which serve for treadles, he thus 
 raises the alternate threads of the warp, inserts the weft, and 
 drives it close up to the web with his long shuttle. 
 
 The common loom, which has been in use in Europe for ages, 
 is represented in fig. 101. The framework has somewhat the 
 
 appearance of a four-post bedstead.- At one end is the beam or j 
 yarn-roll, A, on which the warp threads are wound ; while at the 
 other end is the cloth-beam, B, for winding the web. As the web 
 is wound on the cloth-beam, a portion of the warp is wound off 
 the warp-beam, the whole being kept stretched by means of j 
 weights, C. The extended threads of the warp are prevented 
 from becoming entangled by means of three flat rods, r, r, placed 
 between the alternate threads of the warp. The alternate 
 threads of the warp are raised to admit the shuttle by means of 
 healds, h, h' , consisting of a number of twines looped in the 
 middle, through which the yarns of the warp are drawn. There ! 
 are two healds, one of which receives every alternate thread of 
 the warp, and the other the intermediate threads. These healds 
 are so united by means of a rope and pulley, D, that the lowering I 
 of one causes the other to rise. The warp is also made to pass 
 through the dents or teeth of an instrument called the reed, j 
 which is set in a movable swing frame, called the lathe, lay, or i 
 batten, L (shown separately in fig. 102), since it beats home the | 
 weft to the web. At the bottom of this frame is a kind of shelf, | 
 called the shuttle-race, along which is thrown the shuttle, a small | 
 boat-shaped piece of wood, containing in a hollow in the middle j 
 the bobbin of yarn, the unwinding of which suiDplies the weft. | 
 At the side of the shuttle is a small hole, through which the 
 yarn runs freely as the shuttle moves along. The motion of the ' 
 shuttle is sometimes assisted by means of rollers, as in fig. 103. | 
 The shuttle may be thrown by hand, or the fly-shuttle (fig. 104) ! 
 may be used. In this contrivance the two ends of the shuttle-race 
 are closed up, so' as to form short troughs, in which two pieces 
 of wood, called pickers or peelers, move along wires. To each 
 picker is fastened a string, and the two sti-ings meet loosely in a 
 handle, as shown in fig. 102, which is held in the right hand of 
 the weaver. When the shuttle is in one of the troughs, a smart 
 jerk or pull at the picker projects it along the shuttle-race into 
 the opposite trough, while another jerk in the contrary direction 
 brings it back again. 
 
 Supposing the weaver to be in his seat (E, fig. 101), he begins j 
 work by pressing upon a treadle, T, by which means one of the j 
 healds is lowered, and with it the alternate threads of the warp, \ 
 which pass through its loops. At the same time, the other heald, j 
 with its threads, will be raised, thereby leaving between the two 
 divisions of the warp a space, called the shed, fig. 112, for the 
 passage of the shuttle. For every thread of weft thrown across 
 the warp, the weaver has three things to do : first, to press down 
 one of the treadles so as to form the shed ; secondly, to throw 
 the shuttle across the warp ; thirdly, to drive the thread of weft 
 close up to the web, by means of the batten, fig. 102, which he 
 guides with the left hand. A thread of weft being thus formed, 
 a second thread is next thrown in the opposite direction, for which 
 purpose the other treadle must be depressed so that the warp 
 threads, which were before elevated, are now lowered. As the 
 weaving proceeds, the finished cloth is wound upon the cloth- i 
 beam, by turning a handle at the side ; the beam being prevented 
 from slipping by means of a rachet wheel. The cloth is kept 
 extended in breadth by two pieces of wood called temples, fig. 
 105 : these are furnished with points at the ends, which are 
 inserted into the edge or selvage of the cloth at either side. j 
 
 Weaving is a very easy operation : a little care is required not 
 to depress the treadles too far or too suddenly, or some of the 
 warp threads may be broken, and much time be lost in repairing 
 them. The friction of the dents of the reed renders the threads 
 liable to break. Care is also required in throwing the shuttle. 
 If thrown too violently, it may recoil, and, by slackening the 
 thread of the weft, injure the appearance of the fabric ; and if 
 not thrown far enough, it may injure the warp threads. The 
 
WEAVING. 
 
 27 
 
 batten must also be brought up against the shoot with an equal 
 degree of force at every stroke ; otherwise the cloth will not be 
 of uniform thickness, and the degree of force with which the 
 batten is brought home must vary considerably, according as 
 the goods are coarse and thick, or fine and light. 
 
 The labours of the hand -loom weaver long since proved as 
 inadequate to satisfy the demand for woven goods, as the old 
 spinning-wheel did for the supply of yarn. It had long been a 
 mechanical problem to weave by machinery, and many attempts 
 were made to solve it, among which must be noticed the inven- 
 tion of Dr. Cartwright. This gentleman had a natural genius for 
 mechanical construction ; and although not educated as a me- 
 chanician, he could not resist his natural impulse to invent. His 
 attention was excited by the success of Arkwright's spinning 
 machinery ; and happening, in the summer of 1784, to hear a 
 Manchester man remark, that on the expiration of Arkwright's 
 jjatents, so much cotton would be spun that hands would not be 
 found to weave it, Cartwright remarked that Arkwright must 
 set his wits to work and contrive a weaving mill. The possibility 
 of weaving by machinery was denied ; but the good doctor was 
 so impressed with the idea, that he set to work, and, with the 
 assistance of a carpenter and a smith, produced his loom. He 
 then got a weaver to put in the warp, and succeeded in weaving 
 by its means a piece of sail-cloth. In this first attempt too 
 much power was used. "The warp," says the doctor, "was 
 placed perpendicularly ; the reed fell with a force of at least half 
 a hundredweight ; and the springs which threw the shuttle were 
 strong enough to have thrown a congreve-rocket -. in short, it 
 required the strength of two powerful men to work the machine 
 at a slow rate and only for a short time." This rude beginning 
 was patented in 1787 : it entailed upon the inventor loss of pro- 
 perty, and vexation of mind, consequent on the determined oppo- 
 sition of the operative weavers ; until at length it was generally 
 adopted as being as necessary in its way to the prosperity of the 
 country as Arkwright's machinery itself. We now see it at 
 work thousands in nuniber under a single roof, as in Ackroyd's 
 loom-shed, fig. 114, where the restless activity of the shuttles, 
 and the other moving parts, so completely occupy the air with 
 their vibrations, as to render sj^eech and hearing useless. Here 
 we see beautiful fabrics, as it were, producing themselves ; the 
 presiding mind which directs the whole not being apparent to 
 the casual visitor ; while the unskilled attendant takes the 
 charge of two or three of these looms, and should any one of 
 them go wrong, or should the shuttle require a new cop, stops 
 that particular loom for an instant, supplies the defect, and sets 
 it rattling on again. In some cases the services of the attendant 
 are not even required ; for the loom itself, should a thread 
 break, or the shuttle be run out, will stop itself, and ring a bell 
 to give notice that it has left off work. Nor is it upon plain 
 weaving alone that these wonderful automatons are so active. 
 In this same Ackroyd's loom-shed we see beautiful and complicated 
 patterns growing before our eyes, and are half disposed to 
 attribute to the machine itself a portion of that intelligence 
 which produced it and set it going. 
 
 The essential parts of a power-loom, detached from their 
 framing, are shown in fig. 106, The warp is wound round the 
 beam A, and passing up over a roller, B, is carried through a 
 couple of healds, D E, which form the shed for the passage of 
 the shuttle, F, which is driven along the shuttle-race by a kind 
 of hammer, worked by a lever, moving through a small arc of a 
 circle. The finished cloth, G, kept stretched by the temples, H, 
 is wound upon the cloth-beam, I. In such an arrangement, five 
 distinct actions are performed by steam-power ; each loom being 
 connected by an endless band with the shafting overhead (see 
 fig. 114), which is driven round by the steam-engine of the esta- 
 blishment. Of the five actions referred to, the first is to raise 
 and depress the alternate threads of the warp so as to form the 
 shed, fig. 112. Secondly, to throw the shuttle. Thirdly, to drive 
 up each thread of weft with the batten. Fourthly, to unwind the 
 warp from the warp beam. Fifthly, to wind the woven material j 
 
 on the cloth roller. To these may be added a sixth ; the stop- 
 ping the loom on the breaking of a thread, or when the shuttle 
 traps, that is, sticks in its course through the thread, or when 
 the shuttle becomes empty. In any one of these emergencies, 
 a lever is set in motion, which thrusts aside the strap or endless 
 band from off the pulley which turns the loom, to a loose pulley 
 at the side, where it continues to revolve without acting on the 
 loom. 
 
 The weaving of patterns by machinery brings us to speak of 
 the beautiful Jacquard apparatus, which is an addition to the 
 loom, for raising certain threads of the warp in a certain prede- 
 termined order ; so that on throwing the weft of one colour, or 
 shuttles each containing a different colour in a certain prescribed 
 order, a pattern shall be produced. We hope to make this more 
 intelligible as we proceed. Before Jacquard's invention, a clumsy 
 apparatus, called the Draw-hoy, was in use in pattern-weaving. 
 Jacquard was originally a straw-hat manufacturer of Lyons, in 
 France. His dormant mechanical genius was excited by an ad- 
 vertisement offering a reward to any one who could produce a 
 net by machinery. He produced such a machine, and, with the 
 modesty or indifference of an original mind, threw his invention 
 aside as soon as he had perfected it. By some accident a net 
 woven by this machine was shown to some persons in authority : 
 the Prefect of Lyons sent for the inventor, and a new machine 
 was ordered to be constructed. In the course of three weeks 
 this was completed and was laid before the Prefect, who, on 
 striking a given jjart of the machine with his foot, saw to his 
 surprise a new mesh added to the net. Napoleon I., who, about 
 this time, was the liberal patron of any invention which was 
 likely to injure the commerce of his unconquered and uncon- 
 querable rival, Great Britain, sent for Jacquard to Paris. On his 
 arrival there, he was requested to deposit his machine at the 
 Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers. This was accordingly done, and 
 the machine was favourably reported on, whereupon the Emperor 
 sent for the inventor, and at first sight of him called out : " Are 
 you the man who can perform the impossibility of tying a knot 
 in a stretched string 1 " In answer to this strange question, the 
 inventor produced his machine, and formed the meshes by tying 
 the strings, where they crossed, into hard knots, after the common 
 manner of net-making. Napoleon, as usual, catching at a glance 
 the talent of the man, and seeing what he was fit for, sent him 
 to examine a loom employed in the production of articles for the 
 use of the court, on which from 20,000 to 30,000 francs had been 
 already expended. This loom, based on an idea of the celebrated 
 mechanician, Vaucanson, was for the production of patterns by 
 machinery. Jacquard undertook to produce the desired result 
 by simpler means, and accordingly he invented the celebrated 
 apparatus which bears his name. He was rewarded by the 
 Government with a pension, and was permitted to return to 
 Lyons. No sooner, however, did he make his apparatus known, 
 than the usual fate of inventors awaited him. He experienced 
 the most violent opposition from those whom his invention was 
 best calculated to serve : on three occasions he narrowly escaped 
 with his life, and during the political troubles of France his 
 machine was condemned by the town-council of Lyons : it was 
 brought out into the market-place, broken to pieces, and its 
 inventor covered with ignominy. In the course of a few years, 
 however, when other countries had appropriated this beautiful in- 
 vention, and by its means were rivalling the choicest productions of 
 Lyons, the Lyonnese saw their error, and the much-despised appa- 
 ratus was soon in active operation in all the silk, worsted, and 
 muslin manufactories of the country. The Lyonnese sought to 
 atone for their ingratitude by means of a memorial to their perse- 
 cuted townsman : this was a woven portrait of Jacquard, repre- 
 senting him in his workshop, surrounded by his implements, 
 " planning the construction of that beautiful machinery which, 
 now in increased perfection, retui-ns this testimony to the genius 
 of its inventor." This piece of Jacquard weaving is spoken of as 
 a very wonderful performance, on account of the fineness of the 
 work (there being 1,000 threads in each square inch both of the 
 
WEAVING. 
 
 ] 22. SIZING MACHINE. " '• 123. DEAWING IN.— ( irotHen Fo/ K. ) 
 
FINISHING PROCESSES,— (FuhinCt, Teazljng, Shearing. &c.) 
 
 29 
 
30 
 
 WEAVING. 
 
 w&rp and of the weft) and the mechanical difficulties of the 
 undertaking : we should be better pleased if such performances 
 as these were impossible. It is no merit to accomplish with 
 difficulty in the wrong material that which can be eflected with 
 ease in the right. A portrait of Jacquard in oil, or a statue in 
 stone or marble, is a legitimate performance ; but a portrait 
 woven in a silk handkerchief, whether easy or difficult of per- 
 formance, is in false taste. A portrait is not meant to be folded 
 up or crumpled in the hand, but to be exposed constantly to view 
 on a rigid surface and in a vertical position. To this end, freedom 
 of expression, bold handling, and judicious laying on of colour, 
 are requisite ; effects which cannot be produced by mechanical 
 means, least of all by the loom ; they caimot by produced by the 
 needle, and hence we object to the representation of the human 
 form, or of animals, or landscapes in needlework, in worsted work, 
 or any material not recognised by the true artist. 
 
 The Jacquard appai-atus is attached to the top of the loom in 
 a line with the liealds, so as to act upon the warp threads. It 
 must be understood that in figure-weaving, in addition to the 
 ordinary play of the warp, for the formation of the ground of the 
 web, all those threads which must rise at the same moment in 
 order to produce the pattern, have their proper healds. In the 
 draw-loom these were raised by means of cords, which grouped 
 them together in a system, so as to be raised in the order and at 
 the time required by the pattern. In the Jacquard appai'atus, 
 the warp threads are raised by a number of wires, arranged in 
 rows, each wire bent at top into a hook, and these hooks are 
 supported by bars, the ends of which are seen in fig. 107. The 
 bars are sui^ported by a frame, which is alternately raised or 
 lowered by a lever attached to and acting with the treadle. If 
 all these bars were raised at once, all the warp threads would be 
 elevated ; but if by any means some of the hooks were pushed 
 off the bars, while the others were allowed to remain on, the 
 warp threads in connexion with the latter would only be raised. 
 Now the hooks are disengaged from the bars by means of 
 horizontal wires or needles, one of which is shown separately 
 in fig. 110 : each wire has a loop or eye in the centre, through 
 which the vertical lifting wires, fig. 107, pass. The horizontal 
 needles are kejot in place by means of spiral springs contained 
 in a frame, fig. 107, and the points of the needles project on the 
 opposite side of this fi'ame. Now it is evident that if a slight 
 pressure were applied to any of the points, the needles would be 
 driven into the frame. The vertical wires would be disengaged 
 from the bars, and the warp threads in connexion with them 
 would not be raised. On the removal of this pressure, the 
 elasticity of the sj)rings would drive the needles forward and 
 restore the hooks to the bars. 
 
 The method of driving the needles back at the proper time so 
 as to raise the different portions of the warp required to form 
 the pattern, is by means of a revolving bar of wood (fig. 108), the 
 sides of which are pierced with holes corresponding in numbers 
 and position with the points of the needles. One of the sides 
 of this bar is brought up against the points of the needles every 
 time the treadle is dejaressed. If, however, this alone were done, 
 the points would enter the holes, and no effect would be pro- 
 duced. But if some of the boles were stopped while others 
 remained open, some of the needles would be driven back and 
 others would remain undisturbed, and the warp threads in 
 connexion with these latter would alone be raised. This is what 
 is done in practice : each face of the revolving bar is covered 
 with a card containing a smaller number of holes than those of 
 the bar ; so that when the points of the needles press against an 
 unperforated part of the card, they are driven back, but when 
 the points enter the holes of the card, they enter also the holes 
 of the drum, and the needles corresponding thereto i-emain 
 unmoved. In this way the pattern is made out ; the revolving 
 bar presents a new card to the points of the needles at every 
 quarter turn, supposing the bar to be four-sided. As the holes 
 in the cards are arranged so as to raise in succession those 
 healds which will make out the intended pattern, it is evidently 
 
 necessary to have as many cards as there are threads of weft in 
 the pattern. All the cards are tied together by the edges, so as 
 to form a kind of endless chain, one complete revolution of 
 which makes out the pattern ; and by repeating it, the pattern 
 rnay be repeated on the warp. 
 
 The preparation of these cards requires care. The pattern is 
 drawn upon squared paper : that is, the order in which the threads 
 are grouped is marked upon a patiern paper or design, as it is 
 called, so divided by lines into squares as to represent a woven 
 fabric on a large scale, the threads which make out the pattern 
 being put in in ai^propriate colours. The pattern is next repeated 
 in a frame containing a number of vertical threads, corresponding 
 with the warp, when the workman with a long needle takes up 
 such threads as are intersected by the pattern, inserts a cross- 
 thread imder them, and carries it over all the remaining threads 
 in the same line, and he repeats this process until he has inserted 
 a sufficient number of weft-threads to make out the pattern. The 
 threads thus interlaced are attached to a card-punching machine. 
 This acts on a principle identical with that of the Jacquard 
 apparatus itself. It is furnished with lifting cords, wires, and 
 needles, connected in the manner explained for fig. 107, so that 
 on puUing the lifting cords the needles ai'e protruded. In front 
 of these needles, and answering to the revolving-bar, fig. 108, is a 
 thick perforated iron or steel plate, each of the perforations of 
 which contains a movable steel punch or cutter ; so that on 
 causing any of the needles to protrude they will drive before them 
 their coiTCsponding punches, and deposit them in a second iron 
 plate, similarly perforated, placed against the face of the former 
 one. Now, the method of protruding the steel punches required 
 for each card is as follows : — One end of each warjj thread in the 
 pattern frame is connected in succession with the individual 
 lifting cords of the machine : each thread of the weft is then 
 taken by the two ends and drawn upwards, by which means all 
 the warp threads passed under by this weft thread will be raised, 
 and can be collected together in the hand : on pulling them, the 
 particular lifting cords to which they are attached will cause the 
 needles to protrude ; these will drive out the cylindrical cutters 
 which occujjy the perforations of the fixed jjlate into the corre- 
 sponding cavities of the movable plate. A blank card-slij) is 
 placed against the latter, which is taken to a press, where the 
 piuiches are driven through the slip (fig. 109). The process 
 being repeated for the other cards required to make up the 
 pattern, the various cards are numbered and attached together in 
 their proper order. The number of cards may vary from a few 
 hundred to many thousand. The cards are arranged in folds, and 
 partly supported ujjon a curved board over the loom, as shown 
 in fig. 114. 
 
 Before the loom can be set to work, a number of preparatory 
 steps have to be taken, which could not well be explained until 
 the nature of weaving and the structure of the loom were under- 
 stood. The preparation of the warp involves many details 
 which may be included under the general term of warjunf/, 
 whereby all the warp threads are arranged alongside of each 
 other in one parallel plane. That this is an oj)eration requiring 
 much care will be evident from the fact that in a width of twenty 
 inches, as in silk goods, there may be eight or ten thousand 
 threads, every one of which must occupy its proper place without 
 entanglement or confusion. One of the oldest methods of warping 
 was to draw out the threads in an open field, as is still done in 
 India and China. Our micertain climate and suijenor mechanical 
 skill do not countenance so primitive a proceeding. An old 
 arrangement, which we have copied from the woollen manufac- 
 ture, is represented in fig. 115. This warping frame consists of 
 two uprights, with a number of projecting pins for receiving the 
 yarns, while the bobbins containing them are mounted in a 
 frame. The warper ties all the ends of the threads together, 
 attaches them to one of the pins, and, collecting them in one 
 hand, walks to the other end of the frame, passes them over a 
 pin, and so on backwards and forwards until the desired length 
 I has been collected. Another method, represented in fig. 116, is 
 
FINISHING PROCESSES.— WOOLLEN CLOTH. 
 
 3'] 
 
 the warding mill, consisting of a large reel, mounted on a vertical 
 axis, to which motion is given by means of an endless band, 
 which connects the bottom of the axis with a wheel tnrned by 
 the warper. The bobbins of the yarn are mounted on skewers 
 in a frame on the right, called a travers. The yarns from the 
 bobbins are made to pass through a Jieck, fig. 117,. also called a 
 jack or heck-box. As the reel, fig. 116, revolves, the heck slides 
 up and down between a couple of posts, whereby the warp yarns 
 are wound spirally and smoothly over the sides of the reel. The 
 use of the heck is to form the lease, that is, to divide the warp 
 into two alternate sets, one for each heald, for which purpose the 
 heck-block contains a number of steel pins, with a round hole or 
 eye in the upper part of each, through each of which a yarn is 
 passed. The pins are placed in alternate order in two frames, 
 either of which may be raised at pleasure. The warper preserves 
 the lease or crossing of the threads by tying through them at the 
 top, just below the knot which fastens the ends of the yarn 
 together, and before the warp is removed from the mill the yarns 
 are tied together at the ends. The warp is made up into a bundle 
 for the next operation, which may vary according to circum- 
 stances. Supposing it does not require to be sti-engthened by 
 the application of size, it may be wound upon the yarn beam of 
 the loom. The operation is called Learning, and is represented in 
 tig. 118. The beam turns upon iron pivots, and is set in motion 
 by being put into gear with a revolving shaft overhead ; and the 
 workman, holding in his hand a sort of comb, called a separator, 
 or rabble, through the cane teeth of which the warp threads are 
 passed, thus spreads the warp smoothly and evenly upon the 
 beam. 
 
 As the warp is subject to considerable tension and friction 
 during the process of weaving, it is usu-al to give it a dressing of 
 glue, size, or paste, in order to strengthen it. This may be done, 
 as in fig. 119, by passing portions of the warp through a hole in 
 a trough, under a couple of rollers in the bottom of the trough, 
 and then out at another hole in the side, which squeezes out the 
 superfluous fluid, and so backwards and forwards several times. 
 In the worsted manufacture, the yarns require to be scoured, to 
 get rid of the oil used in the combing. They are immersed in a 
 tub of soap-suds, as in fig. 120, passed between pressing rollers, 
 and then linked or plaited, to prevent the warp threads from 
 becoming entangled. Dressing and sizing are sometimes per- 
 formed after the beaming, for which purpose the beams are 
 mounted in frames, as in fig. 121 ; and the threads, being passed 
 through reeds to keej:) them distinct, pass between a couple of 
 rollers covered with felt, one of which dips into a trough of 
 paste. Cylindrical brushes rub the size into the fibres, and dis- 
 tribute it over their surface. The yarn is then dried by being 
 passed over a chest filled with steam, and is finally wound upon 
 the main yarn-beam. The yarns are also sized by means of the 
 sizing macMne, fig. 122, which consists of an iron trough sur- 
 rounded by a case filled with steam, and called a steam-jacket. 
 The trough also contains a number of rollers, over which the 
 warp travels up and down, so as to keep the yarns longer in the 
 warm fluid size, and, having passed out of the trough, the 
 superfluous moisture is squeezed out by means of two large 
 wooden rollers, after which the warp is dried by being passed 
 over the cylinders of a drying machine. 
 
 The warp having been wound on the warp-beam, the next 
 process is drawing-in, or passing every yarn through its proper 
 eye or loop in the healds. For this pin-poso the yarn-beam is 
 suspended by its ends, as shown in fig. 123, and the healds are 
 also hung up near the free hanging ends of the warp yarns. The 
 weaver and his assistant are seated one on one side and the other 
 on the other side of the healds, and the assistant picks up each 
 thread in its order, as determined by the lease rods, to be drawn 
 through the open eyes of the healds. The warp is then passed 
 through the splits of the reed, portions of the warp being tied into 
 knots as the drawing-in is completed, and these knots are con- 
 nected with a shaft which is attached to the cloth-beam of the 
 loom. The fineness of the cloth, or the number or set of the reed, 
 
 depends on the number of dents of the reed in a given length, 
 two threads passing through each dent. Thus a 60 reed cloth 
 contains sixty warp threads in an inch. This simple method, 
 however, is not followed at all places. 
 
 VI.— FINISHING PROCESSES. 
 
 WOOLLEN CLOTH. 
 
 When the weaver has done his pai t, and the fabric is removed 
 from the loom, it is seldom fit for use (except in the case of silk 
 goods), but has to undergo a number of finishing processes, such 
 as fulling, teazling, shearing, singeing, bleaching, dyeing, printing, 
 calendering, starching, making -up, &c. We shall have to notice all 
 these processes ; but we will first describe those which are 
 peculiar to woollen cloth. 
 
 Broad cloth is woven in looms of large size, the width of the 
 cloth being upwards of twelve quarters, in order to allow for the 
 shrinking which takes place in the finishing processes. The 
 edges of the cloth are finished with a narrow border of list, made 
 of goat's-hair, or of coarse yarn, for the purpose of receiving the 
 tentering-hooks, when stretched out to dry. 
 
 The first finishing process for woollen cloth is scourinfi, in order 
 to get rid of the oil used in spinning, and the size in dressing, 
 the warp. Scouriiig con.sists in constantly agitating the cloth 
 in water containing some detergent substance, such as Fuller's 
 earth, the alumina of which forms a, soap with the grease, and is 
 thus rendered soluble, and capable of being removed by washing. 
 The fuller s stocks, next to be described, are also used with a 
 quantity of soap and warm water, after which the cloth is 
 passed through a sconring machine, fig. 124, and washed in hot 
 water with the assistance of squeezing rollers. 
 
 T\\Q fulling mill, fig. 128, consists of ponderous oaken mallets 
 working in a stocJe or frame. The mallets are worked by tapit 
 ■wheels, or wheels with projecting cogs, which bear on the shanks 
 of the mallets, raise them to a certain height, and, suddenly 
 releasing them, allow the heavy heads to fall by their own weight 
 into an inclined trough, the end of which is curved. The cloth, 
 being put into this trough, is exposed to the blows of the mal- 
 lets, and by the form of the trough is turned round and round, so 
 that every part may be acted on. At first the cloth is impregnated 
 with soap, as already noticed. When this has been removed by 
 washing, the cloth is returned to the fulling-mill, with fresh 
 quantities of soap ; where it is exposed for many hoiirs to the 
 action of the mallets, the object being now not to clean or scour, 
 but to felt ; that is, to produce such a motion among the fibres 
 of the wool that their minutely jagged sm-faces may lock into 
 each other, so that the individual threads are lost imder the 
 thick fulled surface which is raised upon them. The fulling 
 stocks differ from the scouring stocks in the form of the trough, 
 the end of which is square instead of inclined ; so that the cloth 
 receives the direct blows of the mallets, instead of being turned 
 round and round. Indeed, it seems wonderful that the cloth is 
 not pounded to a soapy pulp under the continuous blows of the 
 ponderous mallets. An ordinary broad-cloth requires from 
 sixty to sixty-five hours to full, and about eleven pounds of 
 soap ; it shrinks during the process from twelve quarters wide 
 to seven, and from fifty-four yards in length to forty yards. Of 
 late years the fulling-stocks have been superseded in great 
 measure by the fulling-ma chine, where rollers do the work of 
 the mallets, in a shorter time and with a less expenditure of 
 soap. 
 
 After having been dried, the cloth is dressed at the gig-mill, 
 fig. 126. It is first roughed or rowed for about twenty hours 
 with teazles, the object being to raise the wool on the surface. 
 
32, : FINISHING PROCESSES— (BLEAcniNG, &c.) 
 
 (KlWKtNG KKIRS. 
 
 l.'ifi. WASHING BY STKAM-POWEU. 
 
FINISHIKGf PROCESSES.— (Calendering, Dteing, <fec.) 
 
 33 
 
34 
 
 FINISHING PROCESSES.— BLEACHING, &c. 
 
 The teazle is the prickly flower-head of a species of thistle 
 {Dipsacus fullonum), iig. 125, which is cultivated for the purpose. 
 As many as from 2,000 to 3,000 teazles are required for a piece 
 of cloth forty yards long. Each head consists of a number of 
 flowers, separated from each other by scales ; and at the end of 
 each scale is a fine hook, which is the efficient part in teazling 
 cloth. When a number of these heads are mounted in a frame, 
 and brushed against the cloth so as to comb up or raise up a nap 
 on its surface, any kind of entanglement between these natural 
 hooks and the cloth does not produce a rent or tear in the fabric, 
 but the natural hook gives way. This effect is not easy to 
 imitate artificially, however desirable it is to do so, since teazles 
 form an uncertain ci-op and are costly. In the gig-mill the 
 teazles are arranged in long frames attached to a hollow drum, 
 and the cloth, guided by rollers, is moved in a direction contrary 
 to that of the drum. 
 
 The fibres of the wool brought to the surface by teazling, 
 being of unequal length, are next shorn, in order to make them 
 level. For this purpose the arrangement shown in fig. 127 
 may be used, where there is a fixed semicircular rack, within 
 which is a cutting edge or ledger-blade, and a large revolving 
 wheel containing eight small cutting disks, which in contact 
 with the ledger-blade form a number of cutting shears, each 
 disk having a toothed pinion working into the semicircular rack ; 
 so that as the large wheel revolves, the cutting disks have an 
 independent rotatory motion in addition to their revolution with 
 the large wheel. In the figure the cloth is represented by the 
 dark shaded portion. It is more usual, however, to employ the 
 machine represented in fig. 129, which is called a broad perpetual, 
 or in another form the cutting machine, which consists of an iron 
 cylinder with cutting blades passing spirally round it, while in 
 contact with them and parallel to the cylinder is a straight steel 
 blade, so that anything placed between this blade and the cutter 
 blade will, when the cylinder turns round, be cut as with a pair 
 of scissoi's. The cloth to be sheared is jjassed over another steel 
 blade directly below the cutter ; and the raised fibres, being exposed 
 to the action of the latter, are sheared off. For fine cloth the 
 teazling and shearing are repeated. 
 
 The cloth is next arranged in regular folds with polished 
 pressing boards between them, and subjected to the action of a 
 hydrostatic press. Hot iron plates are sometimes used for the 
 purpose, in order to give a satiny lustre and smoothness to the 
 face ; but as this is apt to become spotted by rain, it is exposed 
 to hot water or to steam, which prevents the spotting by rain. 
 The cloth is also several times passed through a brushing machine, 
 and is carefully examined, for the purpose of closing by hand 
 any minute hole or break in the fabric, and also for touching 
 with dye stuff any spot which may not be of the proper colour. 
 
 Halls for the sale of cloth are established in the Yorkshire 
 districts. Fig. 130 represents the interior of the Coloured 
 Cloth HaU at Leeds. 
 
 VII.— FINISHING PEOCESSES. 
 
 BLEACHING, CALENDERING, DYEING, &c. 
 
 Calico, muslin, and other descriptions of cotton goods 
 intended for sale in a white state, require to be bleached. The 
 old method of doing this was to send the goods (chiefly brown 
 linens) to the bleaching grounds of Holland, where, after some 
 preparatory processes, they were spread out on the grass and 
 sprinkled with pure water several times a day. In the course 
 of several months' exposure to air, light, and moisture, they 
 became bleached ; and on being returned to this country, were 
 distinguished by the name of Holland. 
 
 Many attempts were made to abridge this tedious process of 
 bleaching ; but none were very successful until about the year 
 1785, when it was discovered that one of the constituents of 
 common table salt possessed the property of destroying vege- 
 table colours. Common salt is a compound of chlorine and 
 the metal sodium ; and is called in chemical language chloride 
 of sodium. When the chlorine is separated from the sodium, 
 it assumes the gaseous form, and is of a yellowish-green colour, 
 whence its name, from the Greek word for green. The most 
 convenient method of applying the chlorine for the purposes of 
 bleaching is in combination with lime, forming the well-known 
 bleaching powder, chloride of lime. A solution of this can be 
 made with water, by which means the noxious qualities of the 
 chlorine are avoided ; this gas being, even when largely diluted 
 with air, exceedingly irritating to the lungs, and producing 
 suffocation in its more concentrated foi-m. 
 
 There are several circumstances which interfere with the 
 whiteness of cotton goods. The fibres of cotton are covered 
 with a resinous substance, which prevents them from readily 
 absorbing moisture ; and also with a yellow colouring matter, 
 which seems to be confined to the surface. This colouring mat- 
 ter is sometimes so small as to render bleaching unnecessary, 
 were it not that du.ring the spinning and the weaving the goods 
 acquire certain impurities. The weavers' dressing has to be 
 removed, together with quantities of rancid tallow or butter, 
 used to soften the dressing when it has become rigid. There 
 are also soapy and earthy matters, and the dirt of the hands, to 
 be removed. When the goods are received at the bleach works, 
 they are marked with the owner's name, with a needle and 
 thread, or stamped with a wooden stamp, dipped in coal tar. 
 Then comes the curious process of singeing, the object of which 
 is similar to that already noticed for cotton yarn or thread, fig. 
 34 ; namely, to remove the fibrous down or nap from the surface 
 of the goods, which would otherwise injure their appearance, 
 and, in the case of coloured goods, prevent them from receiving 
 the dye stufi" properly. The singeing is a simple operation : a 
 number of pieces of cloth are fastened together at the ends and 
 wound upon a cylinder, the axis of which has a winch handle. 
 The cloth is then drawn over a red-hot copper flue, as shown in 
 fig. 131, which singes off the nap ; after which it is conducted 
 over a metal roller, which plays in a trough of water. The 
 cotton is usually passed three times over the hot flue ; twice on 
 the face, or the side intended to be printed on, and once on the 
 back. It is wound from one roller over the heated bar to 
 another roller on the other side of the furnace ; and there is a 
 swing frame for lifting the cloth ofl" the hot metal when required. 
 
 Each piece of cloth is next made up into an irregular bundle, 
 and steeped in water for twelve or fourteen hours. It is then 
 washed in a dash wheel, fig. 132, which consists of a cylindrical 
 box revolving on an axis, containing four divisions with an 
 opening in each, into which the pieces are put. A large 
 quantity of water is admitted from behind, and the wheel is set 
 in rapid motion ; which gives to the pieces the amount of 
 friction required for their washing. This removes much of the 
 dirt and weaver's dressing, but not the grease. To get rid of 
 this, it must be combined with an alkali, such as caustic soda ; 
 but lime, being cheap, is largely used for the purpose with boiling 
 water, in a bucking or bowMng-lceir, fig. 134. It is also called a 
 puffer. Its arrangement will be understood from the vertical 
 section, fig. 135. It consists of two parts ; an iron pan set in 
 brickwork, with a fire underneath, and a cast-iron vat, for con- 
 taining the goods, separated from the pan by a grating. In the 
 centre is an iron pipe with a curved cover. The liquor in the 
 pan, from the pressure of the cloth above it, cannot escape into 
 the vat, except by passing ;ip the central pipe ; and as the steam 
 accumulates, it forces up a quantity of hot alkaline hquor, which 
 being reflected back by the curved caj^, pours down upon the 
 cloths, and drenches them, filters through them into the boiler, 
 to be again raised and poured down as before. The boiling is 
 continued for seven or eight hours. 
 
FINISHING PROCESSES.— BLEACHING, &c. 
 
 35 
 
 The pieces are now clean ; but the action of the lime has been 
 to make them darker in colour than they were before. The 
 lime is washed out at the dash wheel, or in a wheel shown in 
 fig. 136, when they are fit for chemicking, as the treatment with 
 the bleaching powder is called. The bleaching is conducted in 
 stone vats, over each of which is a perforated trough ; so that 
 the liquor can be pumped up and rained down upon the goods. 
 Care must be taken that the bleaching solution be not too strong, 
 or it will make the goods run into holes. After about six hours, 
 the cloth is of a light grey colour. 
 
 The next process is souring. The goods are steeped in a weak 
 solution of sulphuric acid for four hours ; the action of which is 
 to decompose the chloride of lime, and by setting free the 
 chlorine within the fibres of the cloth, to remove the colour. 
 The acid also removes minute portions of oxide of iron ; and the 
 goods, when removed from the solution, are much improved in 
 colour, though not sufficiently bleached. They are therefore 
 boiled in a potash or soda ley, then washed at the dash wheels, 
 again immersed in the bleaching solution, and after a thorough 
 washing, become quite white. 
 
 This description applies to the bleaching of cotton shirting 
 and the better descriptions of cotton fabrics which are to be 
 printed on. The bleaching processes vary somewhat for different 
 descriptions of cotton and linen goods. Wool is bleached by 
 exposing it to the fumes of burning sulphur, or by steeping the 
 goods in a solution of sulphurous acid. 
 
 After the cotton or linen goods leave the bleacher, they are 
 passed to the calenderer ; whose business it is to make the sur- 
 faces compact, level, and uniform, and otherwise improve their 
 appearance. Each piece of cloth is drawn out to its fuU extent 
 by being dragged through a cistern of water, on its way to a pair 
 of rollers, and the edges are beaten out by knocking them 
 against a smooth beating-stock. The pieces are then stitched 
 end to end, and passed through a mangle, consisting of a num- 
 ber of rollers, and is next wound upon a roller to be starched. 
 The starch is blued by the addition of a little indigo, and is often 
 thickened with an equal bulk of porcelain clay, or equal parts 
 clay and calcined plaster of Paris ; the effect of which is to pro- 
 duce an apparently strong and thick cloth, an artifice which 
 cannot be referred to without a word of censure. The starcMng- 
 macMne, fig. 137, consists of a trough for holding the starch, and 
 a couple of rollers pressed together by levers ; between which 
 the cloth passes after dipping into the trough, and the super- 
 fluous starch is thus pressed out. After this the goods are dried 
 upon cylinders made hot by being filled with steam ; or the 
 more delicate fabrics, such as muslins, are stretched between 
 long frames, as in fig. 133, and dried in a room heated to about 
 100° by steam pipes. To prevent the muslin from becoming 
 rigid during the drying, the two long sides of each frame are 
 made to work backwards and forwards through a small space 
 in opposite directions, lengthwise. 
 
 Many kinds of cotton goods require glazing or calendering, 
 properly so called. The goods are damped by being passed over 
 a revolving brush which raises the water in a fine spray, fig. 138, 
 and are then passed between rollers, which are pressed together 
 by means of long levers, weighted at the further end, fig. 139. 
 When the rollers are smooth, the threads of the fabric are flat- 
 tened, and a soft silky lustre is given to the surface. When two 
 surfaces are passed between the roUs at the same time, the 
 threads make an impression upon each other and a kind of wiry 
 appearance is given to the surface. The rollers are of various 
 materials, such as iron, wood, paper, and calico, and require very 
 nice workmanship in their preparation. Some of the rollers are 
 of copper, engraved with a variety of figures and patterns, by 
 which figured velvets are produced. The water-surface is pro- 
 duced by variously engraved or indented rollers. Variety is also 
 obtained by heating one of the rollers by means of a red hot 
 iron placed in it. The surface of some goods, such as jacconets, 
 
 Irish linens, &c. is modified by means of wooden stampers work- 
 ing on a stone surface, fig. 140. They are raised up by the 
 projecting cogs of a roller, and are then allowed to fall by their 
 own weight. 
 
 In making up the goods, they have frequently to be measured, 
 an operation which is performed in the very act of folding, by 
 means of the hookitig-frame, fig. 141, which is a graduated iron 
 bar, supported in a frame of wood, with a sharp projecting needle 
 at one end, and a second needle attached to a piece which slides 
 along the bar and can be fixed at any required distance from the 
 first needle. The girl hangs the cloth upon the hooks in regular 
 folds, until sufficient is collected for a piece, when it is removed 
 from the frame for the purpose of making up. 
 
 Making up is a complicated affair, there being at least a 
 hundred different modes of arranging the piece, according to the 
 market for which it is intended ; and also according to the par- 
 ticular country or district whose manufacture has been imitated. 
 Thus there is the falling-lap, the Wigan way, the cloth way, the 
 Preston way, and so on. Muslin is made up in book-folds, with 
 yellow paper under the first fold to show the pattern, with the 
 corners secured with variegated silk thread. Then there are 
 labels of various sizes and colours in all the languages of the 
 East and of the West, with armorial bearings and devices in gold, 
 bronze, &c. The origin of all this variety is that spirit of com- 
 petition which leads an enterprising commercial nation to seek 
 out the customers of a rival. Thus France was once distinguished 
 for the excellence of her muslins : when our manufacturers, by 
 dint of skill and enterprise, succeeded in pi-oducing muslin equal 
 to that of France, it was not easy to overcome the prejudices of 
 customers in favour of the latter ; so that the dishonest ex- 
 pedient was resorted to of making up after the French fashion, 
 and attaching fac-similes of French labels. 
 
 After the making up, the goods are compressed by means of 
 the hydi'ostatic press, and are then ready for the market. 
 
 Colour is imparted to the bleached goods by the ancient art of 
 dyeing, which depends for its success upon certain afiinities or 
 attractions between different bodies, which have been studied 
 with so much success in modern chemistry. If, for example, a 
 solution of chromate of potash be added to one of acetate of 
 lead, the acetic acid of the latter will leave the lead to unite 
 with the potash ; while the chromic acid will combine with the 
 lead, forming an insoluble precipitate of chromate of lead, or 
 chrome yellow. If a piece of cotton cloth be impregnated with 
 a solution of acetate of lead, and then be passed through a solu- 
 tion of chromate of potash, the precipitate of chrome yellow 
 will be formed within the fibres of the cotton, and it will thus 
 be permanently dyed. The infusions, solutions, &c. of dye stuffs, 
 are made in vats, fig. 143, and the goods are passed many times 
 through the liquor by one of the arrangements shown in the 
 figure. As the goods require to be frequently rinsed, they are 
 passed in and out of water many times by the arrangement 
 shown in fig. 142. When the goods require to be dipped several 
 times, and to be frequently exposed to the action of the air, they 
 are ranged on frames, as in fig. 144, and let down into vats sunk 
 in the floor, or are placed over their mouths to drain. 
 
 There is a method of dyeing with a mordant, which is usually 
 a solution of a metallic salt, which has an affinity for the tissue 
 as well as for the dye stuff. The latter consists of vegetable or 
 animal colouring matters, which are soluble in water, but have 
 not much affinity for the fabric. The mordant, of which common 
 alum is an example, withdraws these colouring matters from so- 
 lution, and forms with them upon the cloth itself certain com- 
 pounds, which are insoluble in water. Some dye stuffs, such as 
 indigo, which are not soluble in water, are rendered so by certain 
 chemical actions ; and the cloth being impregnated with the 
 solution, is exposed to the action of the air, which restores the 
 original colour of the dye. 
 
FLOOR-CLOTH. 
 
VIII.— CALICO-P RINTING. 
 
 The art of producing a coloured pattern on cloth is of ancient 
 date ; since the love of ornament is a natural propensity, and 
 all that civilisation does is to coi-rect and refine it, and bring it 
 within the principles of good taste. The town of Calicut, in the 
 province of Malabar, originated our word Calico, and in that 
 town the art of calico-piinting was at one time carried on ex- 
 tensively. The lai'ge cotton-chintz counterpanes, called Pallam- 
 jwors, are still occasionally met with, as specimens of Indian 
 skill ; the pattern being made out by impregnating certain 
 portions of the fabric with wax, and then allowing certain dye- 
 stuff'a to act on the remaining portions. In Great Britain, the 
 art of calico-printing has been one of successive improvement, 
 both with respect to machinery and chemical applications ; and 
 also a constant struggle with the Excise to get rid of the duty 
 on printed goods, which limited the consumption, and in many 
 ways retarded the progress of improvement in the manufacture. 
 
 The simplest method of producing a pattern on calico (we speak 
 of calico as a generic term, since linen, worsted, and mixed 
 cloths are equally adapted to the process of printing) is by 
 means of a wooden block, on the face of which the design is en- 
 graved in relief (fig. 146). The block varies from nine to twelve 
 inches by from four to seven inclies, and has a handle at the 
 back. This block is charged with colour by pressing it upon a 
 piece of woollen cloth, stretched tightly over a wooden drum, 
 called the sieve, and floating in a tub of size, so as to form a kind 
 of water-pad. A child called the fearer covers the sieve with 
 colour, and keej^s it uniformly distributed by means of a brush 
 (fig. 147). The calico is printed at a long table, several pieces 
 being joined end to end, and lapped round the roller, or arranged 
 in folds, as in fig. 147. In order that the colour may dry, the 
 cloth is passed over hanging rollers, so as to expose a large sur- 
 face to the air. The printing-table is covered with a blanket ; 
 and the block being charged with colour, and applied to the 
 calico, the impression is transferred by striking the back of the 
 block with a wooden mallet. By repeated applications of the 
 block to the sieve and to the calico, the surface of the latter is 
 covered with a pattern in one colour. If the pattern be in 
 several colours, there must be as many blocks as there are 
 colours, and a distinct sieve for each colour. But when the 
 design consists of straight parallel lines of different colours, 
 they may be applied by one block at a single impression, by 
 arranging the colours in small parallel tin troughs, and taking up 
 a portion of each colour with a kind of wire brush, whence it is 
 transferred to a peculiarly-arranged sieve, which suppHes the 
 block. 
 
 The greatest improvement in' this art was the invention of 
 cylinder or roller printing ; which bears the same relation to 
 block-printing as letter-press printing by steam does to the old 
 hand-press. The cylinder machine wiU produce as much work 
 in three or four minutes as can be accomplished by block- 
 printing in six hours. The appearance of the cylinder machine 
 will be understood by reference to fig. 148, while its working 
 parts are represented in fig. 149. This machine is arranged for 
 printing in three colours ; c is a cylinder or roller (shown se- 
 parately in fig. 150), mounted so as to revolve against two other 
 cylinders, D, e ; the cylinder e is covered with woollen cloth and 
 dips into a trough, i, containing the thickened colouring matter. 
 When the roller e revolves, it takes up a coating of colour, and 
 distributes it over the cylinder, c ; but as the colour is wanted 
 only in the engraved parts of the cylinder, the excess of colour 
 is scraped oS' the cylinder as it revolves, by means of a sharp- 
 edged knife, or steel edge, d, called the doctor. The large drum, 
 Z), is covered with an endless web of blanketing, a, which travels 
 in the direction of the arrows, accompanied by the calico, 4, h. 
 
 which is to be printed, and which moves between it and the en- 
 graved cyhnders. In this way, it will be seen, that as D revolves 
 the calico travels between the blanket and the cylinders, and 
 receives from each cylinder its share in the pattern in one colour ; 
 and if these cylinders are properly arranged, the diflferent parts 
 of the pattern will fall into their places and blend into one 
 harmonious whole. The doctor is so arranged that the colour 
 scraped off shall fall back into the trough, i. There are usually 
 two doctors to each cylinder, one called the colour doctor, and the 
 other, d', the lint doctor ; the office of the latter being to remove 
 the fibres which the roller acquires from the calico. The calico, 
 as it leaves the machine, is conducted through a hot room, for 
 the purpose of being dried. As many as eight colours may be 
 printed at one operation. Of course, as the number of colours 
 is increased, the difficulty of adjustment, so as to make each 
 colour fall into its proper place, increases also. 
 
 Press-printing, fig. 151, is a refinement on ordinary block- 
 printing. The block containing the pattern is, in this case, 
 about 2-| feet square, and is so arranged in a frame, with its face 
 downwards, that it can be raised and lowered at pleasure. The 
 colour is supplied by means of a trough moving on wheels ; so 
 that it can be run under the block, which, being let down for its 
 supply of colour, and again raised, the colour-trough is run out, 
 and the block is brought down upon the calico. Striped patterns 
 are produced in this way with much effect. 
 
 There are other mechanical modes of calico-printing ; but the 
 chemical arrangements are of a more complicated character. 
 The preparation and application of the colours involve a large 
 amount of scientific knowledge. Mordants are in constant use, 
 and these and the colours must be mixed with proper thickeners, 
 such as starch, gum, and other substances. A due exposure of 
 the goods to the air after the printing, is called ageing ; and this 
 requires experience, as does also the proper method of removing 
 the superfluous mordant and other colours, by washing in suitable 
 solutions. In many cases, to produce fast colours, the printed 
 goods require to be exposed to the action of steam ; for which 
 purpose they are rolled round a perforated cylinder, put under 
 cover, as in fig. 152, and steam is blown through the cylinder. 
 In some cases effects are produced by printing with a resist paste, 
 the object of which is to prevent those portions of the cloth, 
 covered with the resist, from acquiring colour when the calico is 
 passed through the dye-beck. The paste being removed, we have 
 the effect of a white design on a coloured ground ; then again we 
 have what is called the discharge style, where the goods being dyed, 
 are arranged in a hydrostatic press, as in fig. 153, covered with 
 perforated metal plates ; and strong pressure being applied, a 
 solution of chloride of lime, or of some other substance which 
 acts as a discharger, is allowed to percolate through, and the 
 colour is removed immediately below the perforations. Then, 
 there is the paddiyig style, applicable to mineral colours ; where 
 the cloth is passed through a padding machine, which is similar 
 to the starching-machine, fig. 137, only the trough contains the 
 thickened colour instead of starch. To produce a design in a 
 mineral colouring matter, the cloth may be printed in one 
 solution, and padded in the other. 
 
 The designs for calico-printing give constant employment to a 
 class of artists known as pattern designers. In this branch of 
 art there is abundant opportunity for the display of good taste, 
 which is the more likely to be exercised and cultivated in pro- 
 portion as the consumer of printed goods possesses it herself. 
 Since the date of the Great Exhibition, our designers have greatly 
 improved, and we are not now so dependent as we formerly were 
 on French artists for our display of spring goods, which light up 
 the windows of the linendraper. 
 
IX.— FLOOE-CLOTH. 
 
 A FLOOR-CLOTH is a specimen of a rude kind of calico-printing, 
 and may be appropriately described in this place. The cloth or 
 canvas which forms the basis of floor-cloth is woven in widths of 
 from 18 to 24 feet, so that there may be no seam. The looms 
 are adapted to this great width, and the shuttle is thrown back- 
 wards and forwards by two men, one on each side the room. The 
 warp is upwards of 100 yards in length, and the canvas is of the 
 fineness expressed by sixteen or eighteen threads to the inch. It 
 is manufactured at Dundee, and the neighbourhood. When the 
 bales are received at the floor-cloth factory, a piece of canvas of 
 the required size is wound upon a wooden roller and removed to 
 the frame-room, which contains a number of stout open frames, 
 each furnished with scaffolding. Here the roller is set up on end, 
 and the lower end is placed upon a low carriage and moved 
 alongside the frame to which the canvas is attached by nailing 
 the edge to an upright post, and to the top by means of hooks. 
 The other upright edge of the canvas is similarly attached to 
 another upright post, and it is made tight by screwing oiit the 
 frame, whilst the top and bottom edge are secured to beams 
 which can be turned round so as to tighten the canvas in a ver- 
 tical direction. Each surface of the canvas may thus present an 
 area of from 1400 to 1800 square feet. It is prepared for the 
 reception of the paint by a coating of size, and by being well 
 rubbed with pumice-stone, commencing from the top of the 
 canvas, fig. 154. The paint is applied in dabs with a short thick 
 brush, and is spread by means of an elastic steel trowel (iig. 156), 
 about two feet long, and used with considerable force. The man 
 then holds the trowel obliquely, so that its edge may lay bare the 
 high threads of the canvas (fig. 155), while the channels between 
 the threads are completely filled up. This first coat of paint, 
 called the troweUcoloicr, is left to dry during ten or fourteen days ; 
 the surface is then sized and f)umiced, and a second thinner coat 
 is laid on with a trowel. This forms the back or under side of 
 the floor-cloth. Three coats of trowel-colour are then laid on the 
 face, and a fourth, or bmsh-colour, by means of a brush. This 
 forms the ground of the pattern. The addition of the paint to 
 the canvas has increased its weight fourfold : it is now cut away 
 from the vertical posts, and also from the bottom, and is wound 
 upon a roller from the bottom upwards, with the face inwards, 
 
 and a quantity of paper is rolled up with it to prevent the sur- 
 faces of the coil from adhering. The roll is then hauled up into 
 the printing-room. The pattern is impressed by means of 
 blocks (fig. 165) of about 18 inches square, and 2^ inches thick, 
 by a process almost identical with that already described for 
 printing calico by hand, a separate block being required for each 
 colour; the three blocks, figs. 158, 159, 160, being required to 
 make out the complete pattern, fig. 161. The roller containing 
 the floor-cloth which is to be printed is supported on its two ex- 
 tremities under the printing-table. A portion is unwound upon 
 the table, the surface is slightly roughened with a steel scraper 
 (fig. 164), then rubbed with a brush (fig. 162), after which the 
 block (fig. 158) is pressed upon the colour-sieve and trans- 
 ferred to the cloth, the impression being made distinct by 
 striking the back of the block with the handle of the mallet, fig. 
 163. After the first printer has proceeded a little way, a second 
 printer with the block (fig. 159) goes over the same ground, while 
 a third printer with a block (fig. 160) follows the second. Each 
 printer has his own colour-sieve, and a boy serves as a tearer to 
 all three. Fig. 157 represents the proceedings of all four work- 
 men. As the printing proceeds, the finished portion is turned 
 over the table to dry in the air, some months being required for 
 the purpose. 
 
 The grinding and preparation of colours is an important part 
 of the business of the calico-j)rinter, and of the floor-cloth manu- 
 factui-er. Some of the coarser colours are crushed by means of 
 the edge-wheel, shown in fig. 145 ; while others are ground with 
 oil between mill-stones, as represented in the same engraving. 
 
 The patterns for floor-cloths should not be elaborate, but 
 should rather follow the laws which regulate mosaics, marble 
 pavements, and inlays for floors. What are called all-over pat- 
 terns, of simple geometrical diapers in quiet, graduated tints, 
 have the best eflect ; but where the work is large, frets and 
 guilloches may be employed for borders, and a centre may be 
 made out with geometrical combinations. 
 
 The buildings required in this manufacture are extensive, and 
 some of them have pretensions of an architectural character, 
 such as the factory of Messrs. Smith and Baber, represented at 
 fig. 166. 
 
40 CARPETS. 
 
 170. KIDDEEMIMSTKB OE SCOTCH CAEl'ET LOOM. 
 
CAE PETS. 
 
 41 
 
 I7i). YAKN-DEUM. 
 
 18?. BRUSSELS CAKPET MOM. 
 
 ISfi. YAEN-CASE. 
 
 187. EMBEOIDEKY NEEDLES. 
 
 188. WABP FEAME. 
 
 189. EMBROIDEKING MACHINE. 
 
 G 
 
X.— CAEPETS. 
 
 In former times the floors of houses were covered with rushes, 
 straw, or liay ; but as civilisation advauced, such rude materials 
 could not be tolerated. Nature, which is beautiful in all ages, 
 and among all people, suggested a substitute in the exquisite 
 covering of the earth ; and, accordingly, we find that the earliest 
 carpets were a coarse web of one colour. As men acquired a 
 taste for the beautiful, the flowers which adorn the turf suggested 
 a method of ornamenting carpets. The patterns became more 
 and more elaborate, until at length the whole contents of the 
 flower-garden appeared to be concentrated on the floor of a single 
 room. Had men continued to adorn carpets with such natural 
 objects as occupy the ground, the art of ornamentation would have 
 been properly exercised ; but the artists of the floor, wishing to 
 rival the artists of the walls, threw into their designs landscapes, 
 buildings, architectural scrolls, reversed groinings, and perfoi'ated 
 tracery, forgetting the broad principle of propriety, which would 
 not I'epresent on the floor objects which, if actually present, 
 would be ridiculous and inconvenient. In carpets a flat mode of 
 treatment ought to prevail. The colours ought to be quiet, and 
 the pattern should not be so strongly marked as to mar the effect 
 of the furniture, or of the wall decorations of the room. The 
 display of carpets at the Great Exhibition of 1851 (fig. 169) was 
 rather remarkable for excellence of workmanship than taste in 
 design. 
 
 The earliest carpets were in the form of rugs. The Hindoo 
 loom (tig. 167) represents the warp stretched in a vertical 
 direction, resembling in some respects the loom by which the 
 Turkey carjiet is produced. The Turkey loom consists of two 
 vipright pieces of wood, sui^porting a beam or roller at the top, 
 upon which the warp or clicdn is wound, while another beam near 
 the floor receives the carpet as it is made. The weaver, having 
 thrown a weft thread once or twice across, fastens to every 
 thread of the warp a small bunch of coloured worsted yarn, 
 varying the colour according to a pattern before him. One row 
 being completed, he passes a linen weft through the web and 
 di'ives it well up, in order to hold the small bunches or tufts 
 securely : another row of bunches is then added, and in this way 
 a stout carpet is made in separate breadths, which, on being 
 joined together, form one large carpet. Rugs are produced by a 
 similar roethod, the warp or chain being laid horizontally, as in the 
 common loom. Fig. 168 represents a rug-loom : the coloured 
 worsted yarns are hung over a bar to the right of the weaver, 
 who, taking the end of one of the bunches of yarn, attaches it to 
 the chain, cuts it off at the proper length, then twists in another, 
 which he severs in like manner, and so on until a row across the 
 warp is, completed, when he passes a shoot or two of weft, and 
 drives up the batten with considerable force. 
 
 The Kidderminster or Scotch carpet is formed with a worsted 
 chain and a woollen shoot. It consists of two distinct webs, 
 incorporated into one another in such a way as to produce the 
 pattern : each web or cloth is perfect in itself, so that if one were 
 carefully cut away the other would be like a very coarse baize. 
 Both these webs are woven at the same time, and each is brought 
 up to the surface as the pattern requires it at any particular 
 pai-t. A full colour is obtained by making the weft cross a warp 
 of the same colour ; thus, to produce a full red, red warp must 
 be crossed by red weft ; but in general the warp is not much 
 varied, the variety of colouring being produced by the weft. The 
 weaver is therefore furnished with shuttles of differently coloured 
 wefts, as shown in fig. 170. Any particular colour can be con- 
 cealed by sending the threads to the other web, so that a tivo-phj 
 Kidderminster, as it is called, has a right and a wrong side. If, 
 for example, the colours were green and red, the green portions 
 on one side would be red on the other, and vice versa. The appa- 
 
 ratus for regulating the pattern is mounted on the top of the 
 loom, and is worked by the method already described for the 
 Jacquard apparatus (fig. 107). 
 
 The Brussels carpet has a linen web, which incloses worsted 
 yarns of different colours, raised into loops as they are required 
 to form the pattern. Fig. 176 shows the structure of Brussels 
 carpet ; the small black dots show the ends of the shoot, and the 
 double waving lines two separate sets of linen warp or chain. 
 Between the black dots, that is, between the upper and the under 
 shoot, is the worsted yarn, usually consisting of five ends, all of 
 different colours. But each end may consist of one, two, or three 
 threads, according to the quality of the carpet. Supposing there 
 are two threads to each end, there will thus be ten threads bound 
 into the carpet every time the warp is shed. In forming the 
 pattern, all that is necessary is to bring to the surface at any par- 
 ticular spot such of the five coloured yarns as are required, and 
 by turning them over wires, represented by the large shaded dots 
 in fig. 176, to form them into loops, which project permanently 
 above the surface when the wires are withdrawn. As the coloured 
 threads are taken up very unequally, they cannot be wound upon 
 a beam, but have to be placed each upon a bobbin by itself The 
 bobbins are arranged in frames at the back of the loom, fig. 183, 
 and each bobbin is furnished with a leaden weight, for the pur- 
 pose of keeping the worsted slightly stretched. Portions of the 
 frames, with the bobbins, weights, &c., are represented separately 
 in figs. 171 to 175. There are as many frames in the loom as 
 there are colours in the carpet, and the number of bobbins in each 
 frame is regulated by the width of the carpet. The usual three- 
 quarter width requires 260 bobbins to each frame, or 344 if the 
 width be four-quarters. The ends are carried from each bobbin 
 through small brass eyes, called males or mails, attached to fine 
 cords, each cord being passed over a pulley fixed above the loom, 
 and brought down again by the side of the loom and fastened to 
 a stick. For a three-quarter carpet there are 300 males, cords, 
 and pulleys. The pattern is made out by a Jacquard or some 
 other ari'angement ; but it must be remembered that when the 
 ends are raised a round wire is placed into the shed, one of the 
 treadles is then depressed, whereby one of the linen warps is 
 raised, while the other warp, with all the remaining worsted ends, 
 is depressed. The shuttle with a linen shoot is then thrown in, 
 the weaver next depresses the other treadle, by which means the 
 worsted and the warp before depressed are now raised ; and then 
 throws in a second or undershoot, striking each time with a heavy 
 batten, so as to force the matei'ials closely together and give 
 solidity to the work. In this way a wire is woven in ; and when 
 a sufficient number of wires have thus been inserted, some of the 
 earlier ones are pulled up by inserting a hook into a bow formed 
 at the end of each wire. 
 
 The IFilton carpet differs from the Brussels in the form of the 
 wire and the method of removing it from the loops. The wire 
 has a groove in the upper surface, as in one of the forms shown 
 in fig. 178 ; and instead of being drawn out, it is cut out by 
 di-awing a small knife fm-nished with a guide, and called a iravat, 
 along the groove. The worsted loops thus cut form a pile or 
 velvet, the structure of which will be seen in fig. 177. By 
 increasing the dimensions of the wire, the Wilton carpet can be 
 made of any thickness or quality. The quality is measured by 
 the number of wires to the inch, the usual number being nine for 
 Brussels, and ten for Wilton. The Wilton carpet is finished by 
 passing it through a brushing machine, and shearing it level by 
 means of a broad perpetual, fig. 129. 
 
 There are other varieties of carpet : such as the Axminster, 
 which is similar to the Turkey ; the Venetian, which is made for 
 staircases and passages ; the Scotch, which is identical with the 
 
CAEPETS. 
 
 43 
 
 Kidderminster ; and there is also the Three-ply or Triple Ingrain 
 carpet, which resembles the Kidderminster, only it has three 
 webs instead of two. 
 
 Several improvements have been introduced of late years into 
 the carpet manufacture. We have seen that in the Brussels 
 carpet five sets of coloured yarns are employed ; while only one 
 set can appear at the surface at any particular spot, the other 
 four being concealed in the web. It occurred to Mr. Whytock 
 that if, instead of five coloured yarns, he were to employ one 
 yarn, dyed of the requisite colour at different jDlaces, he would 
 be able to get rid of the compUcated apparatus for producing 
 the pattern ; and the web could be made with only one body 
 worked like a simple velvet. The warp thread would then have 
 to be dyed by a special arrangement, represented in fig. 179, 
 where the yarn is wound in regular coils round the circumference 
 of a large drum, and the dye is applied by means of rollers 
 working each in its own coloui'-trough, moving in a carriage ; 
 and being brought up to the drum, a coloured streak is commu- 
 nicated across it, in such a way that, on unwinding the yarn, 
 a coloured mark would be situated at equal distances along the 
 length of the yarn. The cylinder is then turned round through 
 a space equal to the breadth of the impression left by the colour- 
 roller, and another streak of colour is applied ; and in this way 
 the cylinder is completely covered with colours which succeed 
 each other according to the pattern. The yarns are then re- 
 moved from the cylinder, the colours are fixed by steaming, and 
 the yarns are wound upon bobbins ; and when a sufficient number 
 have been collected, they are arranged side by side, so as to form 
 the warp. The arrangement of the colours on the cylinder, and 
 side by side in the warp, is a simple matter of calculation, 
 assisted by design or pattern papers. Before commencing to 
 stamp the colours on the cylinder, a narrow black line is made 
 across the yarns as a common starting-point ; and, in arranging 
 the warp, the yarns are held by means of a clamp, fig. 18.5, at 
 this black line, which is advanced along the yarns as the pattern 
 is repeated. The weaving is then conducted in the usual manner 
 for plain weaving. There is a method of making carpets, rugs, 
 &c., without any weaving at all, but simply by cementing a naj) 
 or pile to plain cloth ; for which purpose the yarns are warped 
 upon a beam, fig. 181, which is supported at one end of a frame, 
 and weighted with friction cords and weights, in order to keep 
 the yarns properly stretched, the ends of which are attached to 
 the front rail of the frame. The workman then takes a number 
 of strips of metal, and places one under the warp, close to the 
 front rail, and parallel therewith ; inserting the ends into grooves 
 made for the purpose in the sides. He then places a second 
 strip edgeways, like the first, upon the upper surface of the 
 warp, depressing the threads evenly between the tvvo strips, and 
 inserting the ends of the second strip into side grooves as before. 
 The third strip is put under the warp, the fourth upon the 
 warp ; and in this way he proceeds until a quantity of warp is 
 coiled up, as in fig. 182. The surface of this arrangement being 
 combed or carded out, and pressed down evenly, a coat of fluid 
 india-rubber or other cement is spread over it, and then some 
 coarse cloth is applied to form a back to the carpet or rug. 
 When this is dry, the frame may be turned over, and the several 
 folds of yarn be cut, so as to hberate the metal strips ; and in 
 this way a beautifully soft nap or pile is produced. 
 
 By a variation in the arrangements, ornamented carpets and 
 
 rugs may be produced by this cementing process. A number of 
 four-sided frames of canvas or of perforated zinc are fixed upright 
 in a frame, as in fig. 188. The person who works the design has 
 the pattern on paper, or it may be sketched upon the canvas 
 itself. Being furnished with as many yarns as there are colours 
 or .shades of colour, he begins by drawing with a needle a yarn 
 through a hole or mesh in the canvas at one end, carrying it 
 through the other frames and out at a corresponding hole in the 
 last frame. By continuing this operation, all the holes are filled 
 with their appropriate yarns. The mass of yarns thus collected 
 is inclosed in a case open at both ends (fig. 186), and there is a 
 solid ram or piston fitting into one end, for the purpose of 
 forcing out portions of yarn as they are required. India-rubber 
 or other cement being applied to the ends of the yarn, and this 
 being covered with coarse cloth or canvas, a certain portion is 
 cut off by means of the knife and guide, fig. 184 ; a fresh portion 
 is pressed out of the case by means of the ram, and the process 
 is rep)eated until the whole length of yarn is thus disposed of. 
 When the two outer frames (fig. 188) have been five feet apart, 
 as many as 480 copies of the same article have been produced. 
 
 A still simpler method of forming a napped surface is shown 
 in fig. 180. The warp is wound round a thin strip of metal ; and 
 a number of strips, similarly covered, being packed side by side 
 in a frame, some coarse fabric is cemented to the top, and the 
 strips are afterwards cut out. 
 
 The figured cloths used for covering the walls of apartments, 
 and; included under the term tapeslrij, ought to include a style 
 of decoration essentially distinct from that of carpets. Figures, 
 landscapes, and ornamental devices may properly belong to 
 tapestry, however much we object to the production of such 
 forms in worsted or needlework. The word tapestry is fi-om 
 the French tapis, and this is from the Latin tapetum, which 
 is identical with the Greek tapes, or tapis. The original meaning 
 of the word was a covering for a bed, or a couch ; and the 
 French word, though generally ai:)plied to carpets, is also used to 
 express other figured cloths used as coverings. Many of these 
 figured cloths, in which the decorations were inserted by the 
 needle, are now done by means of an embroidering machine, fig. 
 189. It is useful where the same ornament has to be repeated 
 many times on the same fabric ; and it enables a female to em- 
 broider a design with upwards of one hundred needles almost as 
 easily as with one. The cloth is suspended in a vertical position, and 
 the needles, furnished with the proper threads, and i^ointed at both 
 ends, the eye being in the middle, as in fig. 187, are held by 
 pincers in a frame, mounted in a carriage, which is wheeled up 
 to the suspended cloth : this is pierced by all the needles, which, 
 on passing through, are seized on the other side by the pincers 
 of a second frame. On drawing this away from the cloth, the 
 needles will be drawn through it together with the threads ; 
 and on moving the second frame up to the cloth, the needles will 
 pass through in an opposite direction, and be chpped and 
 drawn through by the first frame. During these motions of the 
 two frames backwards and forwards, the frame in which the 
 cloth is suspended is moved in a regulated order, by means of a 
 lever attached to a pantagraph ; and by moving this lever over 
 the points of an enlarged pattern, the cloth is slightly shifted at 
 each motion, and the pattern is repeated thereon, on a small 
 scale, by the passage of the needles. 
 
LACE. 
 
204. GASSING MACHINE. 
 
XI.— LACE. 
 
 The delicate fabric known as lace (a word said to be derived 
 from the Latin lacinia, the guard-hem or fi-inge of a garment) 
 was formerly made of such costly materials, and at so slow a 
 rate, as to be one of the distinguishing articles in the dress of a 
 wealthy or noble person. Nor was its use confined to the fair 
 sex, as we see by the portraits, by Vandyke and other eminent 
 artists, of the princes and nobles of the seventeenth century ; 
 and so much pains has the artist taken with this article of dress, 
 that it is easy to name the variety so faithfully copied. Thus, in 
 the pictures by Sir Peter Lely and Sir Godfrey Kneller, the 
 Brussels Point is the favourite variety, in which the net-work 
 is produced by bone bobbins on a pillow, while the pattern is 
 afterwards worked in with a needle. 
 
 The difference between weaving and lace-makiug will be seen 
 by reference to figs. 192 to 195. Fig. 192 represents plain 
 toeavii/r/, and fig. 193 twilled weaving, which have been already 
 explained. Fig. 194 represents the structure oi gauze ; in which, 
 after every cast of the shuttle, the warp threads are made to 
 cross each other, whereby the weft threads represented by the 
 black dots are separated, and a firm but transparent texture is 
 produced. In fig. 195, the tlireads of the weft are twisted round 
 those of the warp, which twisting is the distinguishing feature 
 of lace-making. 
 
 If we examine a piece of lace, it will be seen, that while a 
 series of warp thi'eads proceed in one direction, nearly parallel 
 to each other, as in plain weaving, the weft threads are inserted 
 differently. Each weft thread, fig. 190, twists once round each 
 warp thread, until it reaches the outermost one, when it makes 
 two turns ; proceeding, after the second turn, towards the other 
 border, in a revei'se direction. By means of this double twist, 
 and the return of the weft threads, the selvage is formed. The 
 twisting and interlacing of the threads produce six-sided meshes, 
 as in figs. 191, 198. 
 
 Pillow or bolhiii-lace, the original manufacture, is made on a 
 hai'd stuffed pillow or cushion, previously covered with the pat- 
 tern drawn out on a piece of parchment, fig. 197. The threads 
 are wound upon bobbins, and, in order to form the meshes, pins 
 are stuck into the cushion, and the threads are twisted round 
 them. The pattern on the parchment indicates where these 
 pins are to be inserted, and also gives a design for the gimp or 
 thicker thread, which is so interwoven within the meshes as to 
 form flowers, curves, &c. The bobbins hang down by their 
 threads on different sides of the cushion ; and the lace-maker, 
 with a pair in each hand, twists them in such a manner as to 
 form the sides of the mesh. The lace made by hand is distin- 
 guished by such terms as Honiton, and Thread or Pillow-l&ce ; 
 also British Point, Tambour, and Limerick laces. Some descrip- 
 tions of lace are made with pure handspun hnen thread, worth 
 from 100/. to 120/. sterling per lb. France is eminently a lace- 
 making country ; and the manufacture extends over a large part 
 of that country ; each district having its pecuhar style, which 
 is immediately recognised by good judges, although the mode of 
 manufacture and the material may be the same in several 
 districts. The seats of manufactm'e give names to the different 
 varieties, such as Point d'Alengon, Lisle, &c. Belgium is also 
 eminent for laces, which include the four great varieties of 
 Brussels, Mechlin, Valenciennes, and Grammortt, each of which has 
 many varieties. 
 
 Where the chief cost of an article arises from the large 
 amount of manual laboiu" bestowed on its production, at- 
 tempts would naturally be made to produce it by self-acting 
 machineiy; especially where the ai'ticle is a beautiful object of 
 dress, for that presents irresistible attractions to all classes. The 
 ' origin and progress of lace-making machines would form a very 
 
 curious chapter in the history of invention. There is the usual 
 opposition to the introduction of any kind of machinery ; there 
 is the usual kind of perseverance, privation, and distress on the 
 part of inventors, who are more numerous in this department of 
 the useful arts than in almost any other with which we are ac- 
 quainted. There is the usual failure of the many, and the marked 
 success of the few. At one time, men were so bent on making 
 meshes by machinery, that they could think of nothing else, and 
 talk of nothing else ; and, when sitting down to enjoy a little 
 leisure, they would be seen, with serious face and knitted brow, 
 moving strings about upon their fingers, and passing the combi- 
 nation from hand to hand as if they were playing at grown-up 
 " cat's cradle." The production of a lace-making machine thus 
 grew into a passion, a monomania, and many men ended their 
 lives in a lunatic asylum. This is a common story with 
 inventors, who, often without a spark of mechanical genius, set 
 themselves to work to solve problems which can be grappled 
 only by the highest constructive skill aided by a knowledge of 
 theoretical science ; and even then the finished machine is often 
 but the result of a long series of minor improvements grafted on 
 to the first crude idea. 
 
 The lace-making machine is complicated ; but we will en- 
 deavour to give a clear idea of the principle of one variety 
 known as the bobbin-net machine, figs. 196 and 203. But first as to 
 the preparatory processes. The thread is wound upon a roller 
 for the warp, and upon bobbins for the weft. The warp threads 
 are wound upon a reel, fig. 200, and thence transferred to a 
 roller or thread-beam, which extends the whole length of the lace 
 frame. The weft threads are wound upon small bobbins, seen in 
 front and in section, fig. 202. Each bobbin consists of two thin 
 brass disks, with a hollow in the middle of each, and riveted to- 
 gether so as to leave a circular groove between them for the thread. 
 In the centre is a square hole, through which is passed a square 
 spindle, to facihtate the winding. One or two hundred bobbins 
 being thus spitted, the thread is passed from the drum, fig. 199, 
 through slits in a brass plate to the bobbins ; and, as the rod is 
 turned round, the drum revolves and delivers its thread to the 
 bobbins, while a hand, moving round a dial plate, shows how 
 much thread has been delivered by the drum. Each bobbin is 
 next inserted into a bobbin-carriage, seen in front and in side 
 section, fig. 205. The bobbin is inserted in the space, G, the 
 narrow edge, e e, fitting the grooved borders of the bobbin, 
 while the spring,/ prevents the bobbin from falling out. The 
 thread is conducted through the eye, g, at the top of the carriage, 
 and on pulling this thread, the bobbin turns round. 
 
 These details being understood, we may describe the action of 
 the bobbin-net machine by means of fig. 209, which shows the 
 working parts. We have referred to this machine as being com- 
 plicated. Now, complication in a machine may arise from the 
 multiplication of similar parts, or from a large assemblage of dif- 
 ferent parts. Any one looking into the case of a church organ 
 would pronounce that instrument to be very complicated, but it 
 really is not so ; the apparent complication arises from the fre- 
 quent repetition of the same parts. A steam-engine, or a steam 
 printing-press, on the contrary, is complicated, because in either 
 case there are many different parts and many different motions 
 to be followed out and understood. The bobbin-net machine 
 involves both these conditions. The parts are numerous, and 
 some of those parts are repeated many hundred times. In order, 
 therefore, that the reader may follow out our description, we 
 insert the principal illustrative diagram in the body of the text ; 
 and it will be understood that the motions described for two 
 bobbin-carriages, two warp-threads, &c., apply equally to ten or 
 fifteen hundred repetitions of the same parts in the same machine. 
 
LACE. 
 
 47 
 
 The warp-thread is wound upon the roller, C, while at the top of 
 the frame a similar roller, D, receives the finished work. Between 
 these two rollers the warp-threads are extended in vertical lines. 
 F F are guide-bars, extending the whole length of the machine, 
 with slits in their edges, through which the wai-p-threads are 
 conducted in two rows, one on each side, to the ejes, b b, of 
 
 209. WORKING PAETS OF EOBBIN-ITET MACHINE. 
 
 needles, one of which is shown separately in fig. 206. Each 
 guide-bar, which contains a range of these needles equal to one- 
 half the number of threads in the warp, is arranged so as to shift 
 sUghtly to the right or to the left, to allow the bobbin-thread to 
 pass to the right or to the left of the warp-threads as often as it 
 is necessary to form the twist. The number of bobbins with 
 their carriages is equal to the number of the weft-threads ; and as 
 these have to pass through the narrow intervals of the warp- 
 threads, they are arranged in a double line in two rows, G G, on 
 each side of the warp-threads. The bobbins are supported 
 between the teeth of a kind of comb, k k (a portion of which is 
 shown separately in fig. 208), for which purpose the bobbin cai- 
 I'iages have a groove, h h, fig. 205, corresponding to the interval 
 between every two teeth of the comb. There is one comb on 
 
 each side of the warp, and the free ends of the teeth in the ojjpo- 
 site combs stand so near to each other as to leave room merely 
 for the proper motions of the warp-threads between them. Hence 
 the bobbin carriages, in passing across through the intervals of 
 the warp, reach the back bolts before they have entirely quitted 
 the front ones. The carriages are driven alternately from one 
 comb to the other, by two bars, II; and when one of the lines of 
 carriages is pushed nearly across the intervals of the warp, the 
 foremost of their projecting catches, i i, is engaged by a plate, n, 
 attached to a .shaft, I, which pushes it quite through. The beam 
 which carries the combs can be shifted a little to the right or to 
 the left, so as to change the relative position of the opposite 
 combs by one interval or tooth, and thus to transfer the carriages 
 to the next adjoining teeth. By this contrivance the bobbin 
 carriages make a succession of side-steps, to the right in one 
 comb, and to the left in the other, in the course of which counter- 
 march they cross each other and their threads twist round the 
 vertical warp-threads, and thus form the meshes of the net. A 
 poitit-bar, L, containing a row of pointed needles, one of which is 
 shown separately, fig. 207, then falls with its points between the 
 warp and weft threads, and carries up their interlacements, so as 
 to form a new line of holes or meshes. The whole working of 
 the machine thus becomes a constant repetition of twisting, 
 crossing, and taking up the meshes on the point-bar. 
 
 The beauty of bobbin-net lace depends on the quality of the 
 threads, and the equal size and hexagonal shape of the meshes. 
 The closer the warp-threads are together, the smaller are the 
 meshes and the finer is the lace. The number of warp-threads 
 in a width of one yard may vary from 700 to 1200 ; the fineness 
 of the lace, or the gavge, or points as it is called, depends on the 
 number of slits or openings in the combis, and consequently on 
 the number of bobbins in an inch of the double tier. A length 
 of work counted vertically, containing 240 holes or meshes, is 
 called a rack. Well-made lace has the meshes slightly elongated 
 in the direction of the selvage. A piece of bobbin-net may be 
 twenty, thirty, or more yards in length, and of variable breadth. 
 The narrow quillings used for cap-borders are worked in the 
 same frame : many breadths at once are united by a set of 
 threads, which are afterwards drawn out. 
 
 English machine-made net is chiefly confined to point-net, 
 warp-net, and bobbin-net, so called from the peculiar construction 
 of the machines by which they are produced. 
 
 After the lace has been removed from the machine, it is gassed 
 by being passed over a row of gas flames, supphed by the appa- 
 ratus represented at fig. 204. The lace is then examined, defective 
 meshes are mended by women, called lace-menders, who have a 
 method of perfectly restoring the damaged meshes. It is then 
 dressed, rolled, ticketed, and made up, processes similar to those 
 already described for muslin. 
 
48 
 
 HOSIERY. 
 
 216. JACKS, SINKEES, AND SLUE. 
 
 217. SINKEES. 
 
HATS. 
 
 225. HAT BATTEEV. 
 
 226. HAT-DYEING. 
 
XII.— HOSIEEY. 
 
 The Stoclcing-frame is an ingenious contrivance for knitting by 
 machinery instead of by hand. In knitting, a single thread is 
 entwined so as to produce a fabric consisting of a succession of 
 loops. In netting, a single thread is formed into meshes, pro- 
 duced by tying the thread or cord into hard knots at those 
 points where it crosses upon itself. If the thread of a stocking 
 be broken, a hole is produced, which continually enlarges by the 
 unlooping of the thread ; but one of the meshes of a net may be 
 broken without injury to the rest. 
 
 The stocking-frame is a rare example of a cajpital invention, 
 made in an age by no means distinguished for inventive skill in 
 mechanics. The age which produced Shakspeare and Spenser, 
 Bacon and Raleigh, distinguished as it was by the highest order 
 of genius, did not understand the advantages of machinery in 
 stimulating production; but, on the contrary, regarded with 
 suspicion whatever tended to abridge the labour of the hand. 
 The answer of Queen Elizabeth to Lord Hunsdon, on being 
 applied to for a patent for the stocking-fi-ame, is characteristic 
 of a policy which may be traced even to our own times. " My 
 lord," said her majesty, " I have too much love to my poor 
 people, who obtain their bread by the employment of knitting, 
 to forward an invention which will tend to their ruin, by 
 depriving them of employment." It is hardly necessary to 
 remark, that, at the time when the queen made this generous 
 resolve, the upper classes only could afford to wear stockings, on 
 account of their high price ; but the introduction of the stockiug- 
 frame increased production to such an extent, that stockings 
 came to be regarded as a necessary article of dress by all classes 
 of the community, thereby increasing the number of persons 
 engaged in producing them many hundred fold, as compared 
 with those engaged in knitting. 
 
 In the Stocking-Weavers' Hall in Red Cross Street, London, is 
 a pictui'e representing a man pointing to a stocking-frame, and 
 addressing a woman who is knitting. There is the following 
 inscription to this picture: "In the year 1589, the ingenious 
 William Lee, Master of Arts, of St. John's College, Cambridge, 
 devised this profitable art for stockings (but being despised, 
 went to France), yet of iron to himself, but to us and others of 
 gold ; in memory of whom this is here painted." 
 
 The idea of devising the stocking-frame is said to have occurred 
 to Lee, while courting the lady whom he subsequently married. 
 The damsel being constantly engaged in knitting, the young 
 man, from watching the dexterous movements of her hand, 
 conceived the idea of making artificial fingers for knitting many 
 loops at once. From this time the ardour of invention took fuU 
 possession of his mind. Success as an inventor did not, as it 
 now generally does, involve success as a manufacturer. After 
 many fruitless attempts to introduce his machine in this country, 
 he sought refuge in France ; and, under the auspices of the prime 
 minister of Henry IV., established his frames at Rouen. Just as 
 his plans were apparently about to succeed, the king was mur- 
 dered, Lee was proscribed as a Protestant, and being forced to 
 conceal himself in Paris, died there in poverty and distress. 
 The workmen whom Lee had taken to Rouen, returned to 
 London ; and through their means a company was formed, 
 which afterwards became a corporate body. 
 
 It is not necessary to trace the steps by which the ingenious 
 machine, which was " of iron " to the inventor, " but to us and 
 others of gold," came into general use ; but we will at once 
 proceed to a description of the machine itself. 
 
 Knitting, which is imitated by the stocking-frame, is performed 
 by a couple of straight wires called knitting-needles, and the 
 operation consists in forming a series of loops upon one needle 
 and inserting them within another series formed upon the 
 
 other needle. This operation is brought about by four move- 
 ments. 1. Pushing the right-hand needle through the first loop 
 of the left-hand needle ; 2. Turning the thread once round the 
 right-hand needle, in order to form a new loop ; 3. Drawing the 
 new loop through one of the former series ; and 4. Pushing the 
 old loop ofl" the left-hand needle. When one row of loops is 
 completed, the needles change hands, and a new course is 
 commenced. 
 
 In knitting by the stocking-frame, the number of needles may 
 vary from fifteen to forty in an inch, according to the fineness of 
 the work. They are made of iron wire (fig. 213), with a hook or 
 barb at the end, and a cavity in the stem, beneath the bar 
 (fig. 214), to receive the point when pressure is apphed on the 
 hook, by the edge of a presser-Ijar, a section of which is shown 
 in fig. 213, by which means the barb becomes a closed eye. 
 Now suppose a number of these needles fitted into the frame 
 side by side, as in fig. 215, the operation of the machine is to 
 form of the single thread, R, a series of loops, S S, and then to 
 draw them through a series of other loops previously formed. 
 The loops are formed by levers c-sXXqA. jack-sitikers and lead-sinkers. 
 The jacks, fig. 216, are horizontal, and move upon a common 
 centre, each having a joint from which hangs a sinker of thin 
 polished iron plate. A jack and a sinker is assigned to every 
 alternate needle in the frame, the sinkers hanging between them 
 as in fig. 217. The other ends of the jacks az-e secm-ed by small 
 iron springs, k. The lead-sinkers resemble the jack-sinkers, but 
 are differently attached ; for while the jack-sinkers admit of being 
 raised or lowered separately, the lead-sinkers are all fixed to 
 what is called a sinker-bai-, and must be raised or lowered alto- 
 gether. The lead-sinkers are placed alternately between the 
 jack-sinkers, so that between every two sinkers there is a needle. 
 When the jack-sinkers are raised, so as to bring their nijjs, f, 
 above the level of the needle, the thread is loosely thrown under 
 them, so that on lowering the jacks a series of loops are formed 
 as in fig. 215 ; but if the jacks were all lowered at once, there 
 would be danger of destroying the thread. This is prevented by 
 a piece of metal, m, fig. 216, called the slier, which moves upon a 
 bar, /, called the slur-bar, extending beneath all the jacks. By 
 making the slur travel under the jacks, only one jack-sinker is 
 lowered at a time, and the loops are formed between the needles, 
 not all at once, but in succession. But the loops thus formed 
 are of double the depth required ; and to bring them to the 
 proper size, and to distribute them between every two needles, 
 the weaver depresses the lead-sinkers all at once, and their nips, 
 /, carry down the thread between the remaining needles. While 
 this is being done, the jack-sinkers are made to rise up as much 
 as the lead-sinkers descend, so that the loops thus become of the 
 same size. This row of loops is next driven back upon the 
 needles to S S, fig. 215, so as to come below the arch or opening 
 of the sinkers SS, figs. 216, 217. Here the loops are entirely 
 removed from the action of the sinkers, and the workman 
 proceeds to form a new row in front of the former. This second 
 row of loops is then brought forward so as to be under the 
 barbs or hooks of the needles. The presser-bar is next made to 
 close the barbs with the thread within them : the first-formed 
 loops are now brought forward from under the arch, upon the 
 closed needles, and are made to pass over the ends of the needles 
 and over the newly-formed loops within them, so that the loops 
 of what was the upper or last course of the finished work become 
 secured, and the loops under the barbs now become the upper 
 course, and are preserved from unravelling by the needles, one of 
 which passes through each loop, and these loops will not be 
 drawn oflf from the needles until there is another row of loops 
 prepared and ready to be drawn through them. 
 
HATS. 
 
 It may assist the description if we now recapitulate the 
 various movements of the frame. Supposing the weaver to have 
 put back the work on the needles, preparatory to another course, 
 the first movement is the gathering of the thread. The thread is 
 lightly extended across the needles, f, of the sinkers ; and, by 
 pressing the slur treadle, the jack-sinkers are depressed one by 
 one so as to form double loops : this is called drawing the jacks : 
 the second movement is called sinking. The lead-sinkers are 
 depressed and the jack-sinkers raised, whereby the thread is 
 carried down into a loop between every two needles. The third 
 movement is to bring the thread under the barbs of the needles. 
 The fourth movement is to bring the. work forward from the 
 stems of the needles towards the barbs. The fifth is to close 
 the barbs, by the pressure of the presser-bar, and to draw the 
 loops last made through the finished loops of the work. The 
 
 XIIL- 
 
 The production of a beaver hat depends on the cm-ious pro- 
 perty possessed by certain animal fibres of matting together into 
 a kind of cloth called /e/^, and the process by which this is done 
 is called /e/^;/2(^. 
 
 A fibre of lambs' wool examined under the microscope pre- 
 sents the appearance represented in fig. 219. The jagged edges 
 of cleaned wool, when subjected to gentle friction assisted by 
 moisture, lock into each other, or felt together, a property which 
 was probably known at a remote period ; although there is some 
 doubt whether the lana coacta used by the ancients as cloaks for 
 the soldiers, for corslets and horse furniture, was true felt. 
 Wool is not the only material capable of being felted, as will be 
 seen by the structure of various descriptions of fur represented 
 in figs. 220 to 223. 
 
 There are three descriptions of hat prepared by felting : first, 
 the heaver hat, properly so called, consisting of a body or founda- 
 tion of rabbits' fur, and a beaver nap. Second, the plate-hat, in 
 which the body is of lamb.s' wool, plated or napped with mus- 
 quash, neutria, or some inferior fur. Third, the felt hat, which is 
 a wool body without a nap. 
 
 In making a beaver hat, a hat body, or foundation of wool, is 
 taken. J^his is in the form of a conical cap, represented by the 
 darker figure in fig. 227. The workman weighs out one ounce of 
 beaver down, a quarter of an ounce of musquash, and the same 
 quantity of cotton wool. These materials being placed on a 
 table, fig. 224, are spread out and mixed by the operation of 
 bowing, as in the case of cotton (fig. 7). The bow is held in the 
 left hand, and is attached by a cord to a beam above, so that it 
 may be held at a proper distance ; and then, with the knob of a 
 wooden pin, the man sets the string of the bow vibrating among 
 the fibres, the efiect of which is to cause them to fly into the 
 air, and in falling to occupy a much larger space than they did 
 before. To prevent them from being too much dispersed, a 
 wicker frame called the basket, shaped like a fire-guard, is set up 
 on end, with its concavity towards the fur. The bowing is 
 repeated two or three times, until the fur is spread out into a 
 large oval sheet of napping, as it is now called. It is then pressed 
 down with the hands, and afterwards with a skin of leather, 
 called the hardening skin. It has now the appearance of thin 
 flannel ; and is of the form represented at No. 1, fig. 228. It 
 is then folded into the form No. 2, fig. 229, and then into that of 
 No. 3. The woollen hat body, fig. 227, is then placed on No. 3, 
 and the portions of napping not covered with the body are torn 
 
 51 
 
 finished loops are drawn over the barbs, and quite off from the 
 needles. This draws the finished loops over the loops last made, 
 which remain in the barbs. For cotton hose the thread is 
 wound upon bobbins, as shown in fig. 212, where the hanks of 
 thread are spread over reels, and the thread passes through metal 
 eyes to the bobbins. For silk hose the bobbins are placed in a 
 barrel, fig. 218, containing a little water, the evaporation of which 
 keeps the thread sufficiently damp for working. The thread is 
 drawn out through a hole in the cover of the barrel, as shown in 
 fig. 218. 
 
 A circular loom, fig. 211, has of late years been introduced ; and 
 the amount of work it is able to perform is prodigious. A 
 machine with four feeders and 1,200 needles on the circumference, 
 will make 80 revolutions, or 96,000 loops, per minute. 
 
 HATS. 
 
 away. These are bowed again into another sheet of napping, 
 which is afterwards added to the crown of the hat, which, having 
 to be distended out of a conical body, must necessarily be 
 stretched, and thus require an additional quantity of fur. 
 
 The operations are next transferred to the hat-battery, fig. 225, 
 which consists of a boiler surrounded by sloping mahogany 
 sides, and containing water acidulated with a little sulphuric 
 acid, together with beer-grounds or oatmeal. The conical hat- 
 body is held in the hot liquor, and when sufficiently soft is 
 placed on the plank, and is covered with a portion of the beaver 
 napping. It is then turned over, and the remaining portion of 
 the napping is made to cover the other side. By means of a 
 brush, a roller, and a piece of wood covering the palm, called a 
 glove, the nap body is worked about for a considerable time. The 
 fur soon begins to strike into the woollen felt of the hat-body ; 
 but the cotton wool, which is incapable of felting, comes away, 
 and shows that the fur has properly combined with the body. 
 Shape is given to the nap-body by drawing it over a wooden 
 cylindrical block ; and by dint of much working and pressing, the 
 cone becomes nearly cylindrical in shaj^e. And lastly, the brim 
 is worked to the proper form. 
 
 In some cases the beaver is formed into what is called a pull- 
 over, for which purpose the sheet of napping is formed into the 
 shape of a hat cone, and is folded up with a triangular piece of 
 brown paper, fig. 227, to prevent the opposite surfaces from 
 coming in contact. The hat cone, fig. 227, is then placed on it, 
 and they are worked together by a process called basoning, a 
 metal plate or bason being formerly used instead of the brown 
 paper. 
 
 The beaver hats are next combed, and the tips of the hairs 
 cut off with a pair of shears ; after which they are mounted on 
 blocks, suspended in an iron frame, and lowered into the dye cop- 
 per, fig. 226 ; after which they are smoothed and finished by means 
 of warm and damp hair brushes, hot irons, and a plush cushion, 
 called a velour. Trinming, binding, and lining, and lastly blocking, 
 or giving a modish shape to the hat, are the finishing oiDcrations. 
 
 The silk hat, which has now for the most part taken the place 
 of the beaver, is produced in a much simpler manner. The body 
 is formed by cementing layers of calico upon a hat-block, fig. 230, 
 consisting of five pieces ; and when the brim is attached, the 
 whole is covered with cement, and then covered with a silk 
 plush, manufactured for the purpose, and made to adhere by the 
 application of moisture and heat. 
 
52 
 
 ROPES AND CORDAGE. 
 
 234. WHEEL FOB TWISTING STEANDS. 
 
 237. SIEDGE 
 
EOPES AND STRAW PLAIT. 
 
 53 
 
 241. TABEIKG YAENS. EEGISTEB MACHIKE. 
 
XIV.— EOPES AND COEDAGE. 
 
 If all the cordage, great and small, of a first-rate ship of war 
 were tied together, end to end, it would measure 43 miles ; it 
 would weigh 78^ tons, and would cost 3,276/. sterling. Smaller 
 vessels, whether of the navy or of the merchant service, cost 
 similar sums for their cordage, in proportion to their size. In a 
 free maritime country like the British Isles, whose ships visit 
 every habitable coast, and ascend every navigable river of the 
 earth, the importance of the rope manufacture can scarcely be 
 over-estimated. A j)ortion of that busy shipping is employed in 
 bringing to these shores the raw material for those innumerable 
 lines, which give such a trim and beautiful appearance to a well- 
 rigged vessel, to say nothing of the numerous other uses to 
 which ropes, cord, string, &c., are daily and hourly applied. In 
 the year 1856, there were imported into the United Kingdom 
 considerably more than a million and a half cwts. of hemp ; and, 
 considering the importance of the manufacture, we see the 
 wisdom of our Legislature in making it free of duty. 
 
 Hemp is the principal but not the only material for rope- 
 making. The husk of the cocoa-nut, the fibres of the wild 
 banana, various kinds of tough grass, horse-hair, wool, thongs of 
 leather, metal wires, &c., are all used as materials for ropes. The 
 native rushes or jiinci of this island were employed at an early 
 period for making rojjes ; and the practice is perpetuated in the 
 term ;«M/f, which is applied to worn-out ropes. 
 
 Hemp {CaiDiaMs sativa) is stronger and coarser in the fibre 
 than flax ; but its uses, culture, and management are nearly the 
 same. It is an annual plant, usually about five or six feet in 
 height ; and from the circumstance of the flowers and the fruit 
 growing on separate plants, hemp is distinguished as vwle and 
 female. The supporters to fig. 233 represent the two varieties. 
 The retting, breaJcinfj, heckling, and dnjing, fig. 231, resemble those 
 operations already described under flax, so that we may proceed 
 at once to the business of the manufacture. 
 
 The word rope properly belongs to cordage above an inch in 
 circumference, the smaller kind being named ttoine, cord, and line. 
 In making a rope, the hemp is first spun into yarn. A number 
 of yarns are twisted into a strand, three strands twisted together 
 form a rope, and the twisting together of three ropes forms a 
 cable. 
 
 The object of twisting the fibres is to produce sufiScient com- 
 pression to prevent them from shding over each other when a 
 strain is applied. Twisting does not increase the strength of the 
 fibres, but, on the contrary, greatly diminishes it. A rope formed 
 by arranging the fibres side by side and fastening them at the 
 ends, is much stronger than the same number of fibres twisted 
 into a compact cord. In the one case each fibre bears its own 
 share of the strain, and the strength of the bundle is that of the 
 sum of the strengths of the separate fibres. In twisting the 
 fibres, those on the outside will evidently be sti-ained more by 
 the twist than the inner ones, and, consequently, will be less 
 efiicient in supporting a weight, or resisting a pull. In an 
 experiment tried for the purpose, the untwisted fibres supported 
 98 lbs., and the twisted only 65 lbs., showing a loss of strength 
 from twisting equal to 33 lbs. But as twist is necessary to get 
 length, it is adopted, subject to the maxim, that all twisting, 
 beyond what is necessary to prevent the fibres from slipping on 
 each other, is to be avoided. 
 
 The first operation in the manufacture of a rope is hecTcling, for 
 the purpose of separating and straightening the fibres, so that 
 they may run freely in spinning. A weighed quantity of hemp, 
 sufficient to form one yarn 160 fathoms long, is thus combed out at 
 each oj)eration. The heclcle (fig. 232) consists of a number of steel 
 prongs, set up in a board with the points upwards, as already 
 described for flax ; but in heckling hemp, a little whale oil is 
 
 applied to the points from time to time to assist the operation. 
 Each heckled portion is tied up into a bundle, called a tow of 
 hemp, one of which is represented in the right-hand corner 
 of fig. 232. 
 
 The hemp thus prepared is next spun or twisted into yarn ; 
 the spinning is usually carried on in a long covered walk, called 
 the spinning-walk (fig. 233), one end of which is called the head, 
 or fore-end, and the other foot, or haek-end. At one end is a 
 spinning-machine, consisting of a wheel, over which passes a band, 
 which gives motion to a number of rollers or whirls, fui'nished 
 with little hooks, which are set rapidly spinning by turning the 
 wheel. As many spinners may work together as there are whirls 
 in the frame : each spinner then takes a tow of hemp, and 
 wrajsping it round his body, draws out from the face of the 
 bundle as many fibres as he thinks necessary for the size of the 
 yarn, and attaches the bight or double of the fibres to one of the 
 whirl-hooks, while an assistant turns the wheel, and throws tivist 
 or turn into the fibres. The spinner (figs. 233 and 238) has a 
 piece of thick woollen cloth in his right hand, the end of which 
 hangs over the fore-finger. With this he grasps the fibres as 
 they are drawn out, pressing them firmly between his two 
 middle fingers. He walks backwards towards the foot of the 
 walk, and with his left hand regulates the supply of the fibres, 
 so as to make the yarn of equal size, the thickness of the yarn 
 depending on the quantity of hemp which the spinner allows to 
 pass through his hands in a given time, and also on the rapidity 
 with which the hook is made to rotate. As the yam increases in 
 length, the spinner throws it over hooks fixed to the under side 
 of the rafters of the roof. Arrived at the lower end of the walk, 
 a man at the wheel takes the yarn off the hook and fastens it to 
 a reel, which is then turned round, while the spinner walks slowly 
 in, keeping the yarn stretched all the way. 
 
 The next process is tarring, for which purpose 300 or 400 
 yarns are placed side by side, and passed through hot tar. They 
 are dragged out through a hole called a grip, or sliding-nipper, 
 which presses the tar into the yarn, and gets rid of the super- 
 fluous portion. Tarred cordage has not the strength of untarred ; 
 but it resists the wet better. 
 
 The next operation is twisting or laying the yarn, either tarred 
 or uu tarred, into strands. The laying-walk may be under the 
 same roof as the spinning-walk (fig. 233). At the head of the 
 walk is a tackle-board (fig. 236), which is a plank supported by 
 strong upright posts, and pierced with three holes, corresponding 
 to the number of strands in a rope: winches or fore-lock hooks 
 work through these holes. The smaller strands are twisted by 
 the wheel (fig. 234). The yarns, preparatory to laying, are 
 attached to posts at the side of the walk, as shown in fig. 233, or 
 they are wound upon reels, as in fig. 239. As the yarns are 
 twisted together into a strand, they are attached to a movable 
 sledge (fig. 237), the upper part of which has a breast-ljoard, 
 corresponding to the tackle-board. The sledge is kept steady 
 by being loaded with weights. The proper number of yarns for 
 each strand is attached to the hooks of the tackle-board, and 
 of the sledge. The latter is then pulled backwards until the 
 yarns are stretched tight, when the hooks, both of the tackle- 
 board and of the sledge, are heaved round in a direction contrary 
 to the twist of the yarn, by which means the three bundles 
 of yarn are formed into a strand. The shortening of the 
 yarns, by the twisting, draws the sledge forward ; and when the 
 strand is full hard, or has enough hard in it, as the twisting is 
 called, the process is complete. 
 
 The next operation is laying, or twisting three strands together 
 to form a rope ; for which purpose the three strands are attached 
 to the middle hook of the tackle board, and all three are inserted 
 
STRAW PLAIT. 
 
 into the grooves of a piece of wood called a top, fig. 235. On 
 twisting the three strands together, the top is forced forward, 
 and the rope is formed. In the laying of three strands together, 
 the rope is said to be liawser-laid. In this process, which is 
 called the first lay, each strand consists of as many yarns as are 
 necessary to give the required thickness to the rope. The 
 second lai/, or shroud hawser-laid rope, consists of four strands, 
 with a straight loose strand or core-piece running through the 
 centre, to render the rope solid. In the third lay, or cable-laid 
 rope, three hawser-laid ropes, each formed of three large strands, 
 are twisted or laid together, so as to form one gigantic rope or 
 cable. This, however, has of late years been superseded by the 
 chain cable. 
 
 Machinery has been applied with considerable success to the 
 manufacture of ropes. We do not pretend, of course, in these 
 short essays, to present more than a very few rough outlines of 
 the important subjects of which they treat ; and our outline, such 
 as it is, often refers to one machine, or set of machines, while we 
 pass over others which produce similar results by different 
 means, but quite as efficiently. In noticing Captain Huddart's 
 Register-machine, we wish to refer to it as one out of several 
 inventions for accomplishing the same object. 
 
 The yarns, having been spun by machinery similar in principle 
 to that already described for cotton and flax, are wound upon 
 reels, and mounted in a frame (fig. 241), whence they proceed 
 through a tar-kettle, and passing through certain plates, which 
 get rid of the superfluous tar, are passed through a tube, and 
 thence to the registering machine, fig. 242, which twists them 
 into strands. This consists of a square frame of wood, supported 
 horizontally upon two small gudgeons, g g, upon which the frame, 
 with the machinery contained within it, revolves. The strand 
 enters this frame through one of the gudgeons, and passes under 
 and over two pulleys, p p, on its way to the windiug-di-um. 
 Motion is given to the pulleys by connecting the pinion a with 
 the toothed wheel b, the spindle of which, s, carries a bevel- 
 pinion, c, which works another bevelled wheel attached to the 
 spindle that carries one of the pulleys, while the toothed wheel, e, 
 
 in gear with f, gives motion to the other pulley. Now it will 
 be evident that, as the whole frame revolves, the yarns from 
 fig. 241 will be twisted into a strand, and that the motion of the 
 pulleys p p will drag it forward through the register tube. The 
 same motion which produces these operations winds the finished 
 strand upon the drum D. The motion is given to the drum by 
 connecting the small mitre pinion i with a similar pinion, A", and 
 this is connected by means of the spindle with the pinions m 
 and n, the latter of which is fixed to the axis of the winding 
 drum. As the frame revolves, the two pulleys and the winding 
 drum thus have their own distinct revolutions. As the coiling 
 advances, the increased size of the drum would give an increased 
 strain to the strand were it not provided for by dividing the 
 spindle o into two equal parts, uniting them by means of a clutch 
 at 0, which slips upon itself whenever the drum tends to over- 
 wind the pulleys, and thus the drum remains stationary for a 
 moment, while the strand slackens a little. In order to wind the 
 strand in regular coils upon the drum, the opposite end of the 
 axis has a mitre pinion, r, in gear with a similar one, s, attached 
 to a short spindle, which is furnished with a universal joint 
 acting upon the forked end of an oblique spindle which bears an 
 endless screw, working into a toothed wheel, t ; this wheel is fixed 
 upon the end of a spindle placed across the frame, carrying a 
 wooden roller, v, which thus acquires a slow rotatory motion. 
 Upon this roller is a long endless groove, shown partly by the 
 dotted lines ; in this groove there fits a stud, which projects 
 from the under face of a guide frame. As the drum revolves, 
 the roller slowly moves, and shifts the guide frame alternately 
 from side to side. The strands thus formed are now ready to be 
 laid into ropes, an operation which is efi'ected by a rope-laying 
 machine. 
 
 The machine represented in fig. 240 lays the yarn into strands, 
 and the strands into ropes, at one operation. 
 
 The cordage made for the use of the British navy is distin- 
 guished by a coloured worsted thread in the centre of each 
 strand, and every combination of strands or rope is also distin- 
 guished by a simple yarn of iDecuhar make laid in its centre. 
 
 XY.— STEAW PLAIT. 
 
 We have now brought to a conclusion our notices of spinning 
 and weaving. We may, however, refer to an important branch 
 of industry which belongs to that kind of weaving called plaiting. 
 The manufacture of straw hats attained great perfection in 
 Italy more than two centuries ago. But it was not until the long- 
 continued war with Napoleon arrested the import trade, that the 
 home manufacture rose into importance. The Tuscan straw is 
 from a variety of bearded wheat {Triticum turgidum), which is 
 grown in Tuscany for the sake of the straw : this is pulled 
 while the ear is in a soft milky state, the corn having been sown 
 close, so as to produce it in a thin, short, and dwindled con- 
 dition. It is dried by exposure to the sun, then laid up in 
 bundles and stacked for about a month, after which it is bleached 
 by exposure to moisture, light, and air. The bleaching is com- 
 pleted by means of the fumes of sulphur. 
 
 In the Italian method of plaiting, the straws having been 
 sorted as to colour and thickness, thirteen are usually selected, 
 tied together at one end, and then divided into two portions, six 
 straws being turned to the left and seven to the right, so that 
 the two portions of straw may form a right angle. The plaiting 
 then proceeds in the manner represented in fig. 243. The plait 
 is formed in pieces of great length, which are adjusted in spiral 
 coils, with their adjacent edges knitted together, so as to form 
 the large circular which were formerly extensively exported 
 from the north of Italy. Fig. 244 shows the method of knitting 
 
 the edges together ; the dotted lines indicate the edges of each 
 piece of plait, and show how far the angular folds or eyes of one 
 piece are inserted into those of the adjoining piece. The thread 
 by which the two rows are held together is entirely concealed in 
 the plait. 
 
 The British straw- plait district is in Bedfordshire, Hertford- 
 shire, and Buckinghamshire ; the manufacture is also carried on 
 in Essex, Suffolk, and elsewhere. There are many varieties of 
 plait in general use, such as Whole Dunstable, consisting of seven 
 entire straws ; Talent Dunstable, or Double seven, formed of four- 
 teen spht straws ; Devonshire, formed of seven spht straws ; 
 Luton plait, formed of double seven, but coarser than patent 
 Dunstable : Bedford Leghorn, formed of twenty-two, or double- 
 eleven straws ; Italian, formed of eleven spht straws. There are 
 several varieties in Fancy Straw Plait, such as the Back-bone, of 
 eleven straws ; the Lustre, of seventeen straws : the Wave, of 
 twenty-two straws ; and the Diamond, of twenty-three straws ; 
 nor must we forget to mention the Rustic of four coarse spht 
 straws, and the Pearl, of four small entire straws. 
 
 About 70,000 persons are engaged in the production of straw- 
 plait, which still maintains its ground, notwithstanding the use 
 of silk and other materials for bonnets. This arises from the 
 circumstance that the whole of the female population in Great 
 Britain wear bonnets, which is, probably, not the case in any 
 other part of the world, with the exception of North America. 
 
56 
 
 PAPER. 
 
XVI.—PAPEE. 
 
 The manufactories which have hitherto engaged our attention 
 are, for the convenience of markets for the raw material, and for 
 the sale and transport of the finished product, situated in densely 
 crowded cities and towns, where the engineer and other persons 
 subsidiary to the great staple trade of the place reside, and all 
 more or less seem to be urging on one or other branch of the 
 gi'eat manufacture. A stranger, walking through one of these 
 vast manufacturing centres, has before his eye at every turn one 
 of those huge factories which have been erected evidently with 
 a view to utihty rather than beauty of proportion (although 
 in some cases both have been happily combined). The tall 
 chimneys pour out their volumes of smoke, often in despite of 
 the smoke-consuming apparatus with which the furnaces are pro- 
 vided. Everywhere do we hear the heavy respirations of the 
 steam-engine, the pulsations of endless machinery, the rattle of 
 si)indles, and the whirl of wheels : we are conscious of incessant 
 activity, and feel almost ashamed of strolling about as an idle 
 spectator in the midst of a toiling population. We leave the 
 town by roads which are ground to dust by the endless traffic, 
 and find the neighbourhood equally busy. Instead of farms and 
 rural scenes, we have workshops, forges, tall chimneys, canals, 
 and raih'oads ; and should there be a river, which once sparkled 
 in the bright sunshine, it has long since been yoked to labour, 
 and is not allowed to descend through a foot of its course without 
 having work to do. Its banks are crowded with bleach-works, 
 dye-works, cotton-mills, water-wheels, and machinery ; and lest 
 it should fail in its laborious efforts, catch-pools are erected at 
 various points of its course for arresting the rains of heaven and 
 the suiface-waters of earth, so jealous is man lest the poor river 
 should have a drop of water too much, or before its time, or 
 should expend what it has too lavishly. In such a hard-worked 
 river the trout and the dace would be idlers and interlopers, and 
 they have long since departed to more leisurely streams: the 
 refuse of the bleach-works or of the dye-house produces an inky, 
 murky mixture which is intolerant of life — of anything, in short, 
 but work. 
 
 We are now about to visit a manufactory, the hum of whose 
 machinery blends melodiously with the song of birds, with the 
 rustling of trees, with the gurgling waters of the trout stream, 
 with rural sights and sounds, pleasant to the eye and refreshing to 
 the soul. The paper-maker requires an abundance of pure water ; 
 in few manufactures is so much employed, and in none is its qua- 
 lity so important as in the j^roduction of fine paper. To attempt 
 to cari'y on this manufacture with the coloured or mineralized 
 v/ater of peat or iron districts would be hopeless. Paper-mills may 
 be situated almost anywhere except where other mills abound ; 
 and hoiice they are widely scattered, inasmuch as pure streams 
 are happily more common than mines and collieries. Hence, too, 
 water-power has continued to be the prime mover in these mills, 
 more than any other ; although many mills have outgrown the 
 capabilities of their streams, and have added the steam-engine to 
 their works. 
 
 Linen rags were selected as the material for writing and 
 printing-paper, as being the most worthless of all refuse ; and 
 .such they continued to be so long as the demand for writing and 
 printing did not exceed the supply furnished by the whole wear 
 of linen in the same country. But the English, the French, and the 
 Dutch have long since required more paper than their worn-out 
 clothing can supply ; so that they have to import rags, while the 
 exportation of i-ags from France, Belgium, and Holland is for- 
 bidden by law. The consumption of paper in England is five or 
 six times that of linen, so that by far the larger supply of our 
 rags is imported. 
 
 The first operations of the factory are dirty and unpleasant. 
 The rags arrive in this country in a very impure state, and they 
 have to be sorted^, cut into pieces of about an inch square, 
 buttons to be removed, and seams placed apart by themselves. The 
 rag-cutter stands before a grating, through which the dirt and 
 dust pass, while a sharp knife, fixed with its edge away from the 
 workwoman, is used to divide the rags (fig. 246). The divided 
 rags are thrown, according to their quality, into boxes at the 
 side. 
 
 The second operation, called dusting, is performed in cylindrical 
 wire cages, inclosing a revolving axis, from which spokes proceed, 
 and the rapid motion of this axle agitates the rags so as to45hake 
 out their dust into the wooden case which incloses the cage. 
 Boiling is the next operation, for which purpose the water in 
 which the rags are immersed is mixed with lime or caustic soda. 
 
 The fourth operation is washing, in which the rags are partly 
 reduced to pnlp, by being passed between a fixed set of cutting 
 edges and another set projecting from a revolving cylinder, called 
 the roll, the upper part of which is shown in its position in the 
 trough (fig. 249), while the appearance of the engine is given in 
 fig. 247. The trough is divided into two parts by a partition in 
 the middle ; and the roll is furnished with a wooden covering, 
 like that of the paddle of a steamer, to prevent the water and the 
 rags from being scattered about. The motion of the roll draws 
 the rags through between its own cutters and the fixed ones 
 beneath, and then, turning them over a ridge, keeps them and 
 the water in constant circulation round the central partition. 
 The dirty water constantly overflows into a waste pipe, which is 
 covered with wire-gauze to prevent loss of fibre, while fresh water 
 enters by a pipe shown in both figures. In this engine the rags 
 are reduced to what is called half-pulp, or half-stuff. The colour 
 is such as we recognise in whity-brown paper ; but by jjlacing 
 the stuff in a weak solution of chloride of lirue, it is changed to 
 a snowy whiteness. The action of the chlorine, however, is to 
 impair the strength and durability of the fibre ; so that wherever 
 great durability is rec[uired, as for the books printed at the Oxford 
 University Press, or for the paper for Government statistical 
 records, it is preferred unbleached. 
 
 The sixth operation is a repetition of the fourth. The pulp is 
 passed through an engine, now called the beating-engine, which is 
 identical with the washing-engine, except that the cutting-blades 
 are closer together and more numerous, and the roll revolves 
 quicker. 
 
 Such is the material for making paper. If the operation is to 
 be performed by hand, it is mixed with watfer in a vessel called 
 the stuff-chest, from which it flows through a strainer, to separate 
 knots or lumps, into a vessel called the vat, which contains a 
 small stove or steam-pipe for keeping the mixture of pulp and 
 water warm, together with a revolving wooden agitator for pre- 
 venting the pulp from subsiding to the bottom. The sides of 
 the vat are furnished with broad shelves, and the one at which 
 the man works is called a trepan. Sheets of paper are formed 
 by easting the pulp in a mould. The mould may be laid or woiie, 
 and the paper bears the name of the mould which produces it. 
 Each mould consists of a wooden frame filled with wire like a 
 sieve (fig. 248) ; in the laid mould, the wires are stretched across 
 in one direction only, fifteen or twenty in an inch, and stifi'ened 
 by thin bars of wood, crossing them at intervals of an inch and 
 a half or less, while a stronger wire runs along each bar, and to 
 which the other wires are fastened : impressions of both kinds 
 of wire are seen in the paper. In wove moulds, the wire is 
 woven into wire cloth of from forty-eight to sixty-f(3ur wires in 
 an inch each way ; this leaves the paper only slightly granulated 
 
PAPER. 
 
 59 
 
 with no distinct lines. Each mould is furnished with a thin 
 frame called a deckle (fig. 248), which is placed upon the wires 
 within the ledge formed by the outer frame fitting very accu- 
 rately, and keeping the moulded sheet to its exact size. The 
 maker, who is called the vat-muti (fig. 250), dips the mould with 
 the deckle upon it into the mixture of pulp and water, lifts it 
 out with a gentle shake and careful levelling, to equalize the 
 thickness of the sheet of liquid, holds it steadily for a few 
 seconds to drain off the water, when he slides it along the 
 trepan to his fellow-workman, called the couclier, at the same 
 time removing the deckle to place it on another mould, in which 
 he makes another sheet. However simple this operation may 
 appear, it is really very difficult to take up ], or 1§, or 2 oz. of 
 pulp, and spread it equally over one of these moulds, so that 
 the water in draining off may enable the filaments to combine 
 ov felt together, so as to form an even sheet, and all the sheets 
 be of the same weight. Not only does the vat-man do this, but 
 he will even produce two sheets at one operation in the kind of 
 mould represented in fig. 248. The waler-wark in the paper is 
 formed of thin wire, sewn upon the wires of the mould, and the 
 impression is produced by rendering the paper where it lies on it 
 thinner and more translucent. The coucher, who receives each 
 sheet, from the vat-man, on the mould vidth a bare margin of 
 wires all round it where the deckle was laid, turns the whole 
 over upon a piece of felt, an inch or two larger than the sheet in 
 every direction. To this the newly-made paper adheres ; and he 
 returns the mould to the vat-man and receives the other mould 
 with a new sheet upon it ; but before taking this iip from the 
 perforated board on which the vat-man leaves it to drain, he 
 places a second felt over the previous sheet, and upon this turns 
 over the mould and deposits the next sheet. Thus two moulds, 
 but only one deckle, are in use at each vat. The work proceeds 
 until the number of felts and sheets of paper piled up amounts 
 to what is called a pod, usually 144 sheets, or six quires. The 
 post is now transferred to a screw press, where it is subjected to 
 strong pressure, and remains there until a second post is ready, 
 when it is taken out, and a third workman, called the lifler, 
 separates the sheets from the felts. In this way the three 
 workmen — the vat-man or dipper, the coucher, and the lifter, 
 will sometimes produce twenty posts, of six quires each, of 
 moderately large paper in a day. 
 
 The next process is wet-pressinff, in which the lifter piles eight 
 or ten posts in one heap ; and the sheets being now in contact 
 with each other, instead of with the felt, become much smoother, 
 and, on being removed from the press, can be handled without 
 fear of tearing. For the finer kinds of paper the pressure is 
 repeated after the heap has been re-arranged, by a process called 
 pack-partmg or exchanging, in which the sheets are re-arranged in 
 such a way that none may be next the same sheet as before. 
 The sheets are now removed to large lofts, where the paper is 
 hung upon hair lines to dry. When dry, it is called water-leaf, 
 and will absorb liquids freely like blotting-paper. To enable it 
 to be written on, it is sized, or passed through a solution of 
 gelatine, containing a little alum, or the size may be mixed up 
 with the pulp in the beating-engine, in which case a compound 
 of flour, rosin, and soda may be used. After the sizing and 
 second drying, the paper is finished by various smoothing 
 operations called surfacing. In hot-pressing, each sheet of paper 
 is placed between two glazed cards or press-boards, and these 
 between thick smooth plates of cast iron, that have been heated 
 in an oven. A pressure of about 100 tons is then applied, the 
 effect of which is to give a beautiful finish to the paper. The 
 other mode of surfacing is called milling when performed 
 between plates, and rolling or calendering, when the paper itself 
 touches the rollers. The plates may be of coppei-, of zinc, or of 
 
 card, each giving its peculiar gloss. It is then passed between 
 rollers at least three times with the paper between them. The 
 highest possible gloss is called glazing, and this is produced by 
 passing the paper many times through the roller mill. The 
 process resembles calendering, already described (see fig. 139). 
 
 The operations of the paper-maker, such as we have described 
 them, still apply to the finer descriptions of paper ; but they are 
 inadequate to the supply of that vast amount of printing-paper 
 which the intelligence of the age, fostered by steam-printing 
 machinery, requires. The inventor of the paper-making machine 
 did not set to work to imitate the proceedings of the dipper, the 
 coucher, and the lifter, so much as to see how he could produce 
 cheap and useful paper. Instead, therefore, of making a small 
 wire mould or sieve receive the liquid pulp at one place and 
 carry it along to another, and there deposit it when sufficiently 
 drained and solidified to lie on the felt, and then return the 
 empty mould for another sheet, — instead of this interrujited 
 and fragmentary kind of action, he conceived the idea of a con- 
 tinuous or endless web of wire-cloth (figs, 251, 252), stretched 
 over two or more revolving rollers, receiving pulp from the vats 
 (shown at the right-hand extremity of each figure). As the wire- 
 cloth is thus constantly travelling forwards, di'aining the water 
 away in its progress, it arrives at a point where the wire-cloth 
 turns over its extreme roller, and the web of pulp is suflFiciently 
 coherent to be taken up by a felt or blanket, which carries it on 
 with precisely the same speed as the wire gauze, passing the 
 pulpy mass through rollers with gradually increasing intensities 
 of pressure, until the paper arrives at the drying cylinders, which, 
 being heated by means of steam, drive off the superfluous 
 moisture, and the finished paper is received on a revolving reel 
 in one continuous roll of any desired length, or it passes at once 
 to a cutting-machine (shown separately, fig. 253), where it is 
 divided into sheets of the required size. 
 
 We cannot give more than this general notion of the paper- 
 making machine, without the assistance of more precise draw- 
 ings than the pictorial forms with which we have to deal ; but 
 we may just refer to a few members of the macfiine which are 
 essential to its well-being. The stuff flows out of the vat 
 through an ingenious knotter or strainer, for keeping back knots, 
 and yet allowing the linen fibres, which sometimes approach a 
 quarter of an inch in length, to pass through, and not lie across 
 and choke up the apertures. Then there is a contrivance for 
 giving a rapid jerking motion to the wire gauze, to facilitate the 
 draining and equable distribution of the fibres. But as the 
 water that passes through carries with it some of the fibres, it 
 is collected below by a save-all, and is lifted by a Persian wheel, 
 or wheel of buckets, to a sufficiently high level to flow back 
 into the straining troughs. The edges of the paper on the 
 wire gauze are limited by deckle straps, which serve the same 
 purpose as the deckle to the paper-maker's mould (fig. 248). 
 The draining and consolidation of the film on the wire-cloth is 
 further assisted by allowing a portion of the wire-cloth to pass 
 over the open tops of a couple of boxes, the air of which is 
 exhausted by means of three small air-pumps. The pressure of 
 the external air on the paper-film carries much of its moisture 
 into these boxes, and greatly consolidates the layer ; so much so, 
 that at this point the pulp visibly changes into paper. Between 
 the two boxes an embossed or perforated roller, called a dandy, 
 impresses on the half-solidified film any water-mark or other 
 imitation of the peculiarities of the old hand-made paper. 
 
 In conclusion, we may refer to the envelope folding machine 
 (fig. 254), the rapid motions of which facilitate the postal arrange- 
 ments of the day, which, in the year 1857, had to deal out to 
 the inhabitants of these islands not less than 504 millions of 
 letters. 
 
XYII.— 
 
 LEATHER. 
 
 In a rude state of society, the skins of animals cauglat in the 
 chase would be likely to form the clothing of man ; but in 
 drying, they would shrink and become horny, and when exposed 
 to moisture, putrid. Hence the art of making a hard, 
 unyielding substance Uth or pliant, gave rise to the old Saxon 
 term Uther, or leather. There are various methods by which 
 this change is brought about, and these we must briefly notice. 
 
 The hide or skin of an animal consists of the epidermis or 
 cuticle, which is covered with hair or wool ; below this is the 
 reticnlated or net-like tissue, and then comes the dermis, cutis, or 
 true skin, which is next the flesh. The cutis is alone capable 
 of forming leather ; so that the other two must be got rid of, 
 before the manufacture of leather can be commenced. For this 
 purpose, the hides or skins are put into a mixture of lime and 
 water ; and in the course of two or three weeks, the lime dis- 
 solves the hair-sheath, and combines with the fat of the hide 
 to form an insoluble soap. The skins are then taken out and 
 scrajaed upon a semi-cylindrical table, called the beam (fig. 255), 
 with a curved two-handled iron scraper, called the unhairing- 
 Icnife. The hair comes off readily, and leaves what is called the 
 grain of the skin. A s]is,v]} flesJiing-Ioiife is then passed over the 
 inner surface of the skin, to remove the flesh and the fat. In 
 some cases, the skins are not put into the lime-pits ; but are 
 hung up in a smoke-house, which is heated by means of a smoul- 
 dering fire. Here the hides begin to ferment, and the hair 
 becomes loose. This is called sweating. Steeping the skins in 
 dilute acids has a similar effect. The stoutest kinds of skins are 
 called Lutts and backs; the lighter ox hides are termed Jiides ; while 
 the lighter kinds of leather are made from skins. After the latter 
 have been in the lime-pit, they are exposed to an alkaline solution, 
 consisting of the dung of hens, pigeons, and other domestic birds, 
 which renders them soft, and gets rid of the lime. 
 
 The true skin consists almost entirely of gelatine or glue : if 
 this be put into a solution of certain vegetable substances, con- 
 taining a chemical principle known as tannin, the skin will 
 separate that substance from the liquid ; and, by combining 
 with it, form leather. This is what is done in the tan-pits (fig. 
 261). The hides are placed flat in these pits ; and a quantity 
 of powdered oak-bark (the most important tanning material in 
 common use) being placed between them, water is let in, which 
 forms a solution with the bark, called ooze. The skins are fre- 
 quently turned, taken out and left to drain, or handled, as it is 
 called, and placed in pits containing ooze, gradually increasing 
 in strength ; until, in the course of from nine to fifteen months 
 for strong hides, the whole of the skin or dermis has disappeai-ed, 
 by the gradual combination of the gelatin and the tannin. When 
 the tanning is complete, they are rinsed with water, and hung 
 up in lofts to dry. Once or twice during the drying, the skin is 
 placed on a cylindrical horse, and struclc or smoothed with a 
 triangular steel knife ; the surface being occasionally spirinkled 
 with a bunch of butchers' broom dipped in water. This brings 
 what is called the bloom to the surface, and produces that peculiar 
 colour which we see in new sole leather. The hides are next 
 condensed under a weighted roller (fig. 256), and are then ready 
 for the market. 
 
 The hghter hides or kips, and that description of leather used 
 by the shoemaker, coach-maker, harness-maker, &c., are finished 
 by the currier, who throws the skin over an upright wooden 
 beam, faced with lignum vitse (fig. 257), and shaves it on the 
 flesh side with a knife (fig. 258), the edge of which has been 
 turned over at right angles to the broad blade. By this means, 
 the skin is reduced in thickness, and the rough flesh side made 
 tolerably smooth and even. The skin is then thrown into water, 
 and, after soaking, is stretched upon a large table, and worked 
 with a tool called a stretcldng iron. Lumps and inequalities in 
 the leather are thus got rid of, and the skin is extended ; both 
 
 sides of the skin are smeared with a mixture of cod-oil and 
 tallow, after which it is worked with a number of tools prepa- 
 ratory to laying on the colour, or blacking, which is a mixture of 
 oil, lamp-black, and tallow. A black colour is also produced by 
 applying to the skin a solution of sulphate of iron ; which, 
 uniting with the gallic acid of the tan, forms an ink dye. The 
 immense demand for thin leathers, such as ivliite and dyed leather 
 for gloves, morocco for coach lining, book-binding, pocket-books, 
 &c., roan for slippers, &c., skiver for hat-lining, and shamoij, or 
 wash leather, is supplied by various processes. White leather 
 is not tanned, but tawed ; or treated with a mixture of alum 
 and salt in a large drum (fig. 264), and after having been washed 
 and dried, the skins are returned to the drinn, where they are 
 churned with a paste of the finest wheat flour, and the yolks of 
 eggs. This produces the glossy finish and softness of white kid, 
 which is further developed by working it upon a rounded iron, 
 mounted upon an upright beam (fig. 260). 
 
 Preparatory to tawing, &c., the skins must be freed from hair, 
 wool, grease, &c. ; and when thoroughly cleansed, they form what 
 is called pelt. Sheep-skins, from which imitation morocco is pre- 
 pared, are divided or split by means of a machine (fig. 266). It 
 consists essentially of two rollers ; the lower one solid, and the 
 upper one composed of rings. These cylinders rotate slowly ; 
 and between them, but not in contact with them, is a knife 
 which is made to move rapidly to and fro along the length of 
 the cylinder. Standing on the opposite side to the knife, the 
 man spreads out a skin on the lower roller, when it is dragged 
 forward against the edge of the knife, and divided ; one half 
 going above, and the other below the blade. The rings which 
 form the uj^per roller, allow of adjustments depending on the 
 varying thickness of the skin. Sheep-skins are sometimes split 
 into three ; the grain side being used for skiver, &c., the middle 
 for parchment, and the flesh side for glue. 
 
 Goat-skins tanned with sumach and dyed on the grain side, 
 form the best morocco. Sumach consists of the powder of the 
 leaves and young branches of shrubs growing in the south of 
 Europe, and known as lUms cofintis, Fenus simaeli, or the wild 
 olive, &c. The pelts are made up into bags, and these, being 
 filled with a solution of sumach, are placed in the suntach-tiib 
 (fig. 262), where they are agitated by a stirrer moving backwards 
 and forwards. After about three hours, they are taken out, and 
 piled on a shelf at the side of the vat ; their mutual pressure 
 causing the sumach to escape through the pores, and thus assist 
 the tanning. After being treated with a stronger solution for 
 about nine hours, the tanning is complete. When dry, they are 
 finished by various processes, such as scraping and rubbing and 
 oihng ; the grained or ribbed appearance peculiar to morocco 
 being given by rubbing the surface with a ball of box-wood 
 furnished with ridges (fig. 263). The skins are dyed in the form 
 of pelt, with a mordant of tin or alum, and cochineal for red, 
 indigo for blue, orchil for purple, &c. Dressing in oil, or shamoij- 
 ing, consists in soaking the skin in water, and then rubbing oil 
 or grease into its pores. As the water evaporates, the fat com- 
 bines with the fibres of the skin, and converts it into leather. 
 This process was originally applied to the skin of the chamois 
 goat, and gave rise to the term chamois or shamoy leather. This 
 kind of leather will bear washing, even when dyed, and is hence 
 also called wash leather. 
 
 The demand for leather is large and constant : it forms an im- 
 portant part of our clothing, furnishes harness to horses, hnings 
 to carriages, covers to books, enters into the construction of 
 various engines, machines, and articles of household furniture ; 
 so that we need not be surprised to find the manufacture in this 
 country second in importance only to that of cotton and of wool, 
 and about equal to that of iron. In the year 1856, the value of 
 our exports in leather amounted to 1,757,063/. sterling. 
 
XVIII.— PAECHMENT. 
 
 Parchment must always be interesting for the many services 
 whicli it has rendered to literature. Had it not been for the 
 comparative indestructibility of this siibstance, the many wise 
 and beautiful compositions of the ancients, which exerted so 
 much influence in recovering Europe from the oppressive 
 influences of the dark ages, could not have been transmitted. 
 Even when the rude hand of ignorance erased the writing for the 
 purpose of engrossing some superstitious legend on the parch- 
 ment, it has still been possible to trace the marks of the original 
 writing, beneath the monkish legend. In this way, valuable 
 works apparently lost to the world have been recovered. 
 
 The skins of most animals are adapted to the making of parch- 
 ment ; but as most of them are more valuable for making leather, 
 the sheepskin, so abundant in this country, is commonly employed 
 by the parchment-maker. The skins of calves, kids, and dead- 
 born lambs furnish the finer kind of parchment known as vellum. 
 The skin of the ass, the calf, or the wolf famishes the stout 
 parchment used for drum-heads ; ass's skin also supplies the 
 parchment for battledores. The skins are unhaired either by 
 sweating, or by steeping in lime, and this alkali also combines 
 
 with the fat. The skin is then stretched upon a wooden frame, 
 called a lierse, in the manner shown in fig. 267, and a man, called 
 the skinner, furnished with what is called a half-moon knife (fig. 
 259), scrapes the skin so as to get rid of fleshy substances, dirt, 
 and slime. The herse is then placed upon iressels (fig. 269), is 
 sprinkled on the flesh side with powdered chalk or slaked lime, 
 and well rubbed with a flat surface of pumice-stone ; this is called 
 grinding. The grain side of the skin is ground with pumice only. 
 The knife is next passed over the skin, which produces a whitening 
 efi'ect, called draining. Fine chalk is next rubbed over both sides 
 of the skin, and it is set aside to dry. The skin is next cut out of 
 the frame, and a man, called the parchment-maker, stretches it upon 
 a frame, called a sumner, and passes over the grain a sharp circular 
 knife, paring off" about half the substance of the skin, and leaving 
 a smooth surface. Should any roughnesses appeal-, they are 
 smoothed down with pumice, and the holes, if any, are closed by 
 cutting the edges thin, and attaching small pieces of parchment 
 with gum water. The green parchment used in bookbinding is 
 coloured by means of verdigris. White of egg or gum water is 
 rubbed over to give the polish. 
 
 XIX.— GLUE. 
 
 Gelatine, the basis of portable soup, is made by boiling in 
 water certain animal tissues and the waste residue of parts of 
 animals which have served for food, together with the clippings 
 of hides, hoofs, horns ; feet of calves, cows, sheep, pigs ; various 
 membranes, and the waste particles in the carving and turning of 
 ivory, &c. Isinglass is prepared from the membranes of different 
 species of fish, especially of the sturgeon family. Glue is obtained 
 from the same sources which furnish gelatine, assisted by the 
 coarser refuse of the knacker's yard, the refuse from the skins of 
 cats, dogs, &c. 
 
 When the water in which these substances have been boiled is 
 allowed to cool, it forms a tremulous jelly, called size. When the 
 size is purified by means of sulpliurous acid, and is dried in thin 
 layers, it is used as a substitute for isinglass. Without such 
 purification, the dried slices form glue. 
 
 When the animal refuse arrives at the glue-maker's, it is steeped 
 in lime, washed in water, and placed on hurdles to dry. The 
 glue-maker is not anxious to get rid of all the lime, since by 
 exposure to the air it forms chalk, and he does not object to the 
 presence of that substance in the glue. The boiling is carried on 
 in a large iron cauldron ; but the animal matters are not thrown 
 into the water of the cauldron, or they would be liable to become 
 attached to the sides and burn. A large rope bag or net is placed 
 within the cauldron, and into this the animal matters are thrown : 
 water is admitted, and is gradually raised to the boiling point ; 
 and as the clippings, &c., subside, fresh quantities are added, with 
 occasional stirrings. A portion of the water is taken out from 
 time to time ; and when this cools into a clear jelly, the mouth of 
 the bag is closed with cords, and the bag itself is wound up and 
 made partly to coil round a beam (fig. 270), where it is left to 
 drain. The contents of the bag are boiled a second and a third 
 
 time for size, and once more for adding to a new bagful of animal 
 matters ; and when everything soluble has thus been boiled out, 
 the contents of the bag are sent to the manufacturer of manures, 
 who has risen into importance under the present improved and 
 complicated system of agriculture. The solution of glue in the 
 cauldron is run off into a setting-back, where it is clarified, and then 
 run off into long narrow wooden coolers : when cold, it is cut into 
 square cakes, and the cakes into slices, by means of a brass wire 
 (fig. 271), and the slices being placed upon nets, stretched in 
 wooden frames, are removed to the glue-maker's f eld (fig. 272), 
 and are placed in piles under a movable roof. The pile is taken to 
 pieces two or three times a day, and the glue is turned to prevent 
 it from sinking into the net, which, as it is, leaves its well-known 
 mark upon the surface. The drying of glue is rather an uncertain 
 operation in our variable climate. When about three-fourths of 
 the moisture has evaporated, the drying is completed in lofts. 
 Some weeks or months may even elapse before it is sufficiently 
 hard for the market. During all this exposure to the air, the 
 surface becomes dirty and mouldy. The glue is therefore scoured 
 (fig. 268) with a scrubbing-brush and hot water, and lastly dried 
 at a stove-heat. 
 
 In the Great Exhibition of 1851, large quantities of gelatine for 
 ornamental purposes were shown in the French department, 
 among which we may notice the thin white transparent sheets of 
 papier-glace or ice-paper for copying drawings, dyed, silvered, or 
 gilt gelatines for various purposes, among which was the making 
 of artificial or fancy flowers. There were large groups of gelatine 
 flowers, richly coloiired, and closely imitative of nature ; but the 
 glittering, semi-transparent material gave them all a drenched 
 appearance. 
 
XX.— GLASS. 
 
 In the eighth century, Wilfrid, Bishop of Worcester, siibsti- 
 tuted glass in the windows of his cathedral for the heavy wooden 
 shutters, which were in common use, not only in his time, but 
 for eight centux'ies later. The people gazed with astonishment 
 on a substance which filtered the light from the wind and the 
 rain ; and were disposed to attribute the production of the 
 transparent material to the powers of magic, rather than to the 
 wit of man. And truly glass is a beautiful and a wonderful 
 substance. Produced from materials which are themselves 
 opaque, it can be moulded, blown, or worked into ti'ansparent 
 vessels of large size, great strength, and beautiful form. A ves- 
 sel of glass is the proper receptacle for that best of beverages, 
 pure water, for in it the eye is at once satisfied of its purity. 
 The numerous articles of glass in domestic use promote cleanli- 
 ness and comfort ; for nothing is so offensive to the eye as dirty 
 glass. Even the mirrors which adorn our walls help us to pre- 
 serve our persons iu neatness and cleanliness. By means of glass 
 the eye of age regains something of its youthful vigour : by 
 means of glass the two extremes of the vast and the minute un- 
 fold their wonders in the telescope and the microscope : by means 
 of glass the natural philosopher and the chemist have wrested 
 innumerable secrets from nature : by means of glass, the 
 soUtary lamp of a light-house marks out the distant horizon 
 with its luminous fingers, and warns the navigator of rocks and 
 shoals. 
 
 Glass is a compound of siliceous sand, with a mixture of an 
 alkali and an earthy base, or with the oxide of one of the heavy 
 metals, such as lead. The sand acts the part of an acid (silicic 
 acid), and, by combination with the base, forms a class of com- 
 pounds known as silicates. Thus flint or crystal glass is a 
 silicate of potash and oxide of lead ; common icindoio or English 
 crown glass, and plate glass, are a silicate of soda and lime, or a 
 silicate of potash, soda, and lime ; while coarse green wine-bottle 
 glass is a silicate of soda, lime, alumina, and oxide of iron. 
 The use of the lead is to impart brilliancy and fusibility to 
 silicates which, by themselves, would be infusible. Lime and 
 alumina confer hardness, and iron gives a dark colour. Potash 
 and soda also assist the fusibility of glass. 
 
 Flint glass formerly obtained its sihca fi'om flints, which were 
 calcined and ground. Fine sea sand, as free as possible from 
 iron stains, is now used. The potash is in the form of the car- 
 bonate, and the lead in the form of the red oxide. These 
 materials being carefully mixed and sifted, form what is called 
 the hatch or frit ; this is melted in pots of refractory clay (fig. 
 273), hooded over so as to protect the materials from the direct 
 action of the fire ; and having a mouth projecting from the fur- 
 nace into the glass-house. The horse-shoe pieces shown in the 
 figure are for contracting the mouth of the glass-pot when 
 required (fig. 273). A flint glass-pot will contain about eighteen 
 cwt. of melted glass. 
 
 Articles in flint glass are first formed by blowing, and they are 
 afterwards woi'ked into shape with the assistance of a few simple 
 tools. The blowing tube is of iron, from four to five feet in 
 length, with a bore of from one-third of an inch to an inch in 
 diameter. The end of this being heated nearly to redness, it is 
 introduced into the pot of glass or metal, as the workman calls 
 it, a portion of which adheres to it ; and, by turning it round, 
 he can gather up as much as he requires. He then rolls the 
 glass upon a slab of cast iron, called the marver, in order to give 
 it a regular exterior surface, and to produce a regular thickness 
 when expanded by blowing. Applying his mouth to the tube, he 
 expands the glass into a globular shape. When the size of the 
 required vessel has been attained by blowing, a boy dips the end of 
 a solid rod called a ponti/ into the glass-pot ; and, gathering up a 
 
 small quantity of the metal, attaches it to the blown glass, at a 
 point exactly opposite the blowing iron. The latter is now detached 
 by a drop or two of water, which chills and contracts the glass so as 
 to allow the blowing iron to crack off. The workman now seats 
 himself in his chair (fig. 274), rests the ponty on the two sloping 
 arms, and rolls it backwards and forwards ; so as to give a rotatory 
 motion to the glass vessel, and jaroceeds to finish the neck ; occa- 
 sionally holding the vessel in the mouth of the furnace, so as 
 to soften the glass when it has become too hard for working. 
 The tools used are represented separately in fig. 278. The first 
 is merely a fork for carrying the finished article to the annealing 
 oven ; the second is a flat surface of wood called a battledore, 
 and is used for giving a flat surface to the bottom of vessels ; 
 such as a wine-glass. There is also a pair of shears for cutting 
 off superfluous metal, finishing the edges of tumblers, &c. ; the 
 glass, when at the proper temiDerature, being as easily cut as 
 leather. The fourth tool, called the pucellas, resembles a pair of 
 spring sugar-tongs : this tool is used to open or close the insides 
 of hollow ve.ssels, and to shape the vessel as it is rotated on the 
 inclined planes of the chair, and for many other purposes. The 
 fifth is called a spring-tool ; it is a kind of tongs used for laying 
 hold of half-formed handles, and for seizing the glass in certain 
 positions. The glass-blower has also a pair of compasses, and a 
 neasiire-sticlc. When the vessel is brought to shape, handles, 
 feet, rings, &c., are attached by welding by contact, which is one 
 of the valuable properties of glass at about a red heat. The various 
 operations of the glass-house are represented in fig. 276. Bottles 
 are made in a mould (fig. 279), consisting of two parts, which 
 fall open, except when jjressed together by placing the foot on 
 the treadle. In blowing a bottle, the man gathers up a sufQcient 
 quantity of glass upon his blowing iron, inserts the glass into 
 the open mould, presses the two parts together with his foot (fig. 
 277), and, by blowing, causes the glass to swell out and line the 
 interior surface of the mould. 
 
 When glass is rapidly cooled, it becomes so brittle that it is 
 entirely unfit for use. This inconvenient property is removed 
 by the process of annealing, or slow cooling. The annealing oven 
 (fig. 280) is a long low arch, hot at one end and gradually cooling 
 towards the other end. As the articles of glass are finished, they 
 are put into iron trays at the hot end of the arch ; and, as these 
 become full, they are pushed forward by other trays, until, after 
 many hours, they arrive at the cool end of the arch, and are fit 
 for use. 
 
 Flint glass vessels are ornamented by the glass-cutter, who 
 grinds away portions of the glass, by means of an iron wheel, 
 constantly sup^ilied with sand and water. The rough sand-marks 
 are smoothed out by a stone-wheel with water ; and the cutting 
 is finished on wooden wheels with i-otten stone, putty-powder, 
 &c. The ornamentation of glass is, for the most part, a mistake 
 in art ; the material is so pure, the best forms are so simple, and 
 the surface is so exquisitely finished by the heat of the furnace, 
 that the attempt to superadd ornaments usually detracts from 
 these valuable qualities. The idea of the glass-cutter is to in- 
 crease the brilliancy of the material by forming the surface into 
 facets, and thus rivalling the lustre of gems and precious stones. 
 There may be some advantage in this, if done judiciously ; but 
 one of the chief faults of our workshops is that of over-orna- 
 mentation. 
 
 Crown glass is formed by blowing a globe at the end of the 
 blowing-iron, transferring this to the ponty ; and by causing the 
 globe to rotate on a horizontal axis before the mouth of a furnace, 
 it flies open into a large sheet or table with a noise something 
 like that produced by opening a wet umbrella. Another method, 
 known as the cylindrical process, is represented in fig. 281. A 
 
GLASS. 
 
 67 
 
 quantity of metal being collected at the end of a blowing-iron, 
 as in No. 1, fig. 282, this is blown into the form No. 2, which is 
 elongated by centrifugal force into the form No. 3. The man 
 then forces an additional quantity of air into this elongated 
 vessel, and, applying his thumb to the end of the tube, holds 
 the glass in the furnace as represented in fig. 281, when the 
 imprisoned air, expanding under the heat, bursts open the end 
 or thinnest portion of the glass. The uneven edge is trimmed 
 with scissors, and enlarged with the pucellas, until it is brought 
 to the shape No. 4, fig. 282. The neck is removed by turning a 
 red-hot iron round the part, and allowing a little water to fall 
 on] the heated glass. Water is also passed down the length of 
 the cylinder so as to crack it preparatory to opening it ; and it 
 is now in the condition of No. 5, after which it is taken to a 
 furnace, placed on what is called a Jiatting hearth, where it is 
 ojDcned, and spread out into flat sheets of glass. The magnificent 
 glass shades represented in fig. 288, some of which are five feet 
 and upwards in height, were formed by this process. If these 
 large shades are to be preserved as such, each one is placed in 
 a frame (figs. 283, 285), where, being supported in the one case 
 horizontally, and in the other vertically, a mounted diamond is 
 made to act against the side so as to reduce it to shape, and to 
 the proper proportions. 
 
 Plate-glass is formed by collecting a quantity of the molten 
 metal in a glass-pot or cistern, and swinging it by means of a 
 crane over a metal table, furnished at the sides with ribs of 
 metal to prevent the glass from flowing off, and also with a 
 roller for rolling it out flat. The cistern is tilted over, and a 
 torrent of melted glass is poured upon the table, producing a 
 very fine efiect ; when rolled out into a sheet of uniform breadth 
 and thickness, it is pushed off the casting-table upon a wooden 
 platform and so conveyed to the anneahng oven, where it 
 remains flat on the floor for about five days. After this, the 
 plate undergoes a laborious system of grinding and polishing 
 before it is fit for silvering. 
 
 The application of lenses to light-houses (fig. 286) is an 
 improvement on the old system of Argand lamps and metallic 
 
 reflectors. In this arrangement there is a single central lamp 
 consisting of four concentric wicks, furnishing a large volume of 
 flame. Round this central lamp lenses are arranged so as to 
 form an octagonal hollow prism, which, revolving round the 
 fixed central flame, gives to a distant observer successive flashes 
 or blazes of light, whenever one of the octagonal faces crosses a 
 line joining his eye and the lamp. The difiiculty of making 
 these large lenses suf&ciently accurate in form in one piece, led 
 to the suggestion of building iip a lens in separate pieces, the 
 result of which has been quite successful. 
 
 Far more difficult is the manufacture of glass for optical 
 purposes ; and the difficulties increase with the size ; so much 
 so, that the production of the large object-glass of a telescope 
 free from little specks and inequalities known as stria>, wreaths, 
 knots, threads, and tears, and imperfections arising from want of 
 uniform density in the glass, is all but impossible. The maker 
 of an object-glass eleven or twelve inches in diameter, recently 
 offered it to the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, for the sum of 
 1,100 guineas, and the price would gladly have been paid, had 
 the glass been free from defect. We have not succeeded in 
 producing glass of the pellucid clearness of Nature's workman- 
 ship, as in the mass of rock-crystal, fig. 287; and we are only 
 conscious of our defects v^hen we come to examine her works, 
 and find it necessary to employ that perfection which she com- 
 mands in producing them. The glass fountain of the Crystal 
 Palace, fig. 284, may sparkle in the sunshine and cast its rainbow 
 tints around; but such a work is rude and clumsy in the 
 extreme when compared with the exquisite instruments which, 
 while they imitate, vastly extend the powers of that most 
 exquisite of oi'ganic structures, the human eye. Some years ago 
 M. Guinand, a clock-maker of Brenets, near Neufchatel, in 
 Switzerland, succeeded in making disks of flint-glass six inches 
 in diameter, of great purity. He kept his method secret, and 
 only imparted it to his sons on his death-bed. They have since 
 shared it with other persons, and the effect has certainly been 
 to improve the manufacture of optical glass. 
 
299. VASE TOUND AMONG THE EUUtS OF ANTIKOE. 
 
 300. TUNISIAH POTTEBY, 
 
POTTERY AND PORCELAIN. 
 
 69 
 
XXI.— POTTERY AND PORCELAIN. 
 
 As in digging into the earth we may sometimes turn up the 
 fossil renaains of animals and plants which illustrate a former 
 condition of the surface of the globe, so we may also turn up 
 urns and utensils of baked earth which throw light on the 
 condition of its ancient inhabitants, whom the histoi'ian has 
 neglected to notice, or has passed lightly by. It is curious 
 that a piece of common pottery ware, which a slight blow 
 might shiver to pieces, should be far more enduring than 
 epitaphs in brass and efSgies in bronze ; that the mound of 
 earth erected to the foi'gotten warrior or chieftain should be 
 more enduring than the deeds of kings, pictured on the walls of 
 stately palaces. Monuments of brass and of iron rust away ; 
 silver and gold temjDt the cupidity of the thief ; stone crumbles 
 imder the disintegrating effects of the atmosphere ; ink fades, 
 and paper decays ; but the fictile vase deposited in some quiet 
 recej)tacle survives the changes of history and of chemistry, and 
 even in its fragments preserves some traces of the hand that 
 moulded it. Fig. 290 represents the interior of one of the green 
 mounds or tumuli so common in the north of Germany, and the 
 kind of vessels found therein. The latter probably contained the 
 ashes of the dead, as no skeleton or bones were found in them ; 
 but in many cases the skeleton still remains, with vases at the 
 feet and head, or hanging on pegs from the sides of the tomb. 
 Fig. 294 shows one form of arrangement of vases in a tomb 
 where the body had been burnt, and the ashes deposited in a 
 central urn surrounded by other vessels, the four smaller ones 
 being inclined towards the larger one in the centre ; the other 
 vessels were of glass or of pottery, and had contained such 
 liquids as wine, milk, balm, oil, &c. Excavations among the 
 ruins of ancient cities have led to the discovery of innumerable 
 clay records of early nations. Thus Layard discovered a whole 
 library in the palace of Sennacherib, containing histories, deeds, 
 almanacs, spelling-books, vocabularies, inventories, horoscopes, 
 receipts, letters, &c. Altogether about 20,000 of these clay books 
 of the Assyrians have been discovered ; and on the impressions 
 of seals on some of the royal muniments may still be traced the 
 marks of fingers, made while the clay was yet moist. 
 
 The word pottery is dei'ived from the Latin jjotum, a drinking- 
 vessel ; and the earliest employment of earthen vessels was 
 doubtless for the common purposes of domestic use. Many of 
 those dug up in this country are of Roman workmanshijD, such 
 as the fusiform cmpliora (fig. 298) ; others owe their origin to a 
 period anterior to the Roman invasion, such as the urn (fig. 301), 
 made of a thick black clay, ornamented with some tool, but evi- 
 dently not turned : this, together with fig. 296, contained bones, 
 ashes, and charcoal. Roman pottery is distinguished by the 
 greater care in the workmanship and the superiority of the 
 material ; the elegant vase, fig. 293, is of this kind, while fig. 291 
 shows the method of ornamenting in a different coloured clay, 
 such as a flowering bi'anch in white clay on a vessel of the 
 ordinary red pottery. In this respect Greek pottery is pre- 
 eminent, as in fig. 289, in which the figures are red on a black 
 ground. Fig. 299 is a specimen of ancient Egyptian pottery 
 unglazed ; and fig. 292, which represents a specimen of Indian 
 black pottery, shows that, as in our own day, a liquid glaze was 
 employed, the specimen pi-oving that a portion of it originally 
 flowed down the unglazed side of the vessel. Many of these 
 ancient forms are perpetuated by Eastern nations at the present 
 day, as will be seen by reference to the ware from Tunis, fig. 300. 
 
 Porcelain is only a superior kind of pottery ; but it is distin- 
 guished by being translucent, while every form of pottery is 
 opaque. The origin of the word porcelain is uncertain : some 
 refer it to jiorcelluna, the Portuguese for a drinking-cup ; others 
 to the same word in Italian, which signifies a univalve shell of 
 the genus Cyprioedse, or cowries, having a high-arched back hke 
 
 that of a hog {'porco in Italian), and a white, smooth, vitreous 
 glossiness of surface. Pottery is grouped as soft and liard—t&vras 
 which have reference to the composition of the ware and the 
 temperature at which it is baked ; thus, common bricks, earthen- 
 ware, such as pipkins, pans, &c., are soft ; while fire-brick, and 
 crockery, such as Queen's ware, stone-ware, &c., are hard. 
 
 The essential ingredients in every article of pottery and of 
 porcelain are silica and alumina, or flint and clay. The pure 
 silicate of alumina is an ideal type not attained even in the 
 finest porcelain, while in the coarser varieties such impurities as 
 iron, lime, potash, &c., are not much regarded, although they 
 give character to the wares. In some cases it is necessary to add 
 to the compound of silica and alumina certain substances for 
 rendering those refractory materials more fusible. Soft pottery 
 is composed of silica, alumina, and hme ; it is usually fusible at 
 the heat at which porcelain is baked, and can be scratched with 
 a knife or a file. Stone-ware is a kind of coarse porcelain, and is 
 composed of silica, alumina, and baryta. Hard porcelain con- 
 tains more alumina and less sihca than the soft ; it is fired at 
 a higher temperature, and is more dense. Soft j^orcelain con- 
 tains more sihca and alkaline fluxes than the hard ; it can 
 be readily scratched with a knife, and cannot resist a very 
 high temperature. 
 
 Glazes form an important part of fictile ware. When the 
 article has been properly shaped, and passed once through the 
 fire, it forms a hard porous substance, named biscuit. Glazing, 
 or glassing, consists in covering the ware with a thin layer of 
 glass, which deprives it of its porosity. In the translucent 
 wares, such as fine porcelain, the glaze must resemble in 
 character the body of the ware, only it must fuse at a lower 
 temperature. 
 
 In such a case, the biscuit being white, the glaze must be so 
 also ; whereas in pottery-ware the paste is contaminated with 
 protoxide of iron, which, under the oxidizing influence of heat, 
 becomes converted into the red peroxide, the result of which is 
 a red biscuit, which is concealed by opaque or coloured glazes. 
 These do not, as in the case of fine porcelain, form part of the 
 ware itself, but constitute a distinct layer on its surface. It will 
 be understood, then, that in the case of porcelain and fine pottery 
 the wares pass twice through the kiln : in the first firing they are 
 converted into biscuit ; they are then coated with their orna- 
 ments, and covered with glaze, which on the second firing become 
 vitrified. Coarse pottery, however, is not sufiiciently valuable to 
 admit of two firings. The glaze is therefore added while the ware 
 is still in the kiln, at a high temperature. For this purpose 
 moist salt is thrown into the kiln, and becoming volatilized^and 
 decomposed in the presence of moisture and of hot clay, hydro- 
 chloric acid is disengaged, the silica of the ware unites with the 
 soda of the salt, and this, combining with the silicate of the alu- 
 mina, forms a fusible double alkaline silicate or glaze on the 
 surface of the articles. 
 
 The clays used in the Staffordshire potteries are obtained from 
 Devonshire and Dorsetshire, the latter furnishing brow?i and blue 
 clays, and the former black and cracking clays. The black clay 
 contains a little bitumen or coaly matter, which disappears in 
 the kiln and produces a nearly white biscuit. Cracking clay is 
 liable to crack during the first burning, but its white colom* 
 renders it valuable for mixing with other clays. Brown clay is 
 liable to the objection of crazing or cracking of the glaze, from the 
 unequal expansion between the glaze and the body of the ware. 
 For ordinary purposes blue clay is in great request ; but for the 
 finer kinds of earthenware the China clay, or kaolin, of Cornwall, 
 consisting of felspar in a partially decomposed state, is much 
 employed. It is a white, impalpable powder, containing 60 parts 
 of alumina, and 20 of silica. 
 
POTTERY AND 
 
 The silica used for mixing with the clays is obtained frona the 
 flints of the chalk district. The mineral Fegmatite contains all 
 the materials for hard porcelain ready mixed. 
 
 The preparation of the materials involves a number of pro- 
 cesses, and much care and judgment on the part of the manu- 
 facturer. The different kinds of clay, such as blue and white, 
 being mixed in the proper proportions, are worked together with 
 water by means of a long wooden blade, called a blu7>ger or pbivger, 
 and the operation is called blunging (fig. 302). To assist the 
 blunging, the clay is sometimes passed through a pug-mill (fig. 
 303), consisting of a cast-iron cylinder, lined with knives, and 
 furnished with an upright shaft in the centre, also furnished with 
 a spiral line of knives. These knives act like shears, and cut the 
 clay, as it passes from the top downwards (fig. 304), into small 
 pieces, which are forced out through an opening at the bottom 
 of the cyhnder, whence it is removed to a vat for the blunging. 
 
 The flints are prepared by calcining in a kiln, quenching in 
 water to increase their brittleness, and reducing them to frag- 
 ments by means of the stampers, fig. 306. These fragments are 
 reduced to powder in a flint-pan, figs. 307, 308, consisting of a 
 circular vat, the bottom of which is formed of felspar, and con- 
 taining in the centre an upright shaft with four jjrojecting arms 
 or frames, by which motion is given to the runners. These are 
 large siliceous stones, called chert, and serve to grind the flints to 
 powder by their lower surfaces crushing the flints against the 
 bottom of the vat. In the course of some hours the flints are 
 reduced to powder, which, mixing with the water of the vat, 
 forms a creamy mixture. The flint-powder is considered fit to 
 mix with the clay when a wine pint of it weighs 32 oz., an equal 
 bulk of the diluted clay weighing 24 oz. These two ingredients 
 are mixed by agitation, and jjassed through sieves of hard-spun 
 silk, arranged on different levels, as shown in fig. 305, so as to 
 allow the mixture to pass from coarser to finer sieves, the straining 
 being assisted by a jigging motion given to the sieves. The 
 mixture is now called slip, and has next to be brought to the 
 proper degree of thickness required by the potter. For this 
 purpose it is boiled in a slip-lciln (fig. 309) ; it consists of a long 
 brick trough, with flues under it for heating the mixture : it is 
 kept constantly agitated to prevent the heavier flint from settling, 
 and when a sufficient quantity of water has been evaporated, the 
 mixture is taken out and subjected to the process of tcedging. 
 This consists in cutting up the mass in the slip-kiln into wedges, 
 and dashing them against each other, so as to get rid of air- 
 bubbles, which would otherwise form blisters in the ware. This 
 wedging is carried on at intervals during several months, and 
 during this ageing of the paste a fermentation takes place ; gases 
 are given off", and the paste improves in texture and in colour. 
 When the paste is about to be used, it is passed through the 
 process of slapping, in which a man takes up a mass of 60 or 
 70 lbs. weight and dashes it down on the bench before him, 
 dividing it frequently by drawing a wire through it and dashing 
 down one fragment upon the other, taking care to preserve the 
 grain of the paste, that is, to slap the layers parallel to each 
 other, and not at an angle ; for if this were not attended to, the 
 ware would be liable to fall to pieces in the baking. 
 
 The first process in the manufacture of earthenware vessels 
 is throwing. It is performed by means of the patterns roheel or 
 lathe, fig. 310, which consists of an upright shaft with a disk of 
 wood at the top, and a grooved pulley at the bottom, over which 
 passes a baud from a wheel, the revolution of which imparts 
 the required degree of speed to the shaft and its top-board. 
 The paste, as furnished by the slapper, is weighed out into 
 portions of the proper dimensions for the required article, and 
 rolled up into balls ; the thrower, seated at his work, as shown in 
 fig. 310, dashes one of these balls upon the centre of the revolving 
 board, and with both hands squeezes up the clay into a conical 
 form, and again forces it down into a mass in order to give it 
 solidity. With one hand, or with the finger and thumb, in the 
 mass he gives the first rude form to the vessel ; and then with a 
 piece of horn called a rib, which has the profile of the shape of | 
 
 PORCELAIN. 71 
 
 the vessel, he smooths the inner surface, the attendant mean- 
 while moving the wheel at different rates of speed, according to 
 the direction of the thrower. In order to give the vessels the 
 same height, the thrower has before him a simple gauge, the 
 point of which marks the height of the intended vessel. It is 
 obvious, from the nature of the process, that the thrower can 
 only produce circular vessels, such as basins, tea-cups, &c., the 
 ornaments, handles, &c., to which, being added by an aftei- pro- 
 cess. As soon as one vessel is complete, it is cut off" at the 
 base by passing under it a fine brass wire, and the thrower 
 proceeds to work another ball. The process of throwing may be 
 further illustrated by means of figs. 311, 312. In order to form 
 the lower part of the vase D, fig. 312, the thrower dashes upon 
 his wheel the lump of clay A, fig. 311. This is worked into the 
 conical mass B ; then into the rude cup C, and lastly into D. 
 The portion E, of fig. 312, is represented on the wheel at E, fig. 
 311. It will be observed that in all the figures on the wheel a 
 spiral grain is given to the clay, which is best adapted to retain 
 the form of the plastic material. There is always a tendency to 
 distortion during the baking, which may be estimated by draw- 
 ing a vertical line, or two points in the same vertical, upon the 
 soft clay vessel : it will be found after the firing that these two 
 points are no longer in the same vertical ; the lower point will 
 have moved more towards the right than the other ; a fact so 
 well known to the workmen, that in sticking on handles to 
 vessels, they place them somewhat askew, and the distortion 
 produced by the contraction in firing, restores them to their 
 erect position. 
 
 It will be observed that the members D, E, fig. 311, are much 
 thicker than the corresponding parts in fig. 312. They cannot be 
 produced so thin in the operation of throwing, but are reduced by 
 being put into a turning-lathe and worked with cutting-tools just 
 in the same manner as articles in wood, ivory, and metal, are 
 produced by turning. In this way the outer surfaces of cups, 
 &c., acquire that finish and polish, together with rings and other 
 ornaments capable of being produced in this way. By the 
 process known as engine-turning, variety is given to the rim, and 
 various kinds of indentations are produced. 
 
 The articles are still in the green state, as it is called, and 
 handles, spouts, and other additions are attached to them by 
 means of slip. The pa.ste for the handles is first formed into a 
 long cylinder or other form, by forcing it through a metal tube 
 at a small press, and then cutting it up into lengths and bending 
 them to the required shape. Ornamental handles, &c., may be 
 formed by pressing the paste into plaster of Paris or steel 
 moulds (fig. 316). 
 
 The second method of forming articles in earthenware is by 
 pressing, which is the same operation on a larger scale as the 
 method just noticed of forming ornaments in plaster moulds. 
 Plates and dishes are made by this method. Deep vessels, such 
 as ewers, vases, &c., are formed in moulds generally made in four 
 parts, fitting accurately together. The paste is rolled out much 
 in the same way as in preparing the crust of a pie; and each 
 section of the mould being carefully lined with it, the edges are 
 trimmed and moistened with slip, and the parts of the mould 
 are carefully brought together and secured by a strap. The 
 presser then passes his finger up each joint so as to form a 
 channel into which a thin roll of clay is inserted. This is worked 
 in, first by the finger and thumb, and then smoothed with moist 
 leather. Fig. 319 shows the presser at work, while figs. 313, 314, 
 and 317 show the moulds or portions thereof The mould is 
 placed in a warm room, and when sufficiently dry is taken to 
 pieces, and the article is removed to be fettled or trimmed with 
 proper tools, to get rid of the appearance of seams and to 
 remove superfluous portions of clay. The article is then cleaned 
 and polished with a moist sponge, the handles and other 
 appendages are added, and lastly it is polished with horn, and 
 is set aside to dry previous to baking. 
 
 There is yet another method of forming articles in earthen- 
 ware, namely, by casting. The paste, being mixed with water, i? 
 
POTTEKY AND POECELAIN. 
 
 73 
 
74 
 
 POTTERY AND POECELAIN. 
 
 poured into a mould, the plaster of which quickly absorbs a 
 sufficient portion of the water of the mixture, to leave on its 
 walls a thin lining of the paste thus suddenly removed from 
 solution. The fluid portion in the mould is then quickly poured 
 off ; and when the delicate lining is sufficiently dry, the mould is 
 again filled with the fluid mixture, and again quickly emptied. 
 The mould is then placed in a stove, and when dry it is taken to 
 pieces, and the object removed. Statuettes and other articles 
 are formed in this way. 
 
 The processes above described apply to porcelain paste as well 
 as to pottery ; so that we may now pass on to the process of 
 firing. The articles in the green state are kept in a heated room 
 until they have parted with much of their moisture. When 
 sufficiently dry, they are placed in coarse strong vessels of marl, 
 called seggars, for the purpose of protecting them from the 
 direct action of the fire and the jjroducts of combustion. Most 
 of the seggars are oval in shape (fig. 321), but those used for 
 i:)lates are cylindrical. The articles are prevented from touching 
 each other by placing between them sand or powdered flint, and 
 in some cases rings of earthenware are placed in saucers, cups, 
 &c., to preserve their shape. As the seggars are fiUed, they are 
 conveyed to the kiln (fig. 315), and are piled up so that the 
 flat bottom of one seggar may serve as a cover to the one above 
 it : a roll of clay is placed on the rim of each seggar, for the one 
 above it to stand on. Each pile of seggars is called a hung. 
 About 30,000 pieces of ware may be included in one baking. 
 
 The kiln (fig. 315) is surrounded by an outer cone or hovel of 
 brickwork, a portion of which is removed in the engraving to 
 show the interior arrangements. The kiln itself is a domed 
 cylinder of brickwork bound with iron bands, and with a hole in 
 the top immediately under the chimney of the hovel to allow 
 the smoke to escape. The kiln is surrounded by a number of 
 fires and flues, arranged so as to produce a high and equable 
 temperature within. The use of the hovel is to protect the 
 kiln from the weather, and to furnish a chimney to the kiln. 
 It is furni.shed with shelves inside, on which newly-made seggars 
 are arranged for drying previous to baking. When the kiln is 
 filled, the doorway is bricked up, the fires are lighted, and in the 
 course of three or four hours flame is seen to ascend through the 
 cylinder into the chimney of the hovel. After about ten or 
 twelve hours, the fireman takes out his first watch to see how 
 the baking goes on. WatcJies, or f rial-pieces, are rings of fire- 
 clay which assume different shades of colour- at different temper- 
 atures. A number of these are placed in a seggar opposite a 
 hole in the cylinder, and the fireman, removing the clay stopple 
 from this hole, inserts a long iron rod, and withdraws a watch. 
 When it is cold, he is able to judge by its colour of the heat of 
 the kiln, and to regulate it accordingly. During the next twenty 
 or thirty houx's he frequently draws out a watch, and when he 
 deems the baking to have been sufficient, the fires are allowed to 
 go out, and the kiln is left to cool during twenty-four or thirty 
 hours. About fourteen tons of coal may be consumed in one 
 baking. 
 
 The ware is now in the state called biscuit ; not because it has 
 been twice cooked or baked, but because it I'esembles the dry 
 and rough surface of well-baked ship bread. Some articles, such 
 as wine-coolers, butter-coolers, and water-bottles, are finished in 
 the state of biscuit. It is in the condition of the unglazed 
 pottery-ware of Tunis (fig. 318). Water contained in these 
 vessels, slowly oozes through the ware, and forms a dew on the 
 outside, the evaporation of which carries off so much heat as to 
 lower the temperature of the remaining liquid many degrees 
 below that of the air. 
 
 When the ware is removed from the seggars, it is carefuUy 
 examined. White and cream-coloured wares require only a 
 coating of glaze to fit them for the market. Patterns are 
 added in the state of biscuit by a transfer process now to be 
 described. For examj^le, the blue of the common dinner-service 
 is produced by means of oxide of cobalt, gi'ound flints and 
 sulphate of baryta, fused or fritted together, reduced to, powder, 
 
 mixed with a flux of ground flint and thick glass powder, and 
 then mixed with boiled linseed oil : this forms a viscid kind of 
 printers' or engravers' ink, and with this the lines of the pattern 
 engraved upon copper plates are filled in. A wet sheet of thin 
 yellow unsized paper is now placed upon the copper plate, and 
 with it passed through a cylinder press : the paper receives the 
 impression from the plate, and a little girl called the cutter cuts 
 the pattern into its separate parts, rejecting the white unprinted 
 portions, and hands them to a woman called the transferrer (fig. 
 320), who places the several sections of the pattern, with the ink 
 part downwards, in their proper places, upon an article in 
 biscuit-ware, and by rubbing the paper with a roll of flannel, 
 transfers the ink from the paper to the porous biscuit. On 
 placing the articles in water, the paper separates, leaving the 
 pattern on the ware. The article is next dipped into glaze, 
 which, when dry, gives it a white porous chalky appearance, 
 completely concealing the pattern ; but on passing the article a 
 second time through the kiln, the white powder fuses into a 
 transparent glass, through which the pattern is visible ; while at 
 the same time, it deprives the biscuit of its porous character, 
 improves its appearance, and renders it fit for use. 
 
 Glazes usually contain flint and an alkali, the common ingre- 
 dients of glass, and often a portion of lead, tin, or borax, to 
 render them more fusible. They may be trunsparent, opaque, or 
 coloured. If the paste be white, or of a tint pleasant to the eye, 
 a transparent glaze will improve its appearance. A clay possess- 
 ing good plastic qualities, but a bad colour, may be dipped into a 
 slip made of a superior kind of clay : it may be veneered on the 
 inside with a pure white paste, and ornamented on the outside 
 with variously coloured pastes : in such a case, a transparent 
 glaze would be proper. When the glazes are made opaque by 
 means of oxide of tin, &c., they become true enamels, and effec- 
 tually conceal the body of the ware which they cover. Colour is 
 given to glazes by the addition of various metallic oxides. 
 
 The glazes are applied by reducing them to fine powder, mixing 
 them up with water, and plunging the biscuit-ware into the mix- 
 ture : if this be skilfully done, the porous ware will be completely 
 covered with glaze in fine powder, except at the points where 
 the article was held, and these are afterwards coated by a camel's 
 hair brush dipped in the powder. The glaze thus applied is 
 vitrified in the glaze or gloss oven. In arranging the articles in 
 the seggars, they are prevented from touching each other by 
 being made to rest on supports of various forms, and known as 
 cocl-spurs, triangles, stilts, &c. (fig. 322). The method of arranging 
 flat pieces in the seggar is shown in fig. 321. The seggars are 
 piled up in the glaze-kiln as in the biscuit-kiln ; the temperature 
 is raised sufficiently to fuse the glaze, an effect which is judged of 
 by covering watches with glaze (fig. 322), which, being drawn out 
 from time to time, serve to guide the workman. 
 
 The ornamentation of porcelain belongs rather to the fine arts 
 than the useful arts. Porcelain may indeed aspire to the dignity 
 of having created schools of ai't, which have had their rise, their 
 prosperous days, and their fall, their great masters, and their 
 imitators, their admirers, in whom the love of china-ware 
 amounts to a passion, who do not even now hesitate to give 200 
 guineas for a single plate, a similar sum for a cup and saucer, and 
 1000 pounds for a single vase, pi'ovided they are satisfied that 
 such articles represent the best days of Sevres or of Dresden, of 
 Chelsea or of Capo di Monti, &c. The famous Majolica, or 
 enamelled ware of Italy, was dignified by no less an artist than 
 Eaphael furnishing designs for it ; and his successors, catching 
 the tone and manner of the great master, produced those 
 numerous works which stiU dazzle us with the splendour of 
 their colouring ; while some of them, known as amatorii, are 
 adorned with the portraits and names of ladies in the costume 
 of at least three centuries ago. Then again, there is the curious 
 ware of Palissy, the hero of potters, who, when persecuted for his 
 Protestant opinions, declared that no power on earth should 
 compel him to worship the images which he had made with his 
 own hands. One of his favourite subjects is a basin or dish. 
 
POTTERY AND PORCELAIN. 
 
 75 
 
 representing the bottom of the sea, covered with lishes, shells, 
 sea-weeds, and pebbles. It is not our business to inquire into 
 the taste which covers with beautiful pictures such common 
 articles as dinner-plates and cups and saucers, which we soil with 
 our food, and place in various positions on the table, all more or 
 less unfitted for viewing a picture ; nor is it our business to show 
 how intensely difficult is this art of enamel painting : for the 
 artist has to gi-ope his way, as it were, in the dark, painting with 
 certain metallic oxides ground up in oil, which do not represent 
 the colours intended to be produced until they have been passed 
 through the fire ; then there are the dangers and difficulties of 
 firing, whereby the piece may be cracked or crazed, or the surface 
 scaled, or the piece may require to be retouched and passed again 
 and again through the fire ; and the only advantage that this 
 difficult art presents over oil-painting is its permanence, for should 
 the article escape fracture, it is otherwise indestructible. There 
 is, however, no doubt that the taste for china ware greatly im- 
 proved our earthenware. Under the influence of such a man as 
 Wedgwood (whose factory at Etruria, in Staftbrdshire, is repre- 
 sented at fig. 331), and with the assistance of such a designer as 
 the great sculptor Flaxman, a variety of beautiful wares for 
 common use were issued at a cheap rate, the effect of which had 
 a beneficial influence on the public taste. Wedgwood began life 
 at the age of eleven as a thrower, but an attack of small-pox com- 
 pelled him to give up this employment. The attack left him with 
 a lame leg, which afterwards rendered amputation necessary. 
 For some years his attempts to settle in life were not successful ; 
 but he appears on several occasions to have gratified his love of 
 the beautiful by the manufacture of ornamental pottery. In 
 1759, he established a small factory of his own at Burslem, where 
 he succeeded in making a white stone-ware, and afterwards a 
 cream-coloured ware, some specimens of which he presented to 
 Queen Charlotte, who was so pleased with it that she ordered a 
 complete service, which obtained further marks of the royal 
 favour : Wedgwood was named " The Queen's potter," and his 
 ware, "by command," The Qiieetis ware. He also invented a ierm 
 cotta, which could be made to resemble porphyry, granite, &c. ; 
 also basalts, or black ware, which would strike sparks with iron ; 
 white porcelain biscuit, with properties similar to the basalt ; 
 bamboo or cane-coloured biscuit ; jasper, a white biscuit of great 
 delicacy and beauty, fit for cameos, portraits, &c. ; and a porcelain 
 biscuit, used for chemists' mortars, &c. He also succeeded in 
 giving to hard pottery the vivid colours and brilliant glazing 
 which had been thought peculiar to porcelain ; and with a true 
 feeling for his art, he introduced a higher class of artists than 
 had been hitherto accustomed to work in the potteries. The 
 
 extension of Wedgwood's works led to the formation of a new 
 village, which was named Etruria, from the resemblance of the 
 clay dug there to the ancient Etrurian earth, and also, probably, 
 to note the success with which he imitated the ancient Etruscan 
 ware. 
 
 Painting on porcelain (fig. 323) does not greatly differ from 
 other applications of the palette, except in the dingy nature of 
 the pigments when first applied, and the brilliant creaminess of 
 surface after the firing. The gold employed in gilding porcelain 
 is first dissolved in aqua regia; the acid is then driven oft" by 
 heat, and the residue, mixed with borax and gum- water, is applied 
 to the wares with a hair pencil. When an article has to be 
 ornamented with a circular line, it is placed on a vihirler (fig. 326) ; 
 and on holding a pencil against the article and turning round 
 the upper part of the instrument, a circle is easily and truly 
 described. When the articles have been baked, the gold appears 
 of a dingy hue; but the beautiful lustre of the metal is brought 
 out by burnishing with agate and blood-stone (fig. 325). 
 
 The manufacture of encaustic tiles has of late years risen into 
 importance, as one of the results of improved taste in church 
 architecture and decoration. These tiles are an example of 
 veneering an inferior clay with a superior, as already referred to. 
 The red clay is slapped into a block, of a square section, and the 
 tile-maker cuts from this a square slab by passing a wire through 
 it, and upon this a facing of finer clay, coloured so as to form the 
 ground of the tile, is applied : the tile is then turned over, and a 
 facing is applied to the bottom to prevent warping : the tile is 
 then covered with a piece of felt, put into a press (fig. 327), and 
 a plaster-of-Paris slab, containing the pattern in relief, is brought 
 down upon the face of the tile, and impresses in the soft clay or 
 ground of the tile the design which is afterwards to be filled in 
 with another colour. When the tile is removed from the press, 
 the name of the maker is stamped on the back, together with a 
 number of holes, to make the mortar adhere when the pavement 
 is laid down. The device is then filled in by pouring over the 
 tile a quantity of coloured slip (fig. 328), so as completely to con- 
 ceal the surface : this is left for twenty-four hours to become 
 hard, when the pile is placed on a small whirler, fig. 329 ; and a 
 portion of the surface being scraped away, the i^attern and the 
 ground appear. The tile is lastly made smooth, and is polished 
 with a knife, small defects are corrected, the edges are squared 
 and roimded a little with sand-paper, and the tile, after having 
 been dried in a hot room, is ready for firing. 
 
 Ovu' export trade in earthenware is of some importance. In 
 the year 1856, the number of pieces of ware exported was 
 94,551,260, of the declared value of 1,331,106/. sterling. 
 
MINING OPERATIONS. 
 
 77 
 
 349. JIGGING MACHimE. 
 
 350. FRAJMIN& OR BACKING. 
 
XXII.— MINING OPEExiTIONS. 
 
 Nothing in tlie British islands excites so much surprise in an 
 intelligent foreigner as the wonderful diversity of mineral wealth 
 which it has pleased Almighty Wisdom ' to bestow upon this 
 favoured land. We have rich stores of ii'on ore and abundance of 
 fuel for reducing it, building-stones for constructing the furnaces, 
 and fluxes for working the ores more easily. Iron and coal are 
 so extensively distributed that it would occupy too much of our 
 space to point out their locahties. In Cornwall tin ore is 
 abundant, copper in Wales, lead in Derbyshire and in the valleys 
 of the Tyne, the Wear, and the Tees : in short, we have all the 
 materials for constructing machines at the lowest possible cost, 
 and abundance of fuel for working the steam-engine which sets 
 them all in motion. 
 
 Our mineral riches are brought to the surface by means which 
 vai'y with the mode in which they are deposited. In some cases 
 the minerals form regular strata, and alternate with beds of rock 
 of considerable extent, as in the strata of coal and iron ore of 
 South Wales and Staffordshire, and the coal in the Newcastle and 
 Durham districts : in other cases metaUic ores may occupy cracks 
 or fissures in the rocks, forming what are called veins or lodes. 
 When these cracks are filled up with non-metallic substances, 
 they are called di/kes ; but when they accompany veins of ore, 
 and are at right angles thereto, they are called cross-courses. The 
 metalliferous veins are not filled with metal in its pure or native 
 state, but in the state of ore, that is, united with sulphur, oxygen, 
 carbonic acid, and associated with salts of lime, baryta, quartz, 
 and argillaceous matter. 
 
 The object of mining is to pursue one or more of these veins 
 through the rocks which are met with in its downward descent, 
 and to I'aise the ore to the surface. Supposing that by previous 
 borings and other trials the position and direction of the vein 
 is known, a pit or shaft is sunk to the depth of about sixty feet, 
 when the men begin to work in a horizontal direction, and to cut 
 or drioe a horizontal gallery or level into the lode. This is usually 
 done by two sets of miners, woi-king in opposite directions, and 
 the rubbish and the ore, if any, are raised by a common windlass. 
 As soon as the two sets of miners have driven a level about one 
 hundred yards, they cannot pi'oceed farther for want of air ; but 
 in the mean time two other sets of men have been sinking from 
 the surface two other vertical shafts to meet them, and in this 
 way the work pi'oceeds, the first level or gallery being driven to 
 any required extent by sinking vertical shafts into it. While the 
 horizontal gallery is being driven, the first shaft, called the engine- 
 shaft, is sunk deeper, and at a second depth of sixty feet a second 
 horizontal gallery or level is driven in the same direction as 
 the first, and the vertical shafts are all sunk down to meet 
 it. In this way galleries are formed at different depths, 
 so long as the lode continues to be profitable. In the 
 mean time the engine-shaft is sunk deeper than the lowest 
 level, in order to keep the working shafts free from watei", which 
 rises in the mine from springs, or drains into it from the sur- 
 rounding strata. Each successive level is also separately drained, 
 in order that the lower workings may be kept as free from water 
 as possible. The arrangement, such as we have described it, 
 divides the rock into solid right-angled masses, each three 
 hundred feet in length and sixty feet in depth. These masses are 
 again subdivided by small vertical shafts, or icimes (fig. 333), into 
 parts, called pitc/ies. The principal fgallery or tunnel by which 
 the mine is drained is called the adit, or adit-level. To drive this 
 from one point to another through a great extent of country, 
 particularly where the work is commenced at both extremities, 
 requires much skill. Attention is also required that the water, 
 pumped up from the various channels, may not find its way back 
 again to the workings. Some idea may be formed of the extent 
 
 of the drainage required in extensive mines, from the fact that 
 the various branches of the principal level in Cornwall, called the 
 " Great Adit," through which the waters of the different mines in 
 Gwenap and near Eedruth are discharged, measure nearly thirty 
 miles. The adit opens at the side of a hill at such an elevation as 
 to discharge its waters into some stream or river, which flows into 
 the'sea, and in some cases the adit discharges into the sea itself. 
 
 The workings on different lodes are connected by cross-cuts, so 
 that the ores may be brought to the principal shaft of the mine 
 with the greatest ease. The work underground depends chiefly 
 on the size of the vein and the value of the ore. When the lode is 
 only a few feet wide, one gallery is sufficient ; and as it is only 
 necessary to leave a passage to extract the ore, the levels are here 
 narrow and confined. But where the lode is broader, the open 
 spaces are larger. When large masses of ore have to be taken 
 out, pillars are left to sujjport the roof, as one side of the wall or 
 portion of rock which incloses the vein is called ; the other wall 
 being called the foor. But as these pillai's contain valuable ore, 
 the roof is often supported by timbering (fig. 337). The ore is 
 extracted from the rock by means of gunpowder, for which pur- 
 pose a cylindrical hole is bored in the rock, a charge of powder is 
 introduced, a fuse insei'ted, the hole stopped or tamped, and after 
 setting fire to the fuse the men retire till the explosion is over. 
 Fig. 339 shows the men at work setting a fuze, or sJwt, as it is 
 called. 
 
 When the ore has been detached, it is conveyed to the bottom 
 of the principal shaft in wagons or corves, moving on tram-roads 
 or rail-roads. The ores are lifted by machinery from the bottom 
 of the shaft to the surface by a 7ohim., worked by steam-power. 
 In some of the Cornish mines it is not uncommon to sink two 
 shafts near together ; one, called the engine-shaft, being used for 
 drainage, and a smaller one for drawing the stuff. The shafts are 
 commonly four-sided ; that intended for the extraction of the ore 
 is called the whim-shaft. Fig. 335 represents what is called a platt, 
 which is a sort of cavity at the extremity of a level, near the 
 whim-shaft, for the purpose of collecting supplies of ore for filling 
 the kibbles by which it is raised to the surface. The meu are 
 setting a shot for blasting, in order to enlarge the platt. A small 
 kibble is shown hanging over a small sump or cavity at the bottom 
 of the shaft for receiving the drainage water. Fig. 342 shows a 
 platt complete, with the kibble hanging in the whim-shaft, which 
 is boarded oft" from the platt, to prevent accidents. The method 
 of working the lode at Burra Burra Mine (fig. 334) is represented 
 at fig. 338. In this vei-y successful mine the copper ore, instead 
 of forming a vein, constitutes an enormous nodulous mineral 
 deposit in clay. Some of the nodules are of large size ; and there 
 were specimens in the Great Exhibition (see fig. 341) measuring 
 two and a half feet by two feet superficial, with a thickness of six 
 inches. 
 
 Fig. 336 represents a plan and section of part of the main lode 
 in Dolcoath Mine, Cornwall. In the upper part of the figure or 
 plan, the ground is supposed to be transparent, to show the 
 underground levels. The numbers attached to the lines which 
 represent the levels give the respective depths below the adit ; so 
 that if perpendicular lines were let fall from this level upon such 
 lines, they would cut them at the various depths marked in 
 fathoms. In the lower figm-e or section the lines of levels and 
 letters of reference correspond with the plan. In this section 
 those portions have been left blank which have been cut for 
 galleries in the levels, the shafts, and where bunches or accumu- 
 lations of ore occur ; while those parts in which the rubbish of 
 the workings has been thrown back, and arranged so that the 
 galleries or levels and the shafts should pass freely through them, 
 are represented as being composed of broken fragments. The 
 
MINING OPERATIONS. 
 
 79 
 
 Tcillas or slate is white, and the granite dotted. The main lode 
 cuts into granite in its eastern prolongation, and a tabular mass 
 of granite is out by the lode and apparently separated from the 
 rock. Bunches of ore have occurred very irregularly, and the 
 spaces occupied by them have been filled up with rubbish from 
 other parts of the mine. Levels on the east have been driven 
 into the granite in search of ore, but they have been abandoned ; 
 the sump or lowest part of the engine-shaft marked s is at the 
 depth of 210 fathoms. At the time when this plan was made, the 
 ores were drawn up by four shafts by three steam-whims, indi- 
 cated on the surface : the position and number of the shafts, 
 however, varies with the state of the mine ; and as every shaft 
 has its name, and every level is known by its depth, a mine 
 resembles a town in which the streets are known by names and 
 the houses by numbers. 
 
 When mines are situated near the coast, they often present 
 rugged and sublime features. Near the Land's End, in Cornwall, 
 the direction of the veins and the distribution of the ores direct 
 many of the mining operations beneath the bed of the Atlantic. 
 In the Botallack Mine, tig. 34.3, the miners followed the ore 
 upwards into the sea ; but as the openings were small and the 
 rock hard, the water was excluded by plugging. During rough 
 weather the sounds which penetrate the mine are described as 
 being appalling. 
 
 When the ore has been raised to the surface, it undergoes various 
 operations previous to smelting. Tin ores are usually so far 
 purified as to render the smelting a simple process. Copper ores, 
 on the contrary, depend more on chemical than mechanical treat- 
 ment for their purification ; so that little is done except to 
 separate stony matters, when the ore is sent to Swansea, where 
 coal is abundant, to undergo the complicated series of processes 
 by which it is converted into metallic copper. 
 
 When the tin ores are raised, the first operation is to break 
 them in pieces and to reject such portions as are too poor to repay 
 the cost of dressing. The ore is then sent to the stamping-mill, 
 which consists of a number of upright wooden beams or stcmpers, 
 shod with iron : these are placed in a wooden frame, and lifted 
 about ten inches by the cogs of a horizontal axle, the rotation of 
 which thus gives a stamping motion to the upright wooden 
 beams. The ore is placed on an inclined plane near the bottom 
 of the stampers ; and as these are lifted up, a portion of it slides 
 beneath them, and is crushed by their fall. Water being let in, 
 carries the crushed ore into pits, in the first of which the rough 
 parts lodge, as well as the heavier portion of the powdered ore, 
 called the slime, the rough ore when dressed being called the 
 crop. The remainder, with the hghter slime, is retained in the 
 second pit, and this when dressed is called the leavings. The 
 dressing now comprises a number of operations, all of which 
 depend on the fact that the metallic portion which is to be pre- 
 served is much heavier than the stony and earthy matters which 
 are to be got rid of. 
 
 The first opei-ation on the crop is called huddling. The buddle 
 (fig. 344) is a wooden case fixed in the ground, one end being 
 elevated : on the rim of the higher end is a board called the 
 jagging-board, extending from side to side, and more inclined than 
 the buddle. The operator spreads the ore on the jagging-board, 
 cuts small furrows in it with the shovel, and letting in a current 
 of water from the head of the buddle, the ore is carried into the 
 
 case, where the finer and richer portions subside near the head, 
 while the rougher and lighter j)ortions are carried towards the 
 lower part. When the buddle is full, it is divided into three or 
 four parts, called heads, first and second middle-heads, and tails, 
 the last being the poorest. These are again separately huddled. 
 The heads are then tossed or tozed in a Jcieve (fig. 346) or large 
 tub, about one-third filled with water, which is rapidly stirred by 
 means of the stirrer shown in the figure, while a second workman 
 gradually adds the ore with a shovel (fig. 347). When the kieve 
 is nearly full, the stirring is stopped, and the kieve is struck with 
 a hammer so as to assist the ore in arranging itself into strata 
 according to their density ; the ore in the lowest part of the 
 kieve being generally fit for smelting, while for the other por- 
 tions the operations are repeated. 
 
 The first and second middle-heads are treated in a somewhat 
 similar manner, after which they and the other ores which have 
 been thus far treated are roasted, in order to get rid of ores of 
 copper, iron, or zinc, and when removed from the furnace the ore 
 is sifted, again tossed and buddled, and is then ready for the 
 smelter. Some kinds of ore after roasting require tijing : the ti/e 
 (fig. 348) is a long, narrow, inclined furrow, through which passes 
 a stream of water, and the ore being placed at the head is agitated 
 with a broom, so that the rough and lighter particles are carried 
 to the lower part, while the ore at the head is fit for the smelting- 
 house. The remainder goes through the operation of jigging (fig. 
 345), which is performed by plunging a copper-bottomed sieve, 
 containing two or three shovelfuls of ore, into water, and working 
 it about in such a way that the difierent parts may easily arrange 
 themselves in the order of their respective densities ; the lighter 
 portions which come to the top are scraped ofi", a fresh supply 
 of ore is thrown in and jigged, until at length the weight of 
 the richer portions at the bottom of the sieve is too great for the 
 operation to be continued. It is then removed for the smelting- 
 house. In this operation the jigging-machine (fig. 349) is some- 
 times used : its construction will be understood by referring to 
 the figure. 
 
 The poorer portions of the ore, which have been rejected in 
 previous operations, undergo various forms of treatment, known 
 as trunJcing, framing, or racking, but not differing in principle 
 from the former. In framing or racking, fig. 350, the frame is a 
 flat table with a rim round it : it is suspended on pivots in an 
 inclined position, but is fastened by a kind of latch : at the 
 upper end is a jagging-board similar to that of the buddle, and 
 connected with a frame by a movable sloping piece of wood to 
 prevent the ore from falling between the board and the frame : 
 below the frame are two boxes, which, being placed end to end, 
 extend its whole length ; while, at the lower end of the floor, a 
 space of two or three inches allows the water to escape. The 
 woman spreads on the jagging-board a portion of slime, and, 
 with a small toothless rake, makes small furrows in it ; and the 
 stream of water which is now let in, carries the ore from the 
 board to the frame : the richest part rests at and near the head ; 
 the poorer portions move lower down, while the impurities are 
 carried off by the water and escape by the bottom. When 
 enough has been collected, the latch is lifted, and the frame 
 being turned on the pivots, the ore is swept into the boxes 
 beneath : the best into the upper, and the inferior ore into the 
 lower box. 
 
COAL. 
 
 oSl. PLANTS FOBMISG COAL.— (Uestijrecl). 
 
 352. IMMEKSE BLOCK OF CO/VL. 
 
 353. SECTION OF THE GENEHAI FEATURES OF COAL-FIELDS. 
 
 p I Diluvium (or gravel), alluvium, and mould 
 
 ^ J Cavboniferous shales, or slaty clays. 
 
 C ; grits, or coarse sandstones. 
 
 Seams of Coal. 
 
 ^5 New Red Sandstone, and red or variegated marls. 
 Magnesian Limestone. 
 ^tj^ Mountain, or Carboniferous, Limestone. 
 g5?=g^^g Old, or Lower Red Sandstone. 
 
 354. ENLAEGEB SECTION OF THE ACCIDENTAL FEATURES OF COAL FIELDS, 
 
 Basalt, and oiher igneous rocks. 
 
 ^^^^^ Anthracite, or natur il coke. 
 
 D D, Whin Dykes. F r, s s, Faults, or Slip Dykes, t t. Troubles, h Hitch, or Steii. 6 and b b', Baudi. N, Nip, or Baulk. 
 
 355. BLOCK OF STAVELEY COAL. 
 
 35C. FRACTURE OF COAL. 
 
COAL. 
 
 81 
 
XXIII.— COAL. 
 
 The vast deposits of coal in Great Britain form one of the 
 sources of her commercial greatness. Coal is superior to every 
 other description of fuel in the wide range of its usefulness. We 
 use it for cooking our food, and for warming and ventilating our 
 rooms ; we light our streets and our houses by means of the gas 
 which we distil from it ; we use it for reducing ores to the 
 metallic state, and for putting in motion the locomotive, the 
 steam-boat, and the stationary engine, which sets to work innu- 
 merable forms of automatic machines. Our su^^ply of this valuable 
 fuel is as abundant and extensive as it is conveniently deposited 
 for distiibution. Had our sujjply been placed in the midst of 
 high mountains, far from the convenience of water-carriage, our 
 rich stores of fuel would have lost much of their value ; but as it 
 is, coals are found in or near rich valleys and low plains near the 
 seas and large rivers, well adapted for home consumption in the 
 busy manufacturing towns placed on their banks, and for distri- 
 bution by water-carriage or by railway. 
 
 The examination of a lump of coal renders it evident in most 
 cases that it was formed by the action of certain chemical forces 
 on wood or other vegetable matter. The most rudimentary form 
 of coal is feat. In situations where clay is spread over gi'avel, and 
 water is prevented from escaping, muddy pools are formed, round 
 the l)orders of which aquatic plants flourish, and gradually creep 
 in towards the deep centre. Mud having accumulated round 
 their roots and stalks, a spongy mass is formed, adapted to the 
 growth of moss, which, together with the spears of the Sphagninii, 
 now thrives : this absorbs much water, and continues to shoot 
 out new plants above, while the old ones are decaying and 
 becoming compressed into a solid mass below. Thus the water 
 is replaced by vegetable matter, and the marsh is filled ujo, while 
 the central or moister portion, growing more rapidly, gradually 
 rises above the edges until the surface has attained such an ele- 
 vation as to discharge the surface-water and to flood the adjacent 
 country. In this way peat bogs are formed and extend their 
 dimensions, one generation of vegetable matter flourishing upon 
 the ruins of its predecessor. In other cases trees and plants may 
 be drifted from a distance and accumulated in particular localities, 
 as in the deltas of the JMississippi and other large rivers ; and under 
 the action of an elevated temperature and other chemical forces, 
 they form irregular deposits, which impregnate the surrounding 
 strata. In this way bitumens and fossil resins appear to have 
 been formed, in a manner similar to the deposits of true coal. 
 There is also a kind of coal of a brown colour, known as lignite or 
 brown coal, which usually retains a woody lamellar structure ; but 
 the most highly prized variety of coal is the bituminous or caking 
 coal, which is so abundant in the British coal-fields. It occurs 
 above the old red, and beneath the new red sandstone, in what 
 are called the coal-measures. There ai-e several varieties of this 
 coal, such as the Scotch Parrot coal, which is of a brownish black 
 colour, and of a slaty structure ; it yields a large quantity of gas. 
 There is also the Lancashire cannel coal, which burns readily, and 
 hence has been used as candles, whence the name. It has a con- 
 choidal fracture, and a waxy lustre. Newcastle coal has a full 
 blue-black colour, a brilliant lustre, and a cubic fracture ; it burns 
 with a bright luminous flame and yields a valuable coke, superior 
 to that of the other two varieties. Much of the coal of Wales is 
 known as steam-coal, the quality of which is intermediate between 
 bituminous coal and anthracite ; it burns freely, and gives out a 
 steady heat. It is preferred in the steam-navy, since it does not 
 readily crumble in the hold of the vessel during its rolling, and 
 yields but little smoke, a circumstance favourable to a ship of 
 war in the vicinity of an enemy. Anthracite, stone-coal, or cv.lm 
 contains only a very small portion of volatile matter, so that it 
 bui'us with a steady red glow, almost without flame. It spliaters 
 into fragments when heated, whence it is inconvenient in its use 
 as a fuel ; it has a black colour, a high lustre, and a lamellated 
 fracture parallel to the bed from which it is taken. 
 
 The fossil fuel of this country was represented in the Great 
 Exhibition of 1851 by the immense block represented in fig. 352. 
 It is a good sj)ecimen of the Staffordshire thick or ten-yard coal. 
 Its height was nine feet six inches, the circumference twenty-one 
 feet ten inches, and the weight thirteen tons ; it was conveyed 
 seventy yards underground to the bottom of the shaft, and was 
 raised from a depth of 165 yards by the ordinary steam-engine, 
 as shown in fig. 357. The mass of coal represented in fig. 355 
 was raised from a shaft 459 feet in depth, from Staveley, in the 
 county of Derby. This block was seventeen feet six inches in 
 length, six feet in width, and four feet in thickness. The thick- 
 ness of the seam was six feet ; the cubical fracture of this coal 
 admits of its being spht into rectangular masses like bricks, so 
 that it is well adapted for stowage in steamers. Fig. 356 repre- 
 sents the crystalline fracture of certain kinds of Welsh coal. 
 
 The coal-fields of our island are usually divided into : — 1. The 
 Great Northern District, which includes all the coal-fields north 
 of the Trent. 2. The Central District, including Leicester, 
 Warwick, Stafford, aud Shropshire. 3. The Western District, 
 subdivided into the North- Western, which includes'North Wales ; 
 and the South-Western, which includes South Wales, Gloucester, 
 and Somersetshire. In these fields the coal is separated into a 
 number of distinct layers or strata of various thicknesses, by 
 means of layei's or strata of a slaty clay called shale, and a coarse 
 hard sandstone called grit, forming what are called the coal- 
 measures, as already stated. The strata of coal, called seams, are 
 very thin compared with the associated rocks ; they extend 
 under large tracts of country, and vary in thickness from a few 
 inches to six or eight feet, except in Staffordshire, where there is 
 a seam thirty feet thick ; but this is now nearly all worked out. 
 The interposed strata of grit and shale often exceed 700 feet in 
 aggregate thickness. Under this is the mountain limestone, 
 which rests on the old red sandstone already noticed. These 
 deposits do not occur in horizontal unbroken strata, but have at 
 various times been disturbed hj some upheaving force from 
 below, so that the coal-measures in many districts have been 
 made to assume the shape of a Inige trough or basin rising on all 
 sides from a central point ; the sides of the basin being com- 
 X^osed of sandstone or limestone, and the middle filled up with 
 magnesian limestone and new red sandstone. Fig. 353 will convey 
 some idea of the arrangement of the coal-measures, by which it 
 will be evident that the edge or boundary-line of each stratum 
 must appear at the surface, somewhat like the" concentric layers 
 of an onion cut in two. This appearance of the coal at the surface 
 is called the basset or outcrop, or "coming to the day," as the 
 colliers have it. Few coal-fields, however, are bounded on every 
 side by the outcropping of older strata: the upheaving force 
 which converted the horizontal strata into basin-shaped arrange- 
 ments probably produced certain fissures or fractures, often 
 nearly vertical, and stretching through the whole mass (fig. 354). 
 These rents are called dykes, because they divide the seams or 
 bands of coal into fields : they are also called sldfls, as the miners 
 consider them to have shifted the strata on their sides ; but the 
 most common name is faults or troubles, from their troubling or 
 putting to fault the pitmen. 
 
 A coal mine does not greatly differ from the mine already de- 
 scribed. A shaft is sunk, and a broad, straight passage, called 
 the bord, or mother-gate (from the Saxon for road ox way), is 
 driven from it into the seam of coal in opposite directions. 
 This bord is twelve or fourteen feet broad, and of the whole 
 height of the seam, so as to expose the rock above, now called 
 the roof, and also the stratum below, called the thill or fioor. A 
 main-level, or dip-head, is also driven for collecting the water of 
 the mine : from this gallery other galleries are driven, and the 
 direction of the bords is arranged so as to follow the natural 
 cleavage of the coal which forms their sides. W^hen a bord has 
 been excavated some distance, narrow passages called head-^mys 
 
COAL. 
 
 83 
 
 are driven from it at regular intervals on both sides ; and when 
 these have proceeded eight or ten yards, they are made to com- 
 municate with other bords, which are open parallel to the first, 
 and on each side of it. In this way, the bed of coal is laid 
 open and intersected by broad parallel passages, about eight 
 yards apart, communicating with each other by the narrower 
 headways which cross them at right angles, and also traverse 
 the whole extent of the mine, immense pillars of coal being left 
 standing between the two. Fig. 360 represents the plan of one 
 story of such a mine, which is worked by what is called paiinel- 
 worlc : the coal is extracted from each jjannel in succession, and 
 the large pillars of coal are left between the bords to support 
 the roof: the pillars are next removed, the roof being meanwhile 
 supported by timber props ; and when all the coal has been got 
 out, the props are removed and the roof falls in. In fig. 360, 
 a a are pannels not entirely laid open by galleries ; I h are laid 
 open, but the pillars not yet removed ; in c c, the pillars are 
 being removed and the roof is falling in, its ruins forming what 
 is called goaf ; the pannel d is entirely worked out and abandoned. 
 While the first seam is being worked, the shaft may be sunk to 
 a second or a third seam, where similar operations may be carried 
 on. The regularity of the workings may, however, be disturbed 
 by many accidents. If the roof be of hard sandstone, and the 
 floor of soft clay, the downward pressure may displace and force 
 up the floor ; forming what is called a creep. But if the roof be 
 soft, it will sink in and form a crush ; and if both roof and floor 
 are moderately hard and tough, they will gradually meet midway, 
 as shown in fig. 358, filling up the passages. There is also a 
 terrible accident to which the collier is exposed from the escape 
 of an inflammable gas generated by the coal itself ; which, 
 mingling with the air of the mine, forms an explosive mixture 
 liable to be fired on the approach of a lighted candle, and 
 spreading death and destruction around. This gas is a compound 
 of carbon and hydrogen (carburetted hydrogen), called fire-damp 
 by the miners : when an explosion unhappily takes place, the 
 dust of the mine, consisting, for the most part, of innumerable 
 small particles of coal, undergoes combustion also, forming an 
 irrespirable gas (carbonic acid), called by the miners by the ex- 
 pressive name of choke-damp, from its producing spasm of the 
 glottis, and preventing respiration. But as a light of some kind 
 is necessary to the hewers, who excavate the coal, and the naked 
 flame is dangerous, light was formerly obtained by the steel-mill, 
 fig. 364, by which a stream of sparks was produced by the rapid 
 revolution of a rim of steel against a piece of flint. This coia- 
 trivance, however, gave but a feeble light, and no real security : 
 candles continued to be used, until several deplorable accidents 
 determined the coal owners to seek the aid of science. Sir 
 Humphry Davy was applied to ; and, on investigating the sub- 
 ject, he found that if the flame of a lamp or of a candle were 
 surrounded with wire gauze, the flame would not pass through 
 the meshes to fire the explosive mixture on the outside. Such 
 is the origin of the lliner^s Safety Lamp, fig. 366, called by the 
 pitmen the Davy. George Stephenson was also the inventor of 
 an efficient safety lamp, called by the miners the Oeorgy ; but its 
 light was quenched in the lustre of his distinguished rival. 
 
 Safety lamps are, however, sources of danger, where men, 
 from constant familiarity with peril, become careless or indif- 
 ferent. Hence an efficient system of ventilation is now regarded 
 as of as much importance as protected flames. In a mine 
 where there is only a single shaft, provision is made for the 
 ascending and descending currents of air, by dividing the shaft 
 into two portions, as at a h, fig. 359, and to begin with two 
 parallel bords, connected at intervals by cross passages, which 
 are successively stopped up by wooden partitions, c c, so as to 
 leave no communication except through the one last opened, or 
 that farthest from the shaft : temporary partitions are also 
 placed at d d, to cause the current to circulate quite up to the 
 pitmen at w w. In a more advanced state of the works, the 
 
 direction of the current through every part of the mine, by 
 means of partitions called stoppings, becomes a matter of some 
 complexity, as will be seen by the plan, fig. 361, where the 
 arrows represent the course of the air from the downcast shaft a, 
 through all the galleries to the upcast shaft h. It will be seen 
 that in most cases the current is allowed to divide itself between 
 the parallel bords ; so tha.t if any part of the mine is more fiery 
 or dangerous than the rest, from the increased escape of fire- 
 damp, the current can be confined to one course, and thus have 
 its velocity doubled : by which means the dangerous gas is more 
 rapidly drawn out of the mine ; while in parts containing but 
 little gas, the same current may be allowed to expand into three 
 passages ; such is the system of double and treble coursing. 
 Double stoppings are also represented in fig. 361 ; these are pairs 
 of doors, constantly attended by a door-keeper, whose business 
 it is to keep them always shut, except when men and horses 
 are passing through ; so as to shut off a dangerous from a more 
 secure part of the mine. 
 
 The ventilating current is set in motion by a large fire, which 
 is kept burning at the bottom of the upcast shaft. To prevent 
 the foul air from the more fiery parts of the mine from coming 
 into contact with the flame, it is usual to divide the air as it 
 enters the mine by the downcast shaft a, fig. 361, into two dis- 
 tinct currents ; one of which proceeds through the passages e e 
 into the safest parts of the mine, and the other, c c, through the 
 fiery parts, as represented by the lighter shade, including the 
 goaves, or abandoned workings, where gas is apt to accumulate. 
 The purer current is allowed to pass through the furnace /, 
 before it enters the upcast shaft h. The other current is con- 
 ducted through d, and enters the shaft at a higher level, by a 
 channel cut obhquely through the roof of the seam, as in fig. 
 362, where S represents the upcast shaft, B the impure current, 
 and A. the purer current which feeds the furnace ; which, in such 
 a case, is called a dumb-furnace. 
 
 A jet of steam, made to play in the upcast shaft, also acts as 
 a powerful ventilating force. Ventilation is also assisted by 
 erecting towers or chimneys over the ventilating shafts, with 
 large cowls turned by vanes, as in fig. 363, so that one may always 
 present its mouth and the other its back to the wind. 
 
 The pitmen are also liable to danger by their ordinary mode of 
 ascent and descent in the shaft, which is usually by a tub suspended 
 by a rope or chain, the breaking of which is not an uncommon 
 accident. To prevent the danger from this source, the apparatus, 
 fig. 365, has been adopted at some pits. It consists of a cage or 
 basket, for the men or the coal, attached to guide-rods or chains 
 down the side of the shaft ; and should the rope break, certain 
 springs or arms attached to the top of the cage become liberated 
 and wedged upon guide-rods, whereby the cage becomes fixed. 
 The coal is got out by blasting ; and such is the force of two or 
 three shots of gunpowder, that from sixty to eighty, or one hun- 
 dred tons of coal may be brought down at once. The coal is put 
 into corves and drawn along tram-roads, by lads called putters, to 
 the principal galleries or headways, where it is received into 
 wagons caUed rolleys ; a number of which are drawn by a horse 
 to the bottom of the shaft, and the coal is then raised to the sur- 
 face by steam-power. At the surface, the coal is passed over 
 screens in order to separate the pulverized coal : the screens are 
 usually bars of iron half an inch apart, mounted in a frame-work 
 and sloping so as to allow the coal to slide down into the wagons 
 below. The small coal which passes through the screen is either 
 delivered for immediate sale, or hoisted up and re-screened into 
 rough, small, and dust. The great demand for coke now allows the 
 small coal, which was formerly waste, to be profitably employed. 
 
 The quantity of coal raised in the United Kingdom in the 
 year 1856 amounted to 66,645,450 tons, of which 5,879,779 tons 
 were exported to foreign countries ; by far the lai'gest quantity 
 being taken by France. 
 
IRON. 
 
 85 
 
 384 a. water APPAKAT0S. 
 
 3S3. CASTING, 
 
 384 c. WATEB APPAEATU8 
 
XXIV.— IRON. 
 
 The iron-works of Great Britain produced in 1856 the amazing 
 quantity of 3,586,377 tons of pig iron. Tlie innumerable uses to 
 wliich this truly valuable metal is applied, and the increasing 
 demand for it, at home and in other countries which are not 
 blessed with our sources of mineral wealth, can alone account 
 for this vast production. No other metal represents so many 
 valuable qualities as iron : rendered fluid by heat, it will assume 
 the form of the mould into which it is poured, so that numerous 
 useful articles can be at once prepared by the cheap and ready 
 method of casting : it can be drawn out into bars of any required 
 degree of strength, or into wires of any required fineness : it can 
 be rolled out into plates or sheets : it can be twisted and bent to 
 any required form : it can be made hard or soft, sharp or blunt ; 
 the ploughshare and almost every implement of husbandry are 
 formed more or less of iron. There are few machines of which 
 it does not form a part ; while those important machines used by 
 the engineer in constructing machinery are mostly of iron. The 
 tools of every mechanic depend more or less upon iron. We 
 travel on iron railways, and are drawn by iron horses ; we make 
 long voyages in iron ships ; we pass over iron bridges ; we sleep 
 on iron bedsteads ; we sit in iron chairs ; pillars and girders of 
 iron enter into the construction of many houses — sometimes 
 whole houses are constructed of iron ; we make lighthouses of 
 iron, and send them in pieces to distant parts of the globe ; and, 
 as a worthy conclusion to this suggestive list, we may add that 
 churches of iron are not now uncommon. 
 
 Iron exists in the earth in a variety of forms. In combination 
 with sulphur, it is the common iron pyrites (tig. 367); but sulphur 
 being an injurious ingredient, this form of the ore is seldom or ever 
 used in the manufacture. The ores most in use are those in 
 which the iron is united with oxygen, such as the magnetic iron 
 ore, which produces a bar-iron of great value in making steel ; 
 specular and micacioiis iron ore, or iron glance, are native oxides of 
 iron ; and there is also the htematite or red iron stone (fig. 371), 
 which is abundant near Ulverstone in Lancashire, and is much 
 used in making iron for wire and iron-plate. But by far the 
 largest quantity of iron is manufactured from ores which are not 
 rich in iron, but are associated with the fuel required for their 
 reduction. Such is the claij iron-stone or carbonate of iron of 
 Staffordshire, Shropshire, Wales, Derbyshire, Scotland, and other 
 parts of Great Britain. It generally contains from thirty to 
 thirty-three per cent, of metallic iron. A specimen of carbonate 
 of iron is represented in fig. 369 ; but this is a much more 
 favourable example than the dull worthless-looking stone 
 obtained from our pits, in which the oxide of iron, combined 
 with carbonic acid, is mixed with clay, lime, and other earths. 
 The iron-stone usually occurs in horizontal strata or bands, and 
 also in lumps, some of several hundred pounds weight, and 
 others not larger than a small bullet. A variety of clay iron- 
 stone known as black-hand, contains, in addition to the ordinary 
 earthy substances, a quantity of carbonaceous matter which 
 assists in the roasting of the ore. 
 
 The Dudley coal basin is an eminent example of the great 
 facilities possessed by this country for the manufacture of iron. 
 Here we find the iron-stone associated with coal, the limestone 
 required for the flux, and the refractory fire-clay used in con- 
 structing the interior brick-woi-k of the furnaces. Fig. 368 
 represents the method of getting out the iron-stone at Dudley. 
 A shaft being sunk, galleries are driven at different depths into 
 the coal, or into the iron-stone. The ore or coal is placed in 
 small wagons moving on a tram-road, and is thus drawn to the 
 mouth of the pit. Here a kind of circular platform is loaded 
 with the stone, the mass being supported by loose flexible bands 
 of iron (fig. 372). When drawn to the top, a platform is wheeled 
 
 over the mouth, and upon this the load is rested while being 
 unpacked. The extensive excavations thus made underground 
 cause the surface to give way : the walls of houses crack and 
 totter, and are only prevented from falling by building massive 
 buttresses against them, as in fig. 370, which represents a portion 
 of the iron district of Colebrook Dale. 
 
 The first operation in the manufacture of iron is roasting the 
 ore : this may be done in heaps, or in kilns. When roasted in 
 heaps, a layer of small coal is spread on the ground : upon this 
 a quantity of iron-stone, then more coali on this the iron-stone 
 is piled into a wedge-shaped heap, and the whole is covered with 
 small coal. In forming the heap, channels are left for the 
 admission of air, as shown in fig. 373. When roasted in kilns 
 (fig. 375), a stratum of coals at the bottom of the furnace is 
 sufficient for the purpose. Coal is also coked by burning it in 
 large heaps. 
 
 The furnace in which the iron ore is smelted, is represented in 
 section in fig. 377. It consists of five principal parts, which, 
 reckoning from the bottom upwards, are : 1. The Hearth, which 
 is composed of a single block of quartz grit, about two feet 
 square. 2. Upon the hearth is a four-sided cavity called the 
 Crucible, slightly enlarging uji wards. 3. The part above this is 
 in the form of a funnel or inverted cone, called the Boshes .- this 
 is the widest part of the interior, above which is 4. The Cavity 
 of the furnace, extending in a conical form to the height of 
 thirty feet and upwards. Above this is 5. The Chimney. The 
 first three jaarts are represented separately in fig. 374, with a few 
 more details : c is called the dam-stone, and d the dam-plate : from 
 the top of the latter proceeds an inclined plane to allow the 
 scoria to flow off : a is called the tymp-stone, and b the tymp-plate, 
 for confining the liquid metal in the hearth; the space under the 
 tymp-plate is rammed with loam or fine clay, called tymp-stopping. 
 About two feet above the hearth, there are three openings in the 
 sides of the crucible, for the admission of the ends of blast-pipes, 
 through which air is forced into the furnace. The arrangement 
 of the blast-pipes is shown in fig. 376, while the construction of 
 the blowing apparatus is shown in fig. 378. In the latter arrange- 
 ment the upward motion of the piston expels air along the top 
 exit-pipe, a portion of which is shown to the right, while the 
 downward motion of the piston expels air along the bottom exit- 
 pipe, and these two pipes thus afford a continuous supply of 
 condensed air to the pipes, fig. 376. It is evident that during the 
 ascent of the piston, air enters by the bottom valves, which open 
 upwards, and that during the descent of the piston these valves 
 remain closed, and the upper valves open. The blast-pipe which 
 enters the furnace is called a tuyere (pronounced ttoeer), and is 
 protected from the intense heat by the method shown in fig. 
 384 A, B, C : a spiral pipe (a), through which a stream of water is 
 kept constantly playing, protects the nozzle of the air-pipe. B 
 is a section of the tuyere, showing the spiral tubing inclosed in 
 cast iron, and c .shows the tuyere ready for iJutting into the 
 furnace. The exact position of the tuyere, and its connexion with 
 the hot-blast apparatus, are shown in fig. 377. Arrangements 
 are usually made for heating the blast of air before it enters the 
 furnace, to the temperature of about 600°, or the melting point 
 of lead. For this purpose, the air is made to circulate through 
 a number of pipes which are heated in the small furnace shown 
 to the right of fig. 377. The advantages of the hot blast, as it is 
 cahed, are the saving of fuel, the use of coal instead of coke in 
 the furnace, and the diminished quantity of flux required. When 
 it is considered that not less than six tons weight of air per hour 
 are injected into a blast furnace of ordinary size, the cooling effect 
 of such an enormous quantity of air must be great ; but by 
 heating the air before sending it into the furnace, the saving of 
 
IRON. 
 
 87 
 
 fuel has been found to be such, that 2f tons of coal are now 
 sufficient for the production of a ton of iron from ore, which 
 would have required eight tons when the cold-blast was used. It 
 is stated, however, that hot-blast iron is inferior in tenacity to 
 the cold-blast. 
 
 When such a furnace is regularly at work, it is charged at the 
 top at regular intervals with coal or coke, and a proper mixture 
 of roasted ore and of a lime-stone flux, broken into small fi'ag- 
 ments. When there is a regular incline from the coke-yard or 
 kilns to the tops of the furnaces, the materials are conveyed in 
 loaded barrows (fig. 380), and turned into the furnace-mouth, or 
 they may be accumulated at that elevation, and weighed out in 
 regulated portions ; but in a flat country, the charge is weighed 
 out below, and the barrows are drawn up an inclined plane, as in 
 fig. 379. 
 
 The chemical changes which take place in the furnace are 
 somewhat complicated ; but we may here briefly state, that the 
 ore, having been rendered porous by the previous roasting, is 
 readily penetrated by the flame of the ascending gases, and the 
 iron becomes reduced in the upper part of the boshes, where the 
 heat is comparatively moderate. The reduced metal, mixed with 
 the earthy matters of the ore, gradually sinks down to the hotter 
 parts, where the earthy matters melt and unite '.vith the limestone 
 flux into a crude species of glass, consisting principally of the 
 silicates of lime, magnesia, and alumina. In the meantime, the 
 iron in a minutely divided state, coming into contact with the 
 carbon of the fuel, imites with a portion of it, and forms the 
 fusible compound known as cast iron. This carbide of iron melts, 
 sinks down below the tuyeres through the vitrified slag.s, and is 
 protected by them from the further action of the air. The slag 
 exceeds the iron in bulk by five or six times : it floats above the 
 melted metal, and is allowed to flow off as already noticed, whilst 
 the iron is run off at intervals of eight, twelve, or twenty-four 
 hours. 
 
 Drawing off the iron, or casting, as it is called, is a splendid 
 sight, imperfectly represented in fig. 383. The shed in front 
 of the furnace is covered with sand to the depth of ten or twelve 
 inches, and, previous to casting, a channel called the sow is formed 
 in the sand, extending some forty or fifty feet from the furnace : 
 branching off from the sow at right angles, a number of smaller 
 channels called pigs are formed. The hole in the bottom of the 
 hearth being tapped, a river of molten metal rolls slowly on, 
 filling up the large channel, and turning aside into the smaller 
 channels. As the moulds become filled, the surface of the 
 molten metal appears to be in rapid motion ; innumerable undu- 
 lations play upon it, together with beautiful variegations of 
 colour, which cannot be described in words. This refers chiefly 
 to the super-carbonated iron known as No. 1, pig iron. There are 
 usually six kinds of pig iron. • No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 contain 
 carbon in different degrees ; No. 3 is also known as dark greij 
 iron, and contains less carbon than the other two. The next 
 quality is called bright iron, it being lighter and brighter than the 
 other three. A fifth variety is mottled iron, the fracture being 
 mottled with grey and white ; while the last variety is named 
 white iron, from its silvery-white colour. 
 
 All the varieties of pig iron contain impurities, which render 
 them brittle under the hammer, and unfit for the numerous 
 appliances of the forge. The impurities consist chiefly of carbon, 
 silicium, and minute portions of sulphur and phosi^horus. The 
 carbon and silicium are got rid of by exposing the pig iron to a 
 high temperature under the influence of a blast of air, the 
 effect of which is to convert a portion of the iron into an oxide, 
 which, uniting with the oxidized silicon, forms a fusible slag ; 
 the excess of oxide of iron in this slag reacts on the melted 
 metal, and, by giving up a portion of its oxygen to the carbon 
 and the' silicon disseminated through the mass, an additional 
 portion of these substances is burnt off. Early in the process a 
 portion of the carbon burns off in the form of carbonic oxide, 
 while portions of sulphur and of phosphorus ai-e also got rid of 
 by oxidation, or accumulate in the slag. The furnace in which 
 
 this operation is conducted is called a finenj, or refinery, fig. 382, 
 the fire of which is urged by a double row of blast pipes, the 
 nozzles of which are kept cool by the water apparatus already 
 referred to. When the melted iron is sufficiently refined, it is 
 run off into a channel, where it solidifies in the form of a flat 
 cake, and it is made brittle by pouring cold water upon it. Coke 
 is the fuel usually employed in the finery ; but where a superior 
 iron is required, charcoal is used, the coke containing a portion 
 of sulphur and earthy matters, which injure the quality of the 
 iron. 
 
 The refined metal still contains a good deal of carbon and some 
 silicon. To remove these, it is introduced in chai'ges of from 
 four to five hundred-weight into the puddling furnace, where it 
 undergoes the operation of puddling. This furnace, repi'esented 
 in section, fig. 392, is what is called a reverberator)/ furnace, the 
 brickwork of the roof being so constructed as to reverberate or 
 reflect the' flame of the furnace down upon the charge. The 
 bottom of the furnace is formed of a thick cast-iron plate, pro- 
 tected by a coating of the oxide or cinder formed in previous 
 operations. The chimney is forty or fifty feet high, so as to form 
 a powerful draught, which can be diminished at pleasure by means 
 of a damper. The iron is put in and taken out of the furnace by a 
 large square hole (shown in fig. 387, and also in dotted lines, fig. 
 392), which, except on such occasions, is closed with a sliding 
 door ; at the bottom of this door is a small hole, through which 
 the puddler introduces his tools and inspects his work. The 
 charge, mixed with a proportion of scales of oxide, is first com- 
 pletely fused, then stirred briskly, to mix the oxide with the 
 melted metal, the effect of which is to transfer the oxygen from 
 the oxide to the carbon of the melted metal, and carbonic oxide 
 is formed. This is an inflammable gas burning with a blue 
 flame ; its escape produces an appearance of boiling in the metal, 
 and the gas, as it escapes in jets, burns with its characteristic 
 flame. As the carbon diminishes in quantity, the metal becomes 
 less fusible, and at last subsides into a granular sandy mass. 
 The heat is now raised to the utmost ; air is excluded from the 
 interior, and the metal soon begins to soften, and to run together, 
 when the puddler gradually collects it into balls, called hlooms, 
 and subjects each in succession, while still at a glowing heat, to 
 the blows of a massive hammer, called the helce, or shingling 
 hammer, fig. 389, and also represented, among other operations, 
 in the large engraving fig. 381. This hammer weighs about four 
 tons, and it is lifted by means of a cam, revolving under the 
 nose of the helve. The effect of the blows of this hammer upon 
 the shingle-ball is to squeeze out the liquid slag, to weld the 
 particles of iron together, and to reduce the ball to an oblong 
 shape, fit for the next operation, which is rolling. The bloom is 
 still at a bright red heat, when it is passed between a couple of 
 massive rollers (fig. 38-5), called puddle-rolls ; the largest hole 
 between the rolls being first used, and the smaller ones in suc- 
 cession, by which means the bloom is rolled out into a bar, or, 
 by passing it between a couple of smooth rollers, into a sheet, as 
 represented in fig. 381. In passing between the rolls, a further 
 portion of the slag is driven off, and the rough bar resulting 
 from these operations is very different in character to the pig 
 iron from which it was produced. The pig iron was hard, crys- 
 talline, brittle, and fusible ; it is now a long, slender bar of soft, 
 fibrous, tough, malleable iron, fusing with difficulty. 
 
 The character of the bar-iron thus produced may be further 
 improved by cutting it up into short lengths by means of 
 powerful shears (fig. 390), and piling several of these pieces upon 
 each other, placing them in a furnace, raising them to a welding 
 heat, and passing them through finer rolls, called the finishing 
 rolls (fig. 386). These rolls are of various forms, so as to produce 
 square, round, or flat bars of various sizes. The effect of rolling 
 is to improve the fibre of the iron, and otherwise to exalt the 
 good qualities of the metal. The rolling being complete, the 
 bars are straightened on a long bench of cast iron, then stamped 
 with some letter or foundry mark, and lastly, the rough ends are 
 cut off with the shears. 
 
88 
 
 IRON AND STEEL. 
 
 394. SECTION or CEMEKTING FURNACE. 
 
 395. TU-T HAMMEE. 
 
IRON AND STEEL. 
 
 89 
 
90 
 
 STEEL. 
 
 The varieties of rolled iron required by our railroad system, 
 iron ships, boiler plates, tires for wheels, «Sic., are very great. 
 Iron plates require to be rolled of very large size, as, in the con- 
 struction of the Great JSastern steam-ship, some of the plates were 
 twenty-eight feet in length, one and a quarter inch in thickness, 
 weighing two and a half tons each. The iron for plates is pre- 
 pared by making a pile of rough bars, and, when raised to the 
 welding heat, bringing it under the forge-hammer, where it is 
 
 beaten into a solid slab, the dimensions of which depend on the 
 weight and shape of the intended plate. It is again heated, and 
 then passed between the smooth rolls, which are at first some 
 way apart, but are gradually screwed closer and closer together. 
 It is brought to the required shape by being passed through the 
 rolls in different directions ; and lastly, the ragged and uneven 
 edges are trimmed off with shears. 
 
 XXV.— STEEL, AND CASTING IN IRON AND STEEL. 
 
 When ii-on is combined with a smaller proportion of carbon 
 than that contained in cast iron, steel is produced. It is remark- 
 able that a minute portion of carbon, varying from less than one 
 to one and a half parts in one hundred, should confer so many 
 new and valuable properties on iron. It becomes denser than 
 iron, has a finer grain, becomes brighter and whiter in lustre 
 when polished, is more elastic, retains magnetism longer, and 
 does not rust so easily. Steel may also be made so much harder 
 than iron as to be capable of cutting and filing it : steel will 
 scratch the hardest glass, and strike sparks with siliceous stones. 
 But the most valuable property of steel is the facility with which 
 it may be hardened and tempered to almost any degree between 
 extreme hardness and softness. 
 
 The refined pig iron of this country is not sufiiciently pure for 
 conversion into steel. The hematites and other forms of oxide 
 of iron, smelted by a pure fuel, such as charcoal, yield the sort of 
 iron required. Charcoal-iron made at Ulverstone is esteemed ; 
 but, perhaps, the best is from the mine of Dannemora in Sweden. 
 Most of the produce of this mine is sent to England, where it is 
 known by the name of Orerjrvnd iron, fi-om the port from which 
 it is shipped. This iron is distinguished by one or other of the 
 marks represented in fig. 391, such as the hoop L, the G Z,^the 
 double lullet, &c. Inferior Swedish iron bears such marks as C and 
 crown, D and crown, the Sfeinhuclr, and IF and crowns. 
 
 Iron is converted into steel in a cenienting-furnace (figs. 388, 
 394), a dome-shaped building, surmounted by a hood, as m the 
 glass-house (fig. 276) and the pottery-kiln (fig. 315). Within the 
 furnace are a couple of brick or stone-ware rectangular boxes, a a 
 (fig. 394), for the reception of the bars of iron which are to be 
 converted into steel. Below and between the troughs is a grate 
 by which the troughs are heated, the flame being directed round 
 them by the flues b c. There is also an opening, e, in the middle 
 of the arch. Before the fire is lighted, the bottom of the boxes is 
 covered with a layer of cement-powder,2,i?, it is called ; this consists 
 of powdered charcoal, mixed with about one-tenth of its weight of 
 common salt and wood-ashes. Upon the bottom layer, and at 
 intervals of half an inch, the bars of iron are placed, the spaces 
 between them being filled with the powder ; above this is another 
 layer of powder, then another layer of bars ; and so on in succes- 
 sion, until the box is nearly full. The remaining space is covered 
 with a layer of damp sand ; and the fire being lighted is gradually 
 raised to a full red heat, at which point it is steadily maintained. 
 At the end of each box is a small hole, / (fig. 394), called the 
 tasting-hole, by which the workman can occasionally draw out a 
 bar to watch the process of the carburation. In about six or 
 eight days the process is complete ; the steel retains the form_ of 
 the iron, but its surface is covered with hiebs or bhsters, which 
 gives it the name of Mistered steel. Each bar has been penetrated 
 by the carbon ; the fibrous texture of the iron has disappeared ; 
 so that when broken across it exhibits a fine close-grained tex- 
 ture. It is also rendered more fusible. 
 
 The blistered steel undergoes different processes, according to 
 its destined use. To prepare it for forging into edge-tools, it 
 
 requires to be condensed and rendered uniform by the process of 
 shearing, the shear-steel thus produced being originally employed 
 for making the shears for cutting off the wool of sheep. The 
 process is also called tilting, on account of a tilt-hammer being 
 used. The tilt-hammer (figs. 395, 396) is arranged so as to give a 
 rapid succession of blows, by causing the cogs of a wheel to play 
 upon the tail of the helve. In this way the hammer-head may 
 be made to fall with considerable force on the anvil, as many as 
 from 150 to 160 strokes per minute. The bhstered steel is pre- 
 pared for tilting by breaking the bars into lengths of about 
 eighteen inches, and binding four or more of these into a fagot 
 (fig. 393). This, being raised to a welding heat, is placed under 
 a forge-hammer, similar to fig. 389, which unites the different 
 portions and closes up internal cavities. The rod thus produced 
 being again heated, is passed under the tilt-hammer, the rapid 
 blows of which revive the heat, so that the rod ignites under the 
 strokes. The workman, seated in a kind of swing (fig. 396), 
 advances or recedes with rapidity by a slight motion of his 
 foot, and he quickly converts the rude steel rod into a smooth, 
 sharp-edged prism, which can be forged into shears, edge-tools, 
 and cutting instruments. 
 
 The best kinds of cutlery are formed of cast steel : that is, the 
 blistered steel, being fused and cast into ingots, becomes more 
 uniform in texture, and of superior quality, from the more equal 
 distribution of carbon throughout the mass. The melting-pots 
 or crucibles are made of Stourbridge fire-clay : this, being mixed 
 with water, is spread out in a shallow trough on the floor, where 
 it is kneaded during several hours by the naked feet of two men 
 (fig. 397). The crucibles are formed in a wooden mould (fig. .398), 
 which being I'ammed fuU of clay, the core (fig. 399) is forced into 
 it, when a pot of the form I'epresented in fig. 400 is produced. 
 This is removed from the mould, and placed near the furnace to 
 dry. Each furnace is large enough to contain two crucibles ; the 
 fuel is well-made coke, and a powerful draught is maintained by 
 means of a tall chimney. Eight or ten of these furnaces are 
 placed side by side, and they communicate by means of trap-doors 
 with the casting-shed above. The bars of blistered steel are 
 broken into fragments, and the charge for each crucible is weighed 
 out, with the addition of a small portion of black oxide of man- 
 ganese, which is supposed to imj^rove the quality of the steel. 
 Each pot is charged by means of a long iron funnel, let down into 
 it while glowing with the heat of the furnace. A cover is then 
 put on, and the fire is kept well supplied with fuel. In about 
 four hours the steel is ready for casting : each ingot-mould is 
 about two feet long and two inches square ; it is made up of two 
 parts, fitting accurately, and held together by a clamp of iron. 
 It is kejjt upright by resting against the angles of a pit in the 
 floor. Before putting the parts of the mould together, the 
 interior is smoked over a fire of pitch, to prevent the liquid steel 
 from adhering to or melting the mould. Just before drawing 
 the crucibles, a man puts on sacking leggings and a coarse apron, 
 drenches them with water, and then, throwing up the traj)-door, 
 strides over the fiery furnace (fig. 404) and raises the crucible 
 
STEEL, AND CASTING 
 
 by means of tongs. A second man immediately removes the 
 cover, while a third grasps the crucible with tongs applied to the 
 side, raises it, and pours the glowing metal into the mould amidst 
 a bright scintillation of sparks (fig. 411) ; the other man keeping 
 back with a rod any portions of cinder or slag which may be on 
 the surface. The ingots solidify immediately, and are removed 
 from the mould ; while the crucibles are returned to the furnaces 
 for another charge. 
 
 The conversion of iron into various useful forms is brought 
 about by one of two great series of oi^erations, conducted either in 
 the forge or in the foundry. In the forge, pig iron is converted into 
 malleable bar iron, which can be further shaped into difierent 
 forms by processes which will be noticed hereafter. In the 
 foundry the pig iron is melted, and reproduced in various 
 shapes by casting in moulds. In this process it still retains its 
 brittleness, and does not acquire the valuable fibrous texture 
 which allows it to be beaten out under the hammer. 
 
 The founder has to mix several qualities of iron, according to 
 the nature of his castings ; one piece may require strength and 
 tenacity to bear heavy weights and strains ; another must yield 
 readily to the file or the chisel ; a third may require to be hard ; 
 a fourth to resist sudden changes of temperature ; and so on. The 
 mixture of pig iron is melted in a small blast furnace called the 
 cupola (fig. 401) : this is a cast-iron cylinder, lined with sand or 
 fire-bricks, with openings at various heights in the side for 
 admitting the blast-pipe where it is wanted. Near the bottom 
 is an opening for letting out the liquid metal. The furnace is 
 first filled with ignited coke, and as this begins to sink, alternate 
 charges of coke and pig iron are thrown in every ten or fifteen 
 minutes. 
 
 In executing an article in cast iron, a wooden pattern is first 
 made, about one-eighth of an inch per foot larger than the 
 intended object, in order to allow for the contraction of the 
 metal in cooling. There are three varieties of casting : — 1st, in 
 moist or green sand ; 2d, in dry sand ; and 3d, in loam. The 
 first and second methods resemble each other : only the one is 
 intended for fine work, and the other for coarser articles. Green 
 sand is a mixture of fresh sand with about one-twelfth of charcoal, 
 made a little moist, that it may preserve the forms impressed in 
 it. The mould is formed within a couple of iron frames, without 
 tops or bottoms, called jiaslcs (fig. 405), furnished with handles 
 for lifting, and with pins and holes for accurately fitting into 
 each other. The lower flask is placed on a board, and is filled 
 with sand well rammed down with a rammer (fig. 409). The 
 pattern is then pressed down into the sand until it is half buried, 
 and the sand is smoothed up the sides of the pattern with a small 
 trowel (fig. 408). The other flask is now put on, and fine burnt 
 sand or charcoal, called parting-sand, is dusted over the surface last 
 prepared to prevent it from adhering to the sand which is now 
 to be put into the upper flask. Channels are also moulded on 
 the lower surface for the introduction of the melted metal. 
 These channels are made by burying some rods of wood, ex- 
 tending from the pattern to the side of the frame. The upper 
 flask is now filled with sand and well i-ammed down, the rods 
 of wood are removed, the upjjer flask is lifted off, and the pattern 
 carefully taken out by inserting at each end the point of a screw 
 (fig. 408). Defects in the mould are repaired with sand ; and 
 the surfaces being dusted over with tine charcoal, the upper 
 flask is carefully placed in its proper position : and the two 
 being set up on end, the molten metal is brought from the cupola 
 in an iron ladle or pot lined with loam, and is poured into a channel 
 left in the flask for the purpose. The escape of air and of the 
 steam produced by the hot metal is usually facilitated by driving 
 a small iron rod into the sand in various directions from the pat- 
 tern before the latter is removed. Casting in dry sand is similar 
 in principle to the foregoing. By this method are produced 
 the various pots and pans, ranges, frames for machinery, span- 
 drils for roofs, and similar articles, which do not require a 
 
 IN IRON AND STEEL. 91 
 
 central core. We may also refer to the bridge (fig. 412), as a 
 specimen of the first iron structure of the kind ever erected, 
 and to the iron dome in the Crystal Palace (fig. 418), as speci- 
 mens of the earliest and latest structures in cast iron, in 
 which the parts are cast separately, and put together as in any 
 other building. 
 
 In casting hollow tubes, such as water-pipes, the half-cylinders 
 (fig. 402) are used : these are set up on end, and a smooth plug, 
 of the exact size of the intended pipe, being passed through the 
 centi'e, is supported by a pin passing into a hole in the floor, and 
 is fastened above by the contrivance shown in fig. 407. The inter- 
 vening space is filled up with moist sand, when a second pair of 
 half-cylinders is added to the first, and sand is rammed in as 
 before ; a third pair is added to the second, and more sand added : 
 this completes the length of nine feet, or that of a cast-iron water- 
 pipe. The plug is now carefully withdrawn, and the cylinders, 
 with their lining of sand, removed to the drying-stove. A core 
 is next formed by winding hay or straw round a four-sided bar, 
 and covering it with mortar to the exact size of the intended 
 core, or interior of the water-pipe. When this is solid, the core 
 is drawn out and weU dried. The cylinders, with their lining of 
 sand, are now set up in a pit ; and the core is carefully adjusted 
 so as to fill up the sand tube, with the exception of a space 
 between the outer surface of the core and the inner surface of 
 the sand, which evidently gives the thickness of the intended 
 pipe. A quantity of molten metal is then poured in so as to fill 
 the space ; and when this is cool the mould is hoisted out of the 
 pit, the outer cylinder is removed, the core is taken out, and the 
 pipe, supposing the casting to be perfect, is ready for use. The 
 casting-pot (fig. 403) is used for conveying the metal from the 
 cupola ; the use of the double handle is for tilting it over in the 
 pouring. 
 
 Loam-casting on a large scale, such as the cylinder of a steam- 
 engine, is similar in principle to the method last described, but 
 the details are different. Fig. 406 is the section of a mouM for a 
 large cylinder. It is placed upon an iron frame (A), mounted on 
 wheels : in the centre of this frame is fixed a tube (B) ; C is a ring 
 of iron, with four ears or flanges for the purpose of lifting it ; 
 this ring is placed on the frame A, as nearly as possible concentric 
 with the tube B. On this ring a thickness of sand is first j^laced, 
 and upon the sand a cylinder of brickwork is constructed, clay or 
 wet loam being used instead of mortar. The inner diameter of 
 this cylinder exceeds by a few inches the outer diameter of the 
 intended casting. The inner surface of the brick cylinder is 
 therefore covered with loam, and is made to assume the exact 
 shape of the outer surface of the casting by the following contri- 
 vance : — A rod (D), furnished with arms (E), is dropped into the 
 tube B ; and to these arms is attached a piece of wood properly 
 shaped, and this, by revolving on its centre D, moulds the wet 
 loam to the shape of the cylinder. This outer mould, now com- 
 pleted, is moved to an oven to be dried, or a fire is kindled within 
 it. The central core of brickwork (fig. 410) is formed in a similar 
 manner ; only the outer surface is covered with loam, and made 
 to assume the shape and dimensions of the inner surface of the 
 cylinder by placing the mould-board on the outside. The core is 
 also made dry by being baked : the mould is now lowered into a 
 pit by the cross-piece and chains shown in fig. 410 ; and when the 
 core is properly adjusted and fiUed with sand to give it steadiness, 
 a flat cover of dried loam is put over the whole, openings being 
 made in the cover for pouring the metal. Channels are now 
 made in the sand which covers the floor of the casting-house, so 
 as to connect the furnace with the pit ; and when everything is 
 prepared, the furnace is tapped, and the metal flows into and 
 occupies the space between the inside of the mould and the out- 
 side of the core, forming, in fact, the cylinder required. Letters, 
 figures, &c., in relief, required on the outside of the cylinder, are 
 previously sunk into the loam which forms the inner lining of 
 the mould. 
 
92 
 
 MANUFACTURES IN IRON. 
 
 UUiiUNtr AlALUlI>Ji. MILLING MACHIKE. 
 
MANUFACTURES IN IRON. 
 
 93 
 
 426. NAIL-FOJRGE. 
 
XXVI.— MANOTACTUEES IN lEON. 
 
 The processes, both of the forge and of the foundry^ which are 
 such prominent features in an engineer's workshop, are liable to 
 continual variation as new machines and applications of machinery 
 come into use. Thus the railway system, which has not yet been 
 in existence much more than a quarter of a century, has led to 
 the important and extensive profession of railway engineering. 
 The enormous demand for steam-engines, locomotives, rails, and 
 railway carriages has led to the introduction, or at least the 
 improvement, of many powerful machines for turning, planing, 
 punching, drilling, and boring masses of iron with as much facility 
 as the carpenter performs those operations on wood. Few con- 
 trivances in the engineer's workshop are more beautiful than the 
 slide-rest, fig. 414. Before its' introduction, nearly every part of 
 the machine had to be made and finished by manual labour ; so 
 that we were dependent on the dexterity of the hand and the 
 accuracy of the eye of the workman for the production of parts 
 of an engine or of a machine, which often require for their effi- 
 ciency to be exactly of the same shape and size ; while single 
 parts were required to be true, — a cylinder, for example, to be 
 really cylindrical, and a plane surface level. The steam-engine 
 owes its present perfection to the means possessed by the engineer 
 of giving to metallic bodies precise geometrical forms. It is evi- 
 dent that we could not have a good steam-engine, if we had not 
 the means of boring out a true cylinder, or turning a true piston- 
 rod, or planing a valve-face. 
 
 The shde-rest is an ajjpendage to the turning-lathe, so contrived 
 as to hold a tool firmly to the work ; and while cutting a shaving 
 from the bar in the lathe, the tool is slid gently along, and the 
 bar is turned quite true. In fig. 414 the tool is held fiirmly in a 
 sort of iron hand or vice, which is made to move in the required 
 direction by means of the slide S, the sliding motion being given 
 by the workman, by turning the handle H, while the depth of the 
 cut is regulated by the under-slide K, also moved by a screw- 
 handle. By the separate or combined motion of these two 
 shdes, the tool can be made to act along or across the work with 
 great accuracy : the attendance of a workman may even be dis- 
 pensed with by attaching a star (X) to the wheel (H), and an iron 
 finger to the end of the work in the lathe at 0. As the work 
 revolves, the finger will bear down one of the points of the stai-, 
 the effect of which is the same as turning the screw-handle H, 
 by which the tool is moved along the surface of the work. 
 
 In this way cylindrical forms are obtained in metal with great 
 accuracy. The planing-macldne (figs. 416, 417) is an application 
 of the slide-rest to plane surfaces. In cases of this kind, the 
 foi-m of the cutting-tool is of great importance. If in fig. 415 
 the shaded portion represent a surface of iron, from which it is 
 desired to cut ofi' shavings, either by moving the iron against 
 the tool in the direction of the arrow, or by moving the tool 
 over the surface of the iron in a contrary direction, a tool of the 
 form shown in No. 1 would not do its work : the particles of the 
 metal would not be cut, but only rubbed or crushed off by sheer 
 force, since in this case the cutting edge is so blunt that it forms 
 a right angle with the face of the iron. In No. 2 the same objec- 
 tion applies even with greater force ; for not only does the tool 
 act at right angles to the surface to be cut, but its form gives it 
 a penetrating action in the direction a b, which will produce a 
 number of teeth-like marks. In No. 3, however, the cutting edge 
 is in the direction of the strain or cut, and this edge is also 
 arranged with reference to the greatest strength, the mass of 
 metal behind the edge giving it firmness and support. In such 
 a case the shavings are turned off in the form of curls, fig. 413, 
 without any tendency to chatter or produce a rippled surface. In 
 forming and setting a tool to cut any surface, the end of the tool 
 must be so placed as to form the least possible angle with the 
 surface to be cut. 
 
 In the planing machine the work is firmly bolted to a table, 
 shding in dove-tail grooves, and travelling backwards and for- 
 wards under the cutting-tool, which admits of accurate adjust- 
 ment. When one end of the work has escaped from under the 
 tool, the table is moved back, and the slide-rest is moved a little 
 way across the table so as to take off the next shaving close to 
 the one previously cut. It is necessary to keep the tool cool 
 during the work, by allowing cold water to drip upon it, other- 
 wise the edge would soon become soft. 
 
 The Ijoring macldne (fig. 420) is another contrivance of a similar 
 kind. Boring is but a branch of turning, only in the former the 
 tool is usually made to revolve while the work is at rest, while in 
 the latter the work revolves while the tool is at rest. There are, 
 however, exceptions to this : in boring cannon, which are cast 
 solid, the gun is made to revolve, while the borer advances on a 
 fixed axis, or in heavy ordnance the gun may be fixed while the 
 cutter revolves. The arrangement in fig. 420 represents the 
 boring of one of the cylinders of the hydraulic press, by which 
 the Britannia Tubular Bridge was raised. In boring the cylinders 
 of steam-engines, the working-barrels of large pumps, (Sec, the 
 cylinder is cast hollow, and the cutters are arranged round the 
 rim of a cuttei'-head of cast iron, attached to a tube, accurately 
 fitted on an axis, and moved through the cyhnder by machinery 
 in such a way that sixty turns of the axis may cut one inch of 
 the cylinder. 
 
 In making the boilers of steam-engines and other structures in 
 which sheets of iron are held together by bolts or rivets, which, 
 being inserted red-hot into holes, pass through the overlapping 
 edges of the iron plates, the hot bolt is crushed up by means of 
 powerful hammers, amidst a deafening noise and a large amount 
 of labour. In Mr. Faii-bairn's riveting machine, fig. 419, the work 
 is done by an almost instantaneous pressure, and without any 
 noise. In this machine the boiler or other work is suspended 
 between a die on the upright post ; when a moving slide and die, 
 worked by the action of a revolving cam upon an elbow-joint, 
 closes the work and finishes the rivet. By this machine the 
 cylinder of an ordinai-y locomotive engine boiler, eight feet six 
 inches long and three feet diameter, can be riveted and the plates 
 completely fitted in four hours ; whilst to execute the same work 
 by hand would require twenty hours. The drilling machine, 
 fig. 421, is a contrivance for giving rotatory motion to a drill ; and 
 by means of spur gear, connected with the arm, moving the tool 
 to and fro, or up and down. It is used for drilling holes in 
 metals where accuracy is required, the rougher work being done 
 by the punching machine. 
 
 We can do no more in this place than just name such important 
 engineering tools as the steam hammer, the self-acting slotting and 
 shaping machine, the drilling and boring machine, the punching and 
 shearing machine, the bolt-head and 7mt-shaping machine, the wheel- 
 cutting and dividing machine. 
 
 Hailwa^j-carriage icheels. — As a specimen of the work done in a 
 railway engineer's workshop, we may here describe the method 
 of making railway-carriage wheels. A straight bar of angle iron 
 (rolled so that its section forms a right angle) is raised to a red 
 heat, and then curved round a circular maundril by the contrivance 
 shown in fig. 422 : one end of the bar being secured by a staple to 
 the maundril, the bar is bent round by levers, shown separately at 
 No. 5, fig. 425, and also with the assistance of a sledge hammer ; 
 and the two extremities of the bar are united by driving between 
 them a couple of wedges of iron at a welding heat. The tire is then 
 put into a ring-furnace (fig. 424), and the spokes are prepared by 
 bending a wrought-iron bar (No. 1, fig. 425) into the form repre- 
 sented at No. 2, and eight of these bent bars are arranged into a 
 complete set of spokes, as in No. 3. These are all united by the 
 
MANUFACTURES IN IRON— NAILS. 
 
 95 
 
 nave, which is cast soHd, for which purpose the spokes are fixed 
 within a maundril, as in fig. 423, their centres terminating in 
 flasks, in which the proper shape of the nave has been moulded. 
 Molten metal is poured in, after which the spokes and nave are 
 inserted within the tire, which is too small for the purpose until it 
 has been heated and stretched ; for which purpose the tire is taken 
 out of the ring-furnace, and placed, while still hot, in a stretching 
 machine, in which a number of blocks, forming segments of the 
 circle required, are thrust out by means of a hydraulic press so as 
 to stretch the hot tire sufficiently to allow the arrangement of 
 spokes and nave to drop in. This being done, the tire is left to 
 cool, and in doing so closes in upon the spokes, binding and com- 
 pressing them firmly; the whole being finished by a rivet through 
 each spoke into the tire. 
 
 Nails. — When William Hutton, the historian of Birmingham, in 
 the year 1471, first approached that city from Walsall, he was sur- 
 prised at the prodigious number of blacksmiths' shops upon the 
 road ; and could not imagine how the country, though populous, 
 could support so many people of the same occupation. In some 
 of these shops females were observed wielding the hammer ; and 
 being struck with the novelty, Hutton inquired whether the 
 ladies in that country shod horses ? He was told, with a smile, 
 that they were nailers. 
 
 Such was the condition of most of the useful arts in this 
 country, in the middle of the last century. Articles in common 
 every-day use were produced by individual efforts, or handicrafts. 
 As the demand for any jDarticular article increased, and the 
 supply did not keep pace with the demand, wages rose, and the 
 trade was said to be flourishing. But as the religious and mental 
 culture of the workman, if attended to at all, did not keep pace 
 with his worldly prosperity, he was accustomed to spend his gains 
 in carrying his so-called pleasures to excess ; and, though earning 
 good wages, his wife and children seldom shared in the prosperity. 
 In the case of the nailer, as the husband would not work longer 
 than he was compelled to do, his wife and daughters, easily acquir- 
 ing the simple art, would continue the exertion until enough had 
 been earned to pay the week's expenses. The nailers, never 
 dreaming of being competed with by machinery, dictated their 
 own prices ; or, working under one master, would strike for 
 higher wages, 'until at length, by the slow but accumulating 
 effect of many different circumstances, machinery, in this as in 
 so many other cases, came to perform the work of men's hands. 
 For many a long year did the nailer continue to struggle against 
 the machine ; and the wife and daughter, who had formerly 
 learned the occupation from choice, continued to exercise it from 
 hard necessity ; wages fell lower and lower, imtil at length the 
 nailer's trade came to be one of the lowest and most despised. 
 Some descriptions of nails are still made by hand ; but the great 
 bulk of those for which there is most demand, are easily and 
 cheaply cut out of sheets of metal by machinery. 
 
 Nails are forged by hand from rods of wrought iron of suitable 
 size. There are not less than 300 different sorts of nails, with 
 at least ten different sizes of each sort. The nailer's apparatus 
 consists of a small hearth or forge, for bringing the iron to a 
 proper heat, an anvil, a hammer, and one or two other tools. 
 The forge represented in fig. 426 is of an improved kind, but 
 does not require particular description. The nailer begins work 
 by putting the ends of three or four nail-rods into the fire, and 
 working the bellows to bring them to the proper heat. He next 
 takes one of the rods out of the fire, and resting it on the anvil, 
 forges or draivs out the nail by a few skilful blows, and cuts it off 
 from the rod by means of a chisel called a hack-iron. If the 
 nails are of moderate size, the end of the rod is still sufficiently 
 hot to allow another nail to be forged from it, before returning it 
 to the fire. The next operation is to form the heads of the 
 nails cut off : this is done by a tool called the lore ; this is a 
 piece of iron, furnished at each end with a steel knob, perforated 
 to the size of the shank or hollow of the nail, and countersunk 
 so as to correspond with the head. Taking up a nail while very 
 
 hot with a pair of tweezers, and inserting its point downwards 
 into the bore, the nailer strikes it with a hammer upon the pro- 
 jecting end, which forces it to take the shape of the perforation. 
 
 Some of the principal forms of nails are represented in 
 figs. 430 — 439. Fig. 430 is called rose-sharp, and is much used 
 for coopering, fencing, and other coarse purposes, where hard 
 wood is used. A thinner sort, called fine-rose, is used in pine and 
 other soft woods, the broad-spreading heads serving to hold the 
 work down. Fig. 431 is the rose, with flat or chisel points, which, 
 being driven with the edge across the grain, prevents the wood 
 from splitting. Fig. 432 is the c/tfs;?-uail, from the form of the 
 head, sticking into the wood and clasping it together : it is much 
 used by house-carpenters. C^^^nails (fig. 433) are used for 
 naihng iron-work and various substances to wood : the counter- 
 clout (fig. 434) is countersunk under the head, and has a chisel 
 point. Fig. 435 is called /;«e-(/o^, to distinguish it from a thicker 
 nail, called strong or weighty-dog. Fig. 436 is known as the Kent 
 hurdle; fig. 437 is the rose-clench, used in ship and boat-building : 
 it is called clench from the method of hammering down or 
 clenching the end over a small diamond-shaped plate of metal, 
 called a rove. iTor^e-nails are made so that their heads may lie 
 flush in the groove made for them in the horse's shoe. Brads 
 (fig. 439) form a large class of useful nails, a remark which also 
 also applies to tacks. 
 
 It is easy to see that nails or brads in the form of simple 
 wedges can easily be cut from a strip of iron, as in fig. 440'; 
 where the stronger sections represent that form of shoe-nail, 
 called a sparrahle or sparrow-hill, from its resemblance to the 
 mandible of a familiar bird, the slighter sections in the same 
 figure being named sprigs. By a little contrivance, it is not difii- 
 cult to cut both brads and headed nails out of a flat strip of 
 metal without any waste ; as will be seen by reference to fig. 
 441, all that is necessai'y being to turn over the .strip after each 
 cut, so as to make the heads and points of contiguous nails fit 
 into each other. 
 
 The iron from which nails are cut, is in the form of sheets or 
 plates of the proper thickness : these sheets are cut into strips 
 of the required size, by means of a powerful cutting-press, fig. 
 427. Each of these strips is then mounted on a rod (fig. 428), 
 and is held in the nail-cuttwg machine (fig. 429), the further end 
 of the rod being supported on a forked rest in order to keep the 
 strip in a proper position. The nail-cutting machine contains a 
 couple of steel dies, or a punch and a die, by which a nail is cut 
 off whenever the strip is presented ; but as every cut leaves the 
 end of the metal oblique, in consequence of the shape of the 
 nail, the strip must be turned over after every stroke. The 
 machine works with great rapidity, often making as many as 160 
 strokes in a minute. There are several forms of the nail-cutting 
 machines : in one of them, after the nail is cut off from the strijj, it is 
 caught by a clasp and exposed to a strong pressure, whereby a head 
 is produced much in the same way as in the operation of forging. 
 
 Machine-made nails require to be annealed : the strong com- 
 pression to which the iron has been subjected in rolling and in 
 cutting and punching, hardens the metal so as to produce an 
 amount of brittleness which requires to be removed : this is 
 done by putting the nails into close iron boxes, heating them in 
 ovens, and allowing them to cool gradually : they are lastly packed 
 in strong hempen bags, or are made up in bundles or in casks, 
 according to the market for which they are destined. 
 
 Screws. — The screw, also called the screw-nail, but more com- 
 monly the wood-screio, from its use by carpenters for fastening 
 pieces of wood, or of wood and metal together, is a neater fastening 
 than a nail, and is used in many cases where a hammer could 
 not be applied. 
 
 Blanks for screws were formerly forged by the nailers ; but 
 screw-making has long since passed into a factory operation, and 
 as such we shall describe it. 
 
 In making screws of the most common sizes, a coil of wire is 
 arranged so that it can be drawn into the blank-making machine 
 
IRON AND STEEL. 
 
 97 
 
98 
 
 MANUFACTURES IN IRON— GUN- 
 
 -BARRELS AND WIRE-DRAWING. 
 
 as it is wanted. Pieces of the proper length are cut off; one 
 end of each is struck up to form the head, and the blanks thus 
 produced are turned out into a box. The blanks are placed 
 separately in a lathe, and the heads and necks are properly 
 shaped by turning. Next, the notch or nick in the head of the 
 screw is cut by a circular saw (fig. 452). A woman puts each 
 blank into a metal clasp, and by means of a lever raises it to the 
 cutter ; then opens the clasp, when the blank falls out, and she 
 inserts another in its place with great rapidity. The next 
 operation is worming, or cutting the thread, which is also done 
 in a lathe ; the nick just formed assisting in holding it steadily 
 therein. Fig. 443 shows the arrangement of the lathe : — a steel 
 spindle revolves in a lathe by the motion of a strap passing 
 round the fast-pulley /; I being a loose pulley, to which the strap 
 is shifted when it is required to stop the machine. At i is an 
 iron box for holding the regulating screw (p), which is an exact 
 pattern of the thread of the screw to be cut. The blank * is 
 fixed in an iron cheek {d), and is held by the chisel spike of a hasp, 
 entering the nick of the blank. The cutters are arranged in the 
 frames at c, and are shown on a larger scale in tig. 447. The 
 frames move on joint pins, so that by the action of a lever the 
 cutters can be made to act on the shank of the blank with any 
 required amount of pressure. There is also a lever, which causes 
 certain directing points resembling the cutters to close upon the 
 regulating screw /) ; and the two levers being connected by a 
 horizontal bar, the cutters and the directors can be applied at 
 the same moment ; so that while the inclination of the thread 
 is determined by the pattern screw, its shape is given by the 
 form and position of the cutters fig. 447. Gimlet-jiointed screws 
 are cut by means of dies (fig. 442) instead of cutters. The dies 
 are opened and shut by a right and left handed screw ; and as 
 the dies regulate the size of the thread, a pattern screw is not 
 required. The form of the worm is f importance to the effi- 
 ciency of the screw, as will be evide"t by comparing the new 
 with the old form in fig. 445. The first figure represents the 
 screw, the second the mould made by it in wood, while the third 
 is a section of the common form of screw, in which the worm is 
 shallow and imperfect. 
 
 The large iron screws, used in vices, presses, &c., are cut by 
 the screio-cutting machine (fig. 444), which consists of a slide rest, 
 in which the tool- holder is slid along by means of the guide- 
 screw S, which receives its motion from the work in the lathe by 
 means of the wheels W W. As the tool-holder slides along, it 
 must evidently leave a spiral or screw in the work X ; and ac- 
 cording to the respective diameters of the wheels W W, the 
 sci'ew on X will be more or less fine in what is called the intch 
 of the thread, according to the proportions of the respective 
 diameters of the wheels W W. 
 
 Gmi-harrels. — Gun-barrels are made in large numbers at Bii-- 
 mingham. The iron is fagoted, hammered, ilattened out between 
 rollers, and clipped with shears into a plate or skelj^ of the proper 
 size for a gun-barrel : this is then moulded into shajje over an iron 
 maundril, so as to form a compact tube of iron. A strike among 
 the skelj^-welders, some years ago, led to a method of welding 
 gun-barrels by rollei-s. The plan consisted in turning a bar of 
 iron, about a foot long, into the form of a cylinder, with the 
 edges a little overlapping. This was raised to a welding heat ; 
 and a cylinder of iron being placed in it, it was passed quickly 
 between a couple of rollers : the welding was thus performed 
 with a single heating, and the remainder of the elongation 
 required to bring it to the proper length was performed in a 
 similar manner, but at a lower temperature. 
 
 Barrels for fowling-pieces are known as stub, stuh-twlst, wire 
 tvjist, Bamasctis-tujist, stub-Bamascus, and some others. Stub iron 
 is foi'med from old horse-shoe nails called stubs, a form of iron 
 which owes many of its good qualities to its repeated workings. 
 The stubs are packed closely together, bound by means of an iron 
 hoop into a ball, raised to a welding heat, united by hammering, 
 and drawn out into bars of convenient length ; or the stubs may be 
 
 I mixed with a portion of steel and be puddled, and after welding 
 into a long square block, may be drawn out by a tilt hammer 
 (fig. 395) into rods of the proper size. Stub-barrels are also 
 formed from scrap iron, which consists of the cuttings and waste 
 of various manufactories. This is sorted, and iron of various 
 qualities is prepared from it, such as wire-twist, Damascus-twist, 
 stub-twist, &c. For twisted barrels, the iron is drawn out into 
 ribbons, and these are twisted, while red-hot, over an iron rod 
 fig. 448 : the welding of the edges being completed by jumping, 
 that is, striking the spiral forcibly on the ground, and also by 
 hammering. 
 
 After the barrel has been forged, it is bored : the exterior is 
 turned in a lathe ; and the barrel, having been made equal and 
 quite correct in every part, is tapped or screwed at the breach 
 end, and the plug is fitted. The barrel is next proved by giving 
 it a charge of gunpowder three or four times greater than it will 
 afterwards have to bear, and a bullet is also added. The bullets 
 are cast by pouring lead into a long mould, which, when opened, 
 produces them in the form shown in fig. 446 ; but they are 
 sepai-ated from the j^ipe and stem with a pair of nippers with 
 cutting edges, adapted to the surface of the bullet. The barrels 
 being thus jjrepared, are' arranged on frames in a low shed, fig. 
 450, to the number of about 130, in two rows, one above the 
 other. The shutters being closed, the barrels are fired by means 
 of a train ; and the bullets are received into a mass of sand 
 placed against a dead wall. The barrels that pass well through 
 this ordeal, are stamped with the mark of the Birmingham 
 Proof-House ; but those which are burst are of course returned 
 as useless. Fig. 451 represents a number of specimens of barrels 
 burst in proving. 
 
 Wire-drav)ing. — The process of drawing out a length of wire from 
 a short thick rod is a gradual one. The rods are reduced in size 
 by passing them repeatedly through rollers, one arrangement for 
 which is shown in fig. 449 ; in which the rod of iron or of steel, 
 having passed between the first and second rollers from the bot- 
 tom, the end is caught by a man on the other side, with a pair 
 of tongs, and pushed back between the second and third rollers : 
 it is then passed between the third and fourth, and is further 
 reduced between the fifth and sixth. The rods are made up in 
 coils for the wire-drawer, who removes scales of rust from them 
 by putting them into a revolving cylinder with coarse gravel and 
 water. The rod is then forcibly dragged through a hole in a 
 piece of hard steel called a draw-plate ; and as this hole is a little 
 smaller than the wire, the latter must yield and become extended 
 in length : this lengthened wire is again passed through a hole 
 smaller than itself, whereby it is again drawn out, and so on for 
 ten, twenty, or thirty holes, all gradually diminishing in diameter 
 until the proper size is obtained. Fig. 453 represents the factory 
 arrangement for wire-drawing. The draw-plate is fixed in a 
 bench, and by the side of it is a short cylinder or drawing-block, 
 the rotation of which draws the wire through the plate, and 
 winds it on the rim of the block. Motion is given to this block 
 by means of a horizontal shaft, containing a mitre or bevel 
 wheel, which drives the upright shaft, containing the block. 
 Each block can be stopped in a moment by pressing a lever with 
 the foot, whereby the block is lifted off" its upright axis. After 
 the rod has been drawn out a few times, the metal is so hard, by 
 the forcible compression of its fibres, as to require softening 
 before the drawing can be continued. The wire is therefore 
 made up in coils, placed in cylindrical boxes, raised to a red 
 heat, and allowed to cool gradually. This operation may have to 
 be repeated several times during the drawing ; and after each 
 softening, the wire must be cleansed by being pickled in dilute 
 sulphuric acid. It is also usual to place the coil at the draw- 
 bench in a tub of starch water, or stale beer grounds. This 
 enables the wire to pass more easily through the draw-plate, and 
 also has the effect of giving a clear bright colour to the wire. 
 
 Needles. — The manufacture of these small but most useful 
 
MANUFACTURES IN IRON— NEEDLES. 
 
 99 
 
 articles includes a number of minute but interesting processes, 
 and affords a good illustration of the valuable principle of the 
 division of labour. That a large factory, such as that repre- 
 sented in fig. 466, should be devoted almost entirely to the 
 production of needles may well excite surprise ; but there is 
 more cause for admiration in the fact, that this picturesque 
 Worcestershire village contains a number of needle factories ; 
 that the whole population of the village is directly or indirectly 
 concerned in the production of needles ; that many of the pro- 
 cesses are conducted in the cottages of the villagers, and further, 
 that this absorption of the faculties of a whole village is not 
 confined to Eedditch, but applies also to Feckenham, Bexley, 
 Studley, Coughton, Alcester, Astwood Bank, Crabb's Cross, 
 and some other villages, all of which lie near together. Some 
 years ago, when the writer visited Eedditch, he was informed 
 that the weekly production of needles in that village amounted 
 to 70,000,000. The increasing population of Great Britain, and 
 the fact, as we hope it is, that very few females in the land 
 are unskilled in the use of the needle ; the demands of our 
 colonies and of foreign countries for British needles, may well 
 entitle us to believe the statement that, at the present time, 
 upwards of 10,000 persons are directly concerned in the manu- 
 facture of these tiny articles. 
 
 The wire for good needles is not mill-draw?/, as described 
 above, because by such means the surface of the wire is not 
 sufficiently smooth, nor the gauge or thickness of the wire suf- 
 ficiently regular ; but the wire is hand-drawn, in which case the 
 man attends to one drum instead of to several drums ; and 
 should the wire rip or fear, the drawer can feel it, and remove 
 the damaged wire. Besides this, after each softening, the use of 
 sulphuric acid is avoided ; the scale being removed by means of 
 rubbers covered with emery and oil. 
 
 The first process in needle-making is to cut the wire into 
 lengths by means of shears, fig. 455 ; each length being sufficient 
 for the making of two needles. In the needles known as No. 6, 
 each piece is about three inches long, and as many as 30,000 
 pieces form one batch. The lengths thus produced partake of 
 the bend of the coils from which they were cut. The second 
 process is to straighten the wires ; for which purpose many 
 thousand lengths are placed within a couple of rings, fig. 456, and 
 are thus conveyed to a furnace, where they are heated to redness 
 and then allowed to cool slowly. This softens the wires and 
 admits of their being sti-aightened by mutual fi-iction, for which 
 purpose a tool called a smooth file is placed between the two 
 rings (fig. 457), and rubbed briskly backwards and forwards, when 
 the motion of the lengths upon each other eflectually straightens 
 them. 
 
 The third process is pointing, or grinding the ends of the wires 
 on a grit stone (fig. 458). Several thousand wires can be pointed 
 at both ends in an hour. A stream of sparks accompanies the 
 contact of the wires and the stone, and minute particles of grit 
 and steel fill the air of the room, and, entering the workman's 
 lungs, produce a disease called the " grinder's asthma." The 
 only effectual remedy for this is ventilation, or so to box in the 
 stone, and connect it with a channel passing out into the open 
 air, and so to rarefy the air in this channel by means of a 
 revolving fan, that the air of the workshop shall always tend to 
 move in a current, and blow downwards upon the stone so as to 
 convey the metallic and stony dust into the shaft. The stones 
 for the dry grinding of cutlery (fig. 479) are arranged on this 
 plan with wonderful benefit to the health of the workmen. 
 
 The next process is to flatten out the centre of each wire, by 
 means of a pair of dies and a stamp, so as to form the shape of 
 two eyes, the ring of the eye being less indented than the other 
 portion. Fig. 461 will show the progress of eyeing. No. 1 is the 
 wire pointed at both ends ; No. 2 represents the groove gutter, 
 which is useful to guide the thread in threading a needle. A spot 
 is also indented where the eye is mtended to be. The eyes are 
 next pierced through by means of a couple of steel points (fig. 
 459), when the wire is in the condition of No. 3, fig. 461. If it 
 
 were attempted to flatten out the wire and perforate it at one 
 operation, the metal would be torn and otherwise injured. The 
 next oiDeration is to remove the bur or projecting line of metal on 
 each side of the eyes. For the sake of expedition, a number of 
 lengths are spitted on two wires, fig. 460, and the burs are 
 removed by means of a flat file. The lengths are next separated 
 into two portions, by bending the soft wire backwards and for- 
 wards between the two spits. The points of each row of needles 
 are then grasped in a kind of hand-vice or clam, as shown in fig. 
 462 ; and the heads, being placed on a raised piece of metal, are 
 filed into shape. The needles>re now said to be headed or made ; 
 not that they are by any means finished, but they are complete 
 so far as regards the length, the point, the eye, and the head. 
 
 The foregoing details include the soft icork, as it is called. Pre- 
 paratory to the bright work, the needles go to the soft-ntrairjhtener, 
 who rolls them upon a flat steel plate with the convex face of a 
 smooth steel file. The next process is hardening, for which pur- 
 pose the needles are raised to a red heat and are suddenly cooled 
 by being quenched in cold water or oil. This makes them hard 
 and brittle. Some of their hardness is removed by tempering on 
 a hot iron plate ; and when a blue film begins to form upon their 
 surface, they are then said to be of the proper temper. The action 
 of heat has been to distort the needles more or less ; and the next 
 process is hard or hammer-straightening, in which each needle is 
 taj^ped with a small hammer upon an anvil. The anvil is a 
 smooth plate of steel, upon which the needles are rolled with the 
 finger ; and such as are not quite straight are immediately 
 detected and corrected. This work is commonly done by women 
 in their own cottages. Then comes the operation of scouring or 
 cleaning. From 40,000 to 50,000 needles are made up in a bundle, 
 by first placing a piece of canvas in a tray, fig. 463, and then 
 arranging the needles in heaps in the direction of their length. 
 Emery, oil, and soft soap are sprinkled on the needles ; when they 
 are rolled uj^ in the canvas, and formed into the cylinder shown in 
 fig. 463, by tying with string. A couple of such roUs are placed 
 in the scouring-macliine, fig. 464, which consists of weighted slabs 
 or rubbers, which roll the bundles of needles backwards and for- 
 wards ; and this friction is kept up for fifty or sixty hours, the 
 effect of which is to make the needles rub over and over each 
 other ; and this, with the assistance of the oil, emery, &c., pro- 
 duces that smooth bright surface which is essential to the useful 
 action of a needle. The bundles of needles wear out under the 
 friction ; so that after about eight hours' rubbing they are 
 unpacked, the needles are washed in soap and water, and packed 
 up again with a mixture of putty-powder and oil. They are then 
 placed in the scouring- machine for another eight hours ; and this 
 process is rejjeated, for the best needles, five or six times. There 
 is no better method of polishing than this, although it leads to a 
 considerable amount of breakage. 
 
 The needles are next passed into the Iright-shop, where they 
 are collected in trays, and arranged with the points all the same 
 way : this is done by placing the needles in heaps, and jjressing 
 the ends against the flat of the hand by means of the fore-finger, 
 which is wrapped up in rag ; such of the needles as have their 
 points towards the rag enter it, and can be drawn out and turned 
 over without any difficulty ; and in this way the 40,000 needles 
 can be easily and quickly arranged in trays, with the points all 
 in one direction. The eyes are now drilled, in order to get rid of 
 the rough or jagged surface of the interior edges of the eye ; but 
 preparatory to this, the metal above the eye requires to be 
 softened, which is done by placing a number of needles on a steel 
 slab with their eyes projecting over the edge. A hot plate is 
 then brought imder the eyes, but so as not to touch them ; when 
 in less than a minute a film of a dark blue oxide covers the metal 
 about the eyes, and indicates the proper temper for di'illing. The 
 drills are small three-sided tools, revolving horizontally with 
 great speed, arranged at a well-lighted bench (fig. 465). A young 
 woman with keen eye and steady hand, taking a few needles by 
 the points, spreads them out like a fan, and brings the eye of each 
 up to the drill ; and by a motion of the finger and thumb presents 
 
478. I'OBGI«a XABLJC-KMVE3. 
 
 ■479 GRINBIXG CVTLl.BV. 
 
4"! CAST 
 
 ISO 
 
 SSACS, 
 
 495 ROLLING COl'flB. 
 
102 
 
 MANUFACTUEES IN IRON— FILES AND SAWS. 
 
 either side at pleasure. The eye is first counter-sunk, by which 
 means the sharp edge which connects the eye with the gutter is 
 rounded. The drill is then passed round the rest of the edge of 
 the eye, the ragged parts are removed, and that kind of form is 
 given to the eye which may be noticed in the loops of a small pair 
 of scissors. The points of the needles are nest finished on a small 
 stone, and then jDolished with polishing paste on buff wheels. 
 Lastly, the needles are counted into quarter hundreds, folded up in 
 blue papers, and labelled. If intended for exportation, the bundles 
 are made up into square packets, and these are packed in cases of 
 tinned iron. In the course of the manufacture the needles are 
 repeatedly examined to see that the work is properly done, and 
 to weed out defective specimens. 
 
 Files. — Files are almost as numerous as the work which they 
 perform is varied. They may vary in length from three quarters of 
 an inch to two or three feet and upwards ; and they are distin- 
 guished as taper, blunt, and jjarallel ; the first kind being most 
 numerous : those of the second kind terminate in a square or blunt 
 end. Both these kinds swell out towards the middle, so that the 
 sides are somewhat arched or convex ; and even those files which 
 are called parallel are a httle fuller in the middle. Files are also 
 known as Sheffield-made and Lancashire-made ; the latter being 
 produced at Warrington, and consisting mostly of the finer 
 varieties, such as are used by watch and clock makers. Files 
 may also differ in the forms and sizes of the teeth. In double-cut 
 files, two series of straight chisel-cuts are made to cross each 
 other, so as to raise on the surface of the file an immense number 
 of points or teeth. In single-cid files a number of ridges are 
 raised square across the file, by means of one series of straight 
 chisel-cuts. Such files are called Jloatf;, the file properly so called 
 being always double cut. A rasp is formed by dotting over the 
 surface of the steel with separate teeth, by means of a pointed 
 chisel or punch. 
 
 Files are made of steel ; aud the teeth are cut with a chisel, 
 shown in fig. 470, which is struck with a peculiarly-shajJed ham- 
 mer, also represented ; the file-cutters at work being shown in 
 fig. 467. The blank is held on the anvil by a leather .strap passing 
 over each end of the blank and under the feet of the workman ; 
 and, to prevent injury to the metal, the blank is supported by a 
 block of lead aud tin. The blow of the hammer upon the chisel 
 throws up a trifling ridge or bur ; and after each blow the man 
 immediately replaces the chisel on the blank, aud slides it away 
 from him until it encounters the ridge previously thrown up ; this 
 arrests the chisel, and guides the man in making his blow. In this 
 way from sixty to eighty cuts may be made in a minute ; the first 
 course of cuts being somewhat deeper than the second. Round files 
 are cut in a similar manner ; rows of short cuts being made from 
 the bottom to the top of the file ; and these cuts, uniting at their 
 extremities, form a series of complete lines round the cyhnder. • 
 
 The metal is in a soft state while the teeth are being cut. 
 After the cutting, the files are hardened : they are first drawn 
 through beer-grounds, yeast, or some other adhesive fluid, and 
 then through a mixtm'e of common salt and charred cow's hoof ; 
 the object being to protect the teeth from the action of the fire. 
 The files are raised gradually to a dull red heat, and suddenly 
 cooled by plunging them into a cistern of water (fig. 468). They 
 are then scrubbed, dried, siueared with a mixture of olive oil and 
 turpentine, and tested ; when they are ready for the market. 
 
 Saws. — Saws form a numerous class of tools. The size and form 
 of teeth, the dimensions of the blade, and the method of mounting 
 vai'y with the uses to which the saw is to be applied. In an 
 ordinary mill-saio (fig. 474), the teeth are right-angle triangles ; 
 in the pit-savj (fig. 475), they consist of a succession of demi- 
 lunettes, this being the keenest form for cutting. Fig. 472 is the 
 cross-cutting saw, with spaces at the bottom to ])revent the teeth 
 from being choked up with sawdust. In the carpenter's hand-saw 
 (fig. 473), as in most other common saws, the spaces at the 
 bottom of the toothing are omitted. 
 
 The best material for saws is cast steel, rolled out into plates 
 of uniform thickness, and cut to the required size by means of 
 stout shears, arranged as in fig. 476. The edges of the pieces 
 being ground true, the teeth are cut at a fly-press (fig. 469) by 
 means of a steel die-cutter, working vertically in a steel die. 
 When one tooth is cut, the man shifts the notch into an upright 
 piece of steel, which fits it exactly, and then cuts out 
 another notch, which in its turn is moved into a steel 
 die, when a third notch is cut out ; the metal between every 
 two notches forming a single tooth, while the guide serves to 
 keep all the teeth equidistant. After the teeth have been cut, the 
 blade is put into a vice, and the wiry edges left by the punch are 
 filed down, and the teeth finished. The blade is next hardened 
 by being raised to a cherry-red heat, and plunged edgeways into 
 a bath of cold oil, grease, pitch, &c., according to the fancy of the 
 maker. The blade is now very hard and brittle, and is tempered 
 by being stretched in an iron frame, and heated until the unctuous 
 matter on the surface takes fire ; the blade is then removed from 
 the fire, and left to cool. Back-saws, or those which are afterwards 
 furnished with a brass or iron back to keep them straight, are 
 made in lengths of several feet, and are afterwards cut up. Small 
 saws are not put into frames during the tempering, but are held 
 in the furnace by means of tongs until the unctuous matter 
 begins to " blaze off," as the workman calls it. TlanisMng or 
 smithing is the next operation, in which the saw is placed on a 
 small anvil of pohshed steel, and as.siduously hammered, but with 
 that care and judgment which experience gives, so as to make the 
 metal of equal density and elasticity throughout. The blade is 
 next ground on large wheels or gi-indstones ; after which it is again 
 planished, and is next held over a coke fire until a slight degree 
 of oxidation, indicated by a faint straw colour, is produced. This 
 restores the elasticity, which was injured by the grinding. The 
 blade is next passed hghtly over the grindstone to remove the 
 marks of the hammer ; it is then smoothed upon a hard, smooth 
 stone, and is lastly polished on a wheel, covered with bufi" leather 
 and smeared with a composition of emery and suet. The blade 
 is again planished or blocked, after which it is cleaned off with 
 emery, so as to produce an even white tint and a level appearance. 
 The saw is not even yet finished ; for the teeth require to be .set, 
 to prevent them from becoming choked up with saw-dust. This 
 setting consists in bending every alternate tooth a little on one 
 side, and the intermediate teeth a little on the other side. For 
 this purpose the setter places the teeth on the ridge of a small 
 anvil, fig. 477, and with a light hammer runs along the teeth, 
 striking every other tooth so as to bend it a little ; and then, 
 turning the saw over, strikes the intermediate teeth. This deli- 
 cate operation (fig. 471) is performed with great rapidity and 
 precision ; it seems scarcely possible that the intended effect 
 should be produced without breaking off some of the teeth, or 
 failing to hit the right tooth at the right moment. The saw is 
 next placed in a vice, and the teeth are filed up ; it is again held 
 over the fire, and the film of oxide formed upon it is afterwards 
 washed ofl' with a weak acid : and at length the saw is ready 
 for handling. Beech is the wood usually selected for the purpose. 
 
 Cutlery. — The various ai'ticles which are included under the term 
 cutlery, are or ought to be manufactured of steel. In some cases, 
 however, the working parts of the tool or instrument are alone 
 made of that metal. Cast steel can be readily welded to iron ; 
 so that the cutting parts of chisels, plane-irons, &c., may be formed 
 of it, and the rest of the tool of the inferior metal. Where not 
 much hardness is required, as in table-knives, scythes, plane- 
 irons, &c., shear-steel is used ; but articles requiring a fine polish, 
 such as razors, penknives, scissors, &c., ought to be made of cast 
 steel. 
 
 In the production of a table-knife, the blade is first roughly 
 forged from a bar of shear steel (fig. 478), and is then cut off and 
 welded to the end of a rod of iron, about half an inch square, 
 and a portion of this is cut off, sufficient to form the holster, or 
 shoulder, and the tang. The proper size and shape are given to 
 
TIN, ZINC, BEASS, AND COPPER. 
 
 the bolster by introducing that part of the metal into a die on 
 the anvil : a hollow mould or swage is then put on it, and a few 
 smart blows are given to it with a hammer. The blade is next 
 heated, and properly finished on the anvil : this is called smithing 
 the blade : the maker's mark is stamped on it, and the blade is 
 hardened by raising it to a red heat and plunging it into cold 
 water : it is tempered to a blue colour, and is then sent to the 
 grinder. The grinding and polishing of cutlery are carried on at 
 Sheffield, which is the seat of the trade, mostly in buildings 
 called wheels or mills ; each mill being divided into a number of 
 separate rooms called hulls (fig. 479). Most small articles are 
 ground upon a dry stone ; this produces those fatal consequences 
 to the workmen, which were alluded to when describing the 
 pointing of needles. The proper ventilation of the stones, how- 
 ever, has done much to remove or mitigate the evil ; and the 
 dust collected in a trough of water at the extremity of the 
 ventilating shaft is large in quantity, and seems to have the 
 density of metal. The fan which rarefies the air in the ventila- 
 ting shaft, is made to revolve by the same means which gives 
 motion to the grindstones ; so that the ventilating arrangements, 
 not being subject to the will or caprice of the men, are likely to 
 be efficient. 
 
 The proper shape is given to the blade by grinding ; and as the 
 concavity in such articles as razor-blades depends on the size of 
 the stone, it is important to select the proper size. A stone, 
 four inches in diameter, will give a corresponding concavity to 
 the blade, or a curve of two inches radius ; and such a curve 
 will evidently yield a keener edge than can be produced from a 
 six, eight, or twelve-inch stone ; because the smaller the diameter, 
 the more convex is the stone, and the more concave will be the 
 blade that is ground upon it. The friction of the blade against 
 the stone produces great heat, so that some contrivance is neces- 
 sary to protect the grinder's hands. Table-knives are fitted in a 
 wooden case (fig. 484) ; penknives in a holder (fig. 485). After 
 grinding, the blades are glazed on wheels of wood, or wooden 
 wheels faced with leather, or with an alloy of lead and tin : they 
 are then polished on buffs, dressed with crocus of iron. 
 
 There is a large consumption of ivory for the handling of 
 knives, forks, &c. The best method of attaching handles to 
 knives and forks is to fasten a flat piece of ivory upon each side 
 of a flat piece of iron continued from the blade : the next best 
 method is to drill a hole through the length of the handle, to 
 pass the prong of the knife through the hole, and rivet it at the 
 opposite end : this is called through-tang. The most common 
 
 103 
 
 method is to pass the prong about half-way into the handle, and 
 to secure it with melted resin mixed with whitening. Such a 
 handle, however, wiU become loose when the knife is put into 
 hot water. Balance-handles are made by perforating the haft 
 deeper than usual, and dropping in a small piece of lead ; the 
 knife then rests upon the handle and the shoulder, and the blade 
 does not come in contact with the table-cloth. In preparing the 
 handles, the tusks, whether of the elephant or of the walrus, 
 are cut up first with a small frame saw, and then with a 
 circular saw (fig. 481). Stag-horn handles are softened by boiling 
 to bring them to the proper shape ; cow-horn is brought to 
 the proper shape by means of iron moulds, assisted by heat. 
 Various other materials are used for handles, such as tortoise- 
 shell, mother-of-pearl, fancy woods, stamped gold and silver, &c. 
 
 The processes of the cutler's workshop (fig. 480) are numerous 
 and minute, even for a common article of cutlery. A common 
 penknife with three blades has to pass through the workman's 
 hands at least one hundred times. When the blades, spring, and 
 scales (or thin metal supports to the handle) are bored with the 
 proper holes, they are pinned together, to see that the parts fit 
 and work well : they are then riveted with bits of wire, with a 
 hammer on a small anvil. The horn, ivory, or shell sides are 
 filed smooth, scraped, and polished twice on the buff ; first with 
 Trent sand, and then with oil and rotten-stone. The backs of 
 the springs are glazed and then polished with a steel burnisher : 
 holes are bored with a steel drill, passed through a wooden 
 cylinder, fig. 487. Motion is given to this by means of a boring- 
 sticlc, fig. 483, the thong of which is twisted round the cylinder 
 of the drill ; the short end of which is held against a breast- 
 plate, fig. 482, which is strapped roimd the workman's body. 
 A double-drill., fig. 488, is used for hollowing out the cavity for 
 the shield or plate of silver let into one side of the handle. 
 This drill consists of two elastic steel blades, sharp at one end. 
 A plate of steel, perforated according to the required shape of 
 the shield, is placed on the handle, and within this perforation 
 the two ends of the drill are held, and made to revolve by means 
 of the boring-stick. The tendency of the springs to coil round 
 each other by the motion, and to fly asunder by their elasticity, 
 causes them to describe a number of small circular arcs ; and as 
 the man constantly moves these points over every part of the 
 circumscribed space, the cavity is soon hollowed out : the plate 
 or shield is then driven in, and is held in its place by two pins 
 projecting from the under-surface. 
 
 XXVII.— TIN, ZINC, BEASS, AND COPPEE. 
 
 We have already described the mechanical operations by 
 which the ores of tin are separated from their stony matrix, and 
 prepared for the smelter. The furnace in which the prepared 
 ores are reduced is represented in vertical section fig. 489, and 
 in plan fig. 490. a is the fire-door, through which the fuel is 
 placed upon the grate b ; c is called a fire-bridge ; at is a door 
 for the introduction of the ore ; and at e is another door, through 
 which the ore is worked upon the hearth /; g is the stoke-hole ; 
 h is a hole which is occasionally opened to admit a draught of 
 air for carrying the fumes up the chimney, m ; Hs a flue ; at i i 
 are channels for admitting cold air under the fire-bridge and 
 hearth, to protect them from the heat ; k k are basins into which 
 the melted metal is drawn off. The ore is mixed with small 
 
 coal, and a flux of slaked lime ; and it is damped with water to 
 prevent the draught from sweeping away the finer portions. 
 When the furnace is charged, the doors are closed and luted, or 
 stopped with clay, and the heat is gradually raised. In the 
 course of six or eight hours, the reduction of the oxide is com- 
 pleted ; the door of the furnace is removed, and the melted 
 mass is worked up to complete the separation of the scoriiB. 
 About three-fourths of the scorite are rejected as refuse ; a 
 second portion contains about five per cent, of tin, and is sent to 
 the stamping mill ; while that last removed contains much tin, 
 and is set aside for smelting over again. The channel leading to 
 the basins k k is then opened, and from the basins the tin is 
 lifted in iron ladles, and poured into iron moulds. These blocks 
 
]0i ' ■ TIN AND LEAD, 
 
 tJO. MELTIKG-POTS. 511. STAMPED FOEK. 5i2. AEEANGEME-NT UF POPS FOB XlN.MNti. 
 
COPPER AND BRASS. 
 
 10.5 
 
106 
 
 HARDWAEE. 
 
 of tin are further purified by refining, which is done by arranging 
 the blocks in a furnace near the bridge, and raising them to a 
 moderate heat : the tin melts, and flows away into the j-efining 
 basin, leaving most of the impurities beliind. Other blocks of 
 tin are arranged on the remains of the first ; and when about 
 five tons of melted metal have been collected, billets of green 
 •wood are plunged into it, the effect of which is to give the tin 
 the appearance of boiling : a kind of froth rises to the surface, 
 but the most impure and heaviest portions fall to the bottom. 
 The froth is skimmed off, and the tin is left to settle : it separates 
 into difierent portions, of which the top stratum is the most 
 pure, the bottom the most impure, and the middle of average 
 purity. The tin is ladled into iron moulds, forming blocks of 
 about three cwt. each, known as block tin. The tin of the first 
 stratum is called refined tin, and is chiefly used in the manufac- 
 ture of tin plate. 
 
 Zinc being volatile at a high temperature, its ores are distilled 
 in crucibles or pots, six or eight in number, contained in a cujiola 
 furnace, fig. 491, arranged somewhat like the pots of a glass 
 furnace, fig. 276. In the bottom of each pot is a hole which is 
 closed with a wooden plug. The charge for each pot, consisting 
 of six parts calamine and one part coal, is put in from above, 
 through an orifice in the lid of the pot, which is left open after 
 the firing, until the bluish colour of the flame shows that distil- 
 lation has begun. The hole is then covered with a fire-tile. The 
 sole of the hearth on which each pot stands is perforated below : 
 when the fire has heated the pots and consumed the wooden 
 plugs, the end of a long sheet-iron pipe is put into each hole ; 
 the other end dipping into a vessel of water, which receives the 
 condensed vapoui'S of the zinc in droits and in a fine powder, 
 mixed with a little oxide : this distilled zinc is melted in an iron 
 vessel, and is cast into square bars or ingots. 
 
 The smelting of cojoper involves a long and complicated series 
 of operations, which cannot be described here. The union of 
 copper with zinc forms a number of useful alloys, depending on 
 the proportions of the respective metals. Copper with about 
 half its weight of zinc forms yellow brass. One pound of cop- 
 per, with from one to one and a quarter ounces of zinc, forms 
 gilding-metal for common jewellery. When the proportion of 
 zinc is increased to three or four ounces, we get Bath metal. 
 Pinchbeck, Matmheivi gold. Similar, &c. "With sixteen and a half 
 ounces of zinc, we have Mosaic gold. 
 
 The furnace in which the copper and zinc are melted is a small 
 wind-furnace, with the mouth standing eight or ten inches above 
 the floor of the foundry. The crucibles are filled with the 
 proper proportions of the two metals, well rammed in (fig. 492), 
 and when, by proper attention to the temperature, which is 
 maintained by means of coke, the alloy is supposed to be formed, 
 the covering of the furnace is thrown off, and a man, striding 
 over the opening, grasps the crucible between the jaws of a pair 
 of tongs, and lifts it out of the furnace (fig. 494). After skim- 
 ming, the crucible is seized with a pair of tongs, and the contents 
 poured into an iron mould placed in a sloping direction, the 
 stream being guided with an iron rod. During the process of 
 pouring, the oxygen of the air seizes on a i)ortion of the zinc 
 and fills the air of the foundry with a dense cloud of white 
 oxide. To prevent this from entering the lungs, the men tie a 
 handkerchief over the mouth and nostrils. The effect of this 
 white cloud seems to have prevented our artist from seeing 
 clearly ; since in fig. 494, the man who is filling the mould 
 appears to have the tongs inside the crucible, instead of grasping 
 them on the outside. 
 
 The cast plates are usually rolled into sheets, for which pur- 
 pose they are cut into ribbons, which are passed cold through 
 the rollers. The metal soon becomes too hard for lamination, 
 and has to be softened in an annealing furnace. The ragged 
 edges are cut off, and the sheets are then passed through the 
 rollers two or more at a time ; and as they become thinner, as 
 many as eight plates may be rolled at ohce. Fig. 495 represents 
 the rolling of copper. 
 
 Most of the lead of commerce is obtained from galena, or the 
 native sulphuret (fig. 497). It occurs in veins in the primitive 
 rocks, and is mixed with quartz, blende, pyrites, &c. Galena 
 always contains a small portion of silver ; sometimes as much as 
 120 ounces to the ton. The lead ore is separated to a great 
 extent from earthy impurities by dressing, when it is mixed with 
 lime, and heated to dull redness in a reverberatory furnace, 
 through which a sti'ong current of air is passing. A good deal 
 of the sulphur burns off as sulphurous acid, and a portion of 
 oxide of lead is formed : another portion of the sulphuret is 
 converted into sulphate of lead. When the roasting, with much 
 stirring, has been carried far enough, the furnace-doors are closed 
 and the heat is raised. The oxide and the sulphate of lead 
 react upon the undecomj)osed ore ; a good deal of sulphurous 
 acid escapes and metallic lead runs freely from the inass into 
 cast-iron basins. The lead may be refined or improved, as it is 
 called, by passing it through the furnace again. The escape of 
 sulphurous acid, together with a poi'tion of lead in the form of 
 fume, causes much loss to the smelter and annoyance to the 
 neighbourhood ; destroying vegetation and poisoning the cattle. 
 Many attempts have been made to condense this fume, the most 
 successful of which is the apparatus used at the Duke of Buc- 
 cleuch's works at the Wanlock-Lead Hills in Dumfiiesshire. A 
 portion of this apparatus is represented at fig. 498. It is divided 
 within by a partition wall into two chambers ; and the smoke 
 from the various furnaces is brought by a suitable apparatus 
 into these chambers, where it meets with descending showers 
 of water, which condense it. We cannot explain this apparatus 
 more distinctly without the use of sectional drawings ; but we 
 may state its success in the fact that, before it was erected, the 
 heather was burnt up, vegetation destroyed animals, could not 
 graze, nor birds feed near the sjiot ; but that after its erection, 
 the heather was seen in luxuriance close around the works ; 
 sheep were grazing within a stone's throw of the base of the 
 chimney, and game was sheltering on all sides. 
 
 The best method of separating silver from lead depends on 
 the fact, that if the melted lead be allowed to cool slowly, and 
 be stirred during the process, a portion of the metal solidifies 
 in the form of crystalline grains, which sink to the bottom : 
 these grains consist of lead nearly free from silver, since the 
 fusing point of the argentiferous alloy is lower than that of pure 
 lead. In separating the silver, a number of cast-iron pots (fig. 
 510) are set in brickwork in a row, with a separate fire beneath 
 each ; about five tons of lead are melted in the middle pot, when 
 the fire is withdrawn and the metal is briskly stirred : as the crys- 
 tals of lead subside, they are removed by means of a perforated 
 iron ladle to the next pot on the right hand. When about four- 
 fifths of the lead is thus removed, the concentrated argentiferous 
 alloy is ladled into the next pot on the left, and the empty pot 
 receives a fresh charge. The straining oflf of the lead is thus 
 continued from pot to pot, the argentiferous portion being con- 
 tinually passed on to the left, and the poorer portion to the 
 right. The last pot on the left may thus become filled with 
 lead, which may contain three ounces of silver to the ton ; while 
 the lead in the last pot on the right does not contain more than 
 half an ounce of silver to the ton ; the latter is ca,st into pigs 
 for the market ; but the former is passed through a cupel fur- 
 nace, and being exposed at a high temperature to a current of 
 air, the lead is converted into an oxide, which melts and flows 
 off" the convex surface of the melted metal ; thus continually 
 exposing a fresh surface of lead to the action of the air, until at 
 length nothing is left but a cake of pure metallic silver. 
 
 Bardioare. — The apphcations of the metals tin, copper, lead, and 
 zinc, and their alloys, are so numerous that it would be impossible 
 even to indicate them in this place. An immense number of articles 
 are included under the general term hardware, the most primitive 
 forms of which were collected in picturesque confusion in the 
 Tunisian Court of the Great Exhibition, and are represented in 
 a striking engraving, fig. 509. Birmingham is the centre of the 
 
TIN-PLATE.— STAMPING.— BUTTONS. 
 
 107 
 
 hardware trade of this country ; and in its practice, we frequently 
 notice the useful arts merging into the fine arts through the 
 medium of the ornamental. From cabinet and general brass 
 foundry, such as hinges, fastenings, bell-pulls, &c., we arrive at 
 works in stamped brass, such as cornices, curtain-bands, finger- 
 plates, where a certain amount of taste in design is required, 
 until we come to gas-fittings, chandeliers, lamps, and candelabra, 
 where taste admits of a higher development ; and lastly, we have 
 bronze figures, busts, and chimney ornaments, in which the taste, 
 if not the genius, of the finished artist ought to prevail. 
 
 In copper, zinc, tin, pewter, &c , we have such common articles 
 as kettles, coal-scuttles, saucepans, which are not remarkable for 
 taste ; and bronzed tea and coffee urns, &c., which, taking their 
 place on a drawing-room table, ought at least to gratify the eye 
 by their beauty of form. The same remark applies to teapots 
 and articles in German silver. The term hardware also includes 
 a number of objects, made of mixed materials, such as metallic 
 buttons Florentine, mother-of-pearl, bone buttons, &c. The metal 
 zinc is commonly used for objects which, until recently, have been 
 represented in tinned sheet iron. Articles in iron and steelareinnu- 
 merable, including as they do stoves, grates, fenders and fire-irons, 
 locks, hinges, and general ironmongery ; hollow-ware, cast and 
 wrought, tinned and enamelled ; garden and other tools, nails and 
 screws, steel toys and ornaments, steel pens, needles, fish-hooks, 
 &c. &c. ; but as the modes of production of articles in iron and steel 
 have already engaged our attention, we may pass over these with 
 one exception ; and that is, the application of tin to the covering 
 of sheet iron in the production of what is called tin-plate. 
 
 Tin-pla te. The best sheet iron is used for this purpose ; and the 
 
 first step towards tinning is to clean the plates, for which purpose 
 they are bent in the middle, and placed on edge in a trough con- 
 taining a solution of hydro-chloric acid. They are then conveyed 
 to a furnace, heated to redness, and after coohng are straightened 
 by being beaten on a cast-iron block. This gets rid of oxide : 
 the plates are further smoothed by being passed between rollers, 
 and are put one at a time into an acid mixture of bran and water. 
 They are next pickled in a solution of sulphuric acid, assisted 
 by a gentle heat, washed in cold water, and scoured with hemp 
 and sand. The surfaces are now chemically clean, for without 
 such precautions the tin would not ailhere. The tin is melted 
 in a cast-iron vessel, and is protected from the oxidizing influence 
 of the air by a covering of tallow. By the side of the tin pot 
 is a pot filled with grease only, for receiving the prepared plates, 
 previous to tinning : they are taken out of this one by one, and 
 plunged into the tin in a vertical position, to the number of 200 
 or 300, where they are left for an hour. After this they are 
 taken out with tongs, and placed on an iron rack or grating, 
 where a good deal of tin drains away from them ; but a larger 
 quantity is got rid of by the process of washing. An iron pot, 
 called the wash-pot, is filled with melted tin, and by the side of 
 it a grease-pot full of clean melted tallow. Thei-e is also a third 
 pot called the pan, with a grating at the bottom for receiving the 
 plates when taken out of the grease-pot. A fourth, called the 
 list-pot, contains only a small quantity of melted tin. Fig. 512 
 shows the arrangement of all the pots. No. 1 is the tin-pot, in 
 which the plates are first tinned. No. 2, the wash-pot, divided 
 into two portions to facilitate the separation of the dross. No. 
 3 is the grease-pot. No. 4, the pan ; and No. 5, the Hst-pot. The 
 stars show where the work-people stand. In the operation of 
 washing, the wash-man puts the plates already tinned into the 
 wash-pot, and the heat of the tin contained in it soon melts all 
 the loose tin on the surface of the plates : the wash-man inserts 
 a pair of tongs into the tin, catches up a plate, brushes it on 
 both sides with a hempen brush, dips it for a moment into the 
 hot tin, and plunges it into the grease-pot. No. 3. The grease- 
 pot has pins fixed within it to keep the plates asunder ; and when 
 five plates have been transferred to it, a boy removes the first 
 into the cold-pan. No. 4 ; and as soon as the wash-man has trans- 
 ferred a sixth plate, the boy removes a second, and so on. 
 
 The plates are left in No. 4 until they are cold enough to be 
 handled. As the plates are placed vertically in the melted tin 
 and in the grease-pot, there is a list or selvage of tin on the 
 lower edge of each plate, which is removed by dipping such edge 
 into the list-pot, No. 5, which contains melted tin to the depth 
 of about a quarter of an inch. When the list is melted, the boy 
 takes out the plate and gives it a smart blow with a thin stick, 
 which removes the superfluous metal. The plates are cleansed 
 from grease by rubbing them with warm dry bran : they are 
 lastly packed in boxes, each containing a certain number of 
 plates, according to their quality, which is distinguished by 
 certain marks attached to the boxes. 
 
 Stamping. — A number of small articles are produced by stamping. 
 Thus, the prongs of forks are sometimes formed in this way. The 
 fork is first forged from a rod of steel ; the tang, the shoulder, and 
 the shank are roughly made out and cut off, leaving at one end 
 about an inch of the square part of the steel rod, which is drawn 
 out flat to about the length of the prong. This produces a mood or 
 mould (fig. 486), which being softened by heat is placed in a steel 
 boss or die, upon which a second boss, connected with a heavy 
 block of metal, is made to full from the height of several feet ; 
 this forms the prongs and central part or bosom of the fork, 
 leaving between the prongs only a thin film of steel, which can 
 be cleaned out with a file. Manj' plated goods are formed in this 
 way, such as the stamped fork, tig. 511. The stamp is fastened 
 to one end of a rope, which is passed over a pulley at the top of 
 a frame, fig. 499 ; while to the other end of the rope is a stirrup, 
 in which the workman places his foot, i-aises the stamp to the 
 required height, and allows it to fall suddenly upon the metal 
 contained in the lower die. A rim of thin metal is left between 
 the prongs and around the fork, which can easily be cleared 
 away. 
 
 Buttons. — During many years, when it was the fashion to wear 
 gilt buttons, the button manufacture held the foremost rank among 
 the Birmingham "toy trades," as Hutton styles the traffic in these 
 and similar articles. Probably no article in extensive demand is 
 more subject to the caprices of fashion than buttons : they not 
 only undergo frequent changes in size and form, but also in 
 material. All the kingdoms of nature are ransacked to gratify 
 the love of novelty : thus we have buttons of metal, of horn, of 
 shell, of ivory, of bone, of glass, of mother-of-pearl, of jet, of pre- 
 cious stones, of embroideiy, and of silks and stuffs of all kinds. 
 Most of these materials must be regarded as modern innovators. 
 The gilt button long continued to reign supreme ; and was even 
 jjrotected by Acts of Parliament, which regulated the make, and 
 attached penalties to any person who should presume to cover 
 button moulds with the same kind of cloth as the coat. At the 
 time when this absurd law was passed, silk was too costly a ma- 
 terial for covering buttons, and other forms of covered buttons 
 had not been invented ; so that gentlemen were compelled to use 
 the much-favoured gilt button on coats and vests. There is still a 
 demand for the gilt button, and we cannot do better than describe 
 its manufacture. 
 
 The gilt button is made of sheet copper, with a small alloy of 
 zinc. Strips of this, of the proper thickness, are furnished to 
 the button-maker ; and from these blanks or circular pieces are 
 cut out by means of the presses shown in fig. 513. The sharp 
 edges of the. blanks are smoothed and rounded by rolling them 
 between two parallel pieces of steel, fig. 515 ; the piece a being 
 movable, and the opposite piece fixed. The blanks are next 
 smoothed on the face by means of a steel hammer, and are then 
 ready for the shanks ; these are formed by machinery, and are 
 applied by hand (fig. 516) : the shank, being placed in jwsition, 
 is held there by a small spring clasp ; and a little solder and resin 
 being heaped round the shank, the heat of an oven melts the 
 solder and secures the shank. Hundreds of blanks are arranged 
 on an iron plate and placed in the oven at the same time. If 
 the button is to be ornamented with a crest or other device, it is 
 
108 
 
 ARTIFICIAL ILLUMINATION. 
 
 529. LIME ruEiriEES. 
 
GAS. 
 
 109 
 
 536. PEESSUEE INDICATOR. 
 
 537. GASOMETERS. 
 
 538 THE GOVEENOE 
 
110 
 
 PINS. 
 
 jaassed through a stamping-press (fig. 499) ; the lower die con- 
 taining a hole for the reception of the shank during the stamping. 
 The buttons are next cleansed by being stirred up in a weak 
 solution of nitric acid (fig. 514) ; and are then thrown into a pan 
 containing a solution of nitrate of mercury, or quiclc-wafer. The 
 gold is dissolved in mercury, from two and a half to five grains 
 being allowed for the gilding of 144 one-inch buttons, an astonish- 
 ing instance of the divisibility of the precious metal. After the 
 amalgam has been applied, the buttons are of a dull silvei-y 
 colour from the excess of mercui-y, which must be removed by 
 heat before the gold makes its appearance. For this purpose the 
 buttons are placed in a wire cage, and the cage in a furnace (fig. 
 517) ; the buttons are kept in constant motion by turning the 
 handle of the cage ; and under the influence of the heat the mer- 
 cury escapes in vapour, leaving the gold equally diflTused over the 
 surface of the buttons. They come out of the furnace of a dingy 
 gold colour, and receive their beautiful lustre by being burnished 
 with blood-stone in a lathe (fig. 518). 
 
 A covered or Florentine button, however simple it may appear, 
 is really more complicated in its manufacture than the gilt button 
 just described. The various parts of the button are cut out by 
 fly-presses (fig. 513) ; and those parts consist, — -firstly, of a metal 
 shell (shown in front and sideways, fig. 500) ; secondli/, a metal 
 collet, fig. 501, containing an oblong hole for the shank of the 
 button ; thirdli/, a circular piece of silk or other woven covering 
 for the button, fig. 502 ; fourthly, the padding which lies under 
 the collet, round which is wound, at right angles to the length of 
 the oblong hole of the collet, a thread (as shown in fig. 503), 
 which acts as a flexible shank to the button. The padding con- 
 sists of several layers of paper, and a piece of silk or other fabric 
 similar to the covering for forming the back surface. The various 
 disks, consisting of the silk covering, a disk of paper to prevent 
 the metal shell from cutting the silk, and the shell, are shown in 
 fig. 504, as they are placed upon the die or mould, fig. 505. They 
 are pressed down to the bottom of the die by means of a punch ; 
 and when this is removed, a hollow tool, fig. 506, is forced into 
 the die, by which means the edges of the silk are brought towards 
 the centre and made to overlap the edges of the shell. The collet, 
 with the padding, is then dropped into the mould through a hol- 
 low tool, fig. 507 ; when a punch is brought down so as to force 
 the padding and the edges of the outer covering into the shell. 
 The button is then removed from the mould, fig. 505, by passing 
 a wire up through a channel made for the purpose ; and the final 
 pressure is given to the button by means of a punch, fig. 508, 
 for which purpose the button is put into the mould with the 
 collet downwards and pressed into the die by the flat face of the 
 punch. 
 
 Tins. — The manufacture of a pin is as remarkable in its way as 
 that of a needle, and fiu-nishes another instance of the value of sub- 
 division of labour. Where a number of operations are required in 
 the production of one article, it is desirable to keep one person 
 or set of persons to one operation, so that by constant practice 
 he may attain skill and rapidity in his pai'ticular department. 
 
 The pin-maker receives wire from the wire-drawer in a soft 
 state, usually larger than he requires it. It is first cleansed by 
 means of dilute sulphuric acid, and reduced to the required gauge 
 or size by passing it through a draw-plate. It is straightened by 
 pulling it through another draw-plate from the barrel on which 
 
 it is wound, and running it out upon a low wooden bench to the 
 length of twenty feet (fig. 619). That piece is then cut off, and 
 another portion is similarly drawn out. These lengths are then 
 cut up by shears into shorter lengths, each of which is capable of 
 furnishing rather more than six pins. These lengths are next 
 pointed at both ends at a machine called a mill, consisting of a 
 circular single-cut file and a fine grit stone (fig. 521). As many 
 as from fifty to eighty of the pin wires are held at the same time, 
 a rotatory motion being given to them by the motion of the 
 thumb and fingers. The fine brass dust thus produced is very 
 injurious to health, unless the mill is properly ventilated. From 
 the ends of each wire thus pointed, lengths are cut ofl^, sufficient 
 for two pins, and the intermediate portions returned to the 
 pointer, who points the extremities as before ; two lengths are 
 again cut off from each wire, and the intermediate portions being 
 again pointed furnish each two pins. The wire for the pin-heads 
 is coiled in a compact spiral round a wire of the size of the pins ; 
 the central wire is then withdrawn, and two or three turns of the 
 spiral are cut off for each head. The hea,ds are put on by a girl, who 
 is seated with a number of heads in her apron ; and taking ujj a 
 number of headless pms between her fingers, moves them through 
 the heads with a threading kind of motion. The wires catch up 
 a head, or it may be two or three heads each ; the sujjerfluous 
 heads are stripped off, and the pins are placed one at a time in a 
 mould, beneath a hammer which can be raised by the foot (fig. 
 520). The pin being in its place, point downwards, the hammer 
 is allowed to descend ; and, striking the top of the pin, moulds 
 and fastens the head, and leaves the top smooth and round. The 
 man instantly raises the hammer again ; when a little spring 
 under the die raises the pin so that it can be instantly removed, 
 and another made to take its place. In this way a man will head 
 1,500 i^ins per hour. In this state the pins are dingy and dirty ; 
 they are cleansed by being boiled in sour beer or a solution of 
 tartar. Then comes the ■whitening or tinning : for which purpose 
 about six pounds of pins are put into a coj)per pan, then seven 
 or eight pounds of grain tin, then more pins, and more tin, until 
 the pan is filled. Water is next poured in, and the pan is set on 
 the tire ; and when it is hot, the surface is sprinkled with cream 
 of tartar, and the boiling is continued for an hour. The pins are 
 taken out, washed, and the operation is repeated, if necessary. 
 After the tinning, the pins are polished by being shaken in a 
 leathern bag with bran. The bran is separated by winnowing, 
 and the pins are collected in bowls for papering. The papers are 
 crimped by means of crimping-irons ; and the folds for one row 
 being gathered together are placed between the jaws of an iron 
 vice, which close by means of a spring. There are grooves across 
 the jaws of the vice, to guide the paperer, who sits with her lap 
 full of pins. Instead of taking them up one or two at a time, she 
 passes a pocket-comb through the pins and takes up the number 
 required for one row ; and directing the points along the grooves, 
 pushes the pins into the paper with great rapidity, by means of 
 a metal guard on the left hand. She then pulls open the vice, 
 gathers together the next row of folds, places them in the vice, 
 and fills them as before. 
 
 Most of the processes above described can be imitated by ma- 
 chinery, in which case the head is formed by hammering out, or 
 upsetting, 'CtiQ end of the wire between dies ; but the chief objection 
 to solid-headed pins is, that a soft wire is necessary, so that ma- 
 chine-made pins are more liable to bend than those made by hand. 
 
XXVIII.— AETIEICIAL 
 
 The useful arts have been popularly arranged under the three 
 great heads of food, shelter, and clothing. Without pausing to 
 inquire into the accuracy of such a classification, we must admit 
 that it includes a vast number of processes on which our phy- 
 sical comforts depend. Each of these terms, however wide its 
 meaning, has different meanings among different people, and in 
 different states of civilisation. As man advances in wealth and 
 intelligence, his food becomes more dehcate, his dwelling more 
 luxurious, and his clothing more refined ; and the delicacy, the 
 luxuriousness, and the refinement will vary with the climate, and 
 with the natural productions of that part of the world which 
 he inhabits. They will even vary according as he occupies an 
 island or a continent, dwells near the sea or a great river, and is 
 dependent for the supply of foreign produce on land or water 
 carriage. Still, whatever be his condition and wherever he may 
 dwell, he can scarcely fail to be benefited by the discoveries of 
 science, and the improvements in the useful arts consequent 
 thereon. The African chief, who employs his people in collecting 
 and shipping off to this country the palm oil which we now so 
 extensively employ, receives our manufactures in return ; and it 
 was not very long ago that an iron house of two or three stories, 
 with its furniture complete, was sent out as a residence for 
 one of these dusky chiefs, Discoveries in chemistry, and the 
 abundant supply of this palm oil, have enabled us greatly to 
 improve our means of artificial illumination, just as the introduc- 
 tion of gas, early in the present century, improved our shops 
 and streets, by making those more attractive and these 
 more secure. Such improvements as these are among the land- 
 marks of civilisation. Inhabiting, as we do, a rigorous and 
 uncertain climate, we create within our dwellings an artificial 
 climate, suited to our wants, and artificial light, adapted to our 
 occupations ; thus bringing, as it were, the amenities of the 
 south into the winter of the north. Nor do the advantages of 
 these comforts end with the comforts themselves ; the energy 
 and enterprise required to secure them react favourably upon 
 ourselves, and tend, among many other causes, to produce a race 
 far superior to the inhabitants of the land where each man is 
 said to have done his duty to society if, once in the course of 
 his life, he plant a single bread-fruit tree ; since nature will 
 accomplish the rest, in supplying him and his family with food, 
 shelter, and clothing. 
 
 There are few contrivances in the useful arts more beautiful 
 than a candle. This is an ingenious contrivance for constantly 
 supplying a flame with as much melted fat or other proper 
 material as can be consumed without smoking. To this end the 
 size of the wick must be nicely adjusted to the thickness of the 
 tallow : if the wick be too large, thei'e will be too much heat, 
 too much melting of the tallow, and the candle will gutter ; if 
 the wick be too small, there will not be enough heat, and the 
 tallow will form into a ring-shaped wall about the flame, as is 
 the case in night lights. But when the wick is of the proper 
 size, the tallow immediately below the flame is melted into the 
 form of a hollow cup (fig. 522), which foi-ms a reservoir, always 
 properly filled, for feeding the flame. The fibres of the twisted 
 cotton of the wick act as a number of capillary tubes, and carry 
 the liquid fat up into the flame ; where, being exposed to a high 
 temperature, and sheltered from the air, it undergoes a dry dis- 
 tillation : it is decomposed into an inflammable vapour, which 
 rises by its lightness, and undergoing combustion as it rises, 
 rapidly diminishes in quantity until it disappears in a point. 
 
 The flames used for artificial illumination, whether obtained 
 from candles, lamps, or street gas, are produced by the com- 
 bustion of compounds of hydrogen and carbon. These hydro- 
 carbons, as they are called, consist of hydrogen gas holding 
 carbon or charcoal in solution. The hydrogen supphes the 
 flame, and the carbon the brilhancy : the flame of pure hydrogen 
 has little or no illuminating power ; but if we project through 
 
 ILLUMINATION— GAS. 
 
 it a quantity of iron filings, or of charcoal powder, the flame 
 immediately becomes brilliant. That all common flames con- 
 tain charcoal in a state of minute division is evident from the 
 fact that, if we introduce a cold body into a flame, the charcoal 
 condenses upon it ; or if we hold the flame of a candle near the 
 ceiling of a room, it leaves a black mark from the precipitation 
 of the carbon on the cold surface. 
 
 As soon, then, as the tallow is drawn up into the flame, it is 
 resolved into a gaseous hydro-carbon ; but combustion only 
 takes place at the exterior of the flame, where it is in contact 
 with the oxygen of the atmosphere. Here the oxygen unites 
 with the hydrogen of the flame, and forms vapour of water ; 
 and here too, the particles of carbon, coming to the surface, are 
 seized on by the oxygen, undergo combustion at a white heat, 
 and pass off in the form of invisible carbonic acid gas. No com- 
 bustion is going on within the flame, but only distillation and 
 decomposition, so that flame has been appropriately termed a 
 luminous bubble of gaseous matter. 
 
 The fibres of the cotton within the flame are charred by the 
 heat, but not burnt, on account of the absence of air ; so that it 
 is necessary to get rid of the accumulating wick by means of 
 snuffers. In composite candles, however, the wick is plaited, so 
 that the end bends considerably, and is thus brought out of the 
 flame and consumed, a plan which could not be adopted with 
 tallow on account of the guttering. 
 
 In the combustion of oil in a lamp, similar changes to those 
 which take place in the flame of a candle go on. The oil is 
 drav/n up into the flame by capillary attraction, and is converted 
 into a gaseous hydro-carbon. It is of no consequence to the 
 theory whether the wick be a solid bundle of fibres or a thin 
 circular band. The antique lamp of the ancients, however we 
 may admire it for its grace and beauty of form, must have been 
 a smoky, badly-smelling utensil ; but the solid wick continued 
 in use until the year 1789, when a Frenchman, named Ami Ar- 
 gand, invented the lamp which still perpetuates his name. This 
 was a grand improvement in artificial iUumination : its most 
 important features were the disjDOsing of the wick in the form of 
 a ring, and inclosing the flame within a glass chimney. By this 
 means a double current of air was supplied, as shown in fig. 523 ; 
 one current setting in from the bottom of the glass and feeding 
 the air on the outside of the ring of flame, and the other current 
 setting in through the apertures at the bottom of the well, and 
 passing up through the interior of the ring. It must not, how- 
 ever, be suj^posed that by this arrangement flame ceases to be a 
 luminous bubble of gaseous matter : the form only is changed, 
 since in the Argand lamp we have a couple of concentric lumi- 
 nous rings, the space between them being filled with inflammable 
 vapour, where no combustion is going on. 
 
 In a gas flame the gaseous hydro-carbon is prepared beforehand, 
 stored up in vessels the pressure of which keeps up a constant 
 supply to the burner. Gas has been prepared by the distillation 
 of tallow or of oil ; but in a country abounding in bituminous 
 coal (which is used, we think, with so much unwise extravagance), 
 that material would be the cheaper source. A ton of Newcastle 
 coal yields about 9,250 cubic feet of gas, and about thirteen cwt. 
 of coke. The coal is distilled in retorts, or hoUow flattened 
 cylinders of iron or of clay, fig. 524, No. 2 or No. 3 being prefer- 
 red. The retorts are set in stacks of three or five, arranged in 
 long brick furnaces (fig. 526) ; the mouths of the retorts project 
 from the furnace, and are fitted with niovable lids, which can be 
 closed air-tight by a clay luting, and fixed by means of a screw, 
 W, fig. 525, and a holdfast, V. Another mode of securing the 
 mouth is shown in fig. 531. The retorts E are shown more 
 clearly in their position in the furnace F, at the left hand of the 
 general arrangement shown in fig. 534. From the upper part of 
 the mouth of each retort, fig. 531, is a socket for the reception 
 of a tube which passes up some way, and then bends into a long, 
 
112 
 
 SA LT. 
 
SALT. 
 
 1L3 
 
114 
 
 ARTIFICIAL ILLUMINATION— GAS. 
 
 wide pipe, called the hydraulic main, H, fig. 534, which passes 
 horizontally along the front of the whole range of furnaces. 
 This main pipe is kept half filled with tar and moisture derived 
 from the coal, and in it the pipes from the retort terminate ; so 
 that they are closed by means of a water valve, which permits 
 one retort to be cleared out and recharged, without interfering 
 with the other retorts which are in action. As the tar accumu- 
 lates in the hydraulic main, it overflows into the tar-well t, 
 whence it is drawn off into a well sunk in the ground. In from 
 four to six hours from the time of charging the retorts, the coal 
 will have given oft' all its gas : the mouth of the retort is opened, 
 the coke is raked into iron boxes, moving on wheels (fig. 526), 
 and is extinguished by pouring water over it, while a fresh sup- 
 ply of coal is introduced by means of a long scoop, as shown in 
 the same engraving. The mouth of the retort is instantly closed, 
 and the distillation proceeds as before. In the mean time, the 
 gas from the various retorts having def)Osited in the hydraulic 
 main most of the tar, and some of the water and ammonia, with 
 which it is charged, passes through a system of pipes, C, eaUed 
 a condenser, which is kept cool by water flowing over it, 
 from a cistern, c. The eft'ect of this refrigeration is to remove 
 from the gas most of its remaining tar and aqueous vapour. 
 The gas, however, is still too impure for use : it contains car- 
 bonic acid, sulphuretted hydrogen, cyanogen, naphthaline, am- 
 monia, and some other matters, which are removed by causing 
 the gas to pass through the lime purifiers P, one of which is 
 shown separately in fig. 629 ; only this is what is called a dry 
 lime purifier, and that in fig. 534 is a wet one, the lime being 
 made up into a cream with water, when it is poured into the re- 
 servoir and is agitated with the stirrer s. It is now common to 
 pass the gas through what is called a scrubber^ which consists of a 
 tower filled with small coke, with water streaming down it ; while 
 the gas entering from below meets with the shower, which deprives 
 it of the last traces of ammonia. The gas, after pmification, passes 
 along a pipe into a large reservoir or gasometer of metal, G, con- 
 sisting of a bell of sheet iron, inverted in a tank, T, containing 
 water, in which the gasometer rises and falls. The bell is nearly 
 counterpoised by weights and chains passing over pulleys, W, 
 presenting the effect shown in fig. 537. When the gasometer 
 is full, its descent forces the gas along the main M, by which it 
 passes to the pipes of the consumers. Gasometers are some- 
 times made of the form represented in fig. 532, in two or three 
 parts : the rim of the upper part is curved upwards and filled 
 with water, so as to form a channel and water joints for the 
 reception of the recurved rim of the upper part of the lower 
 portion ; and the tank in which they dip is merely a ring of 
 water surrounding a central core of masonry, M. The gasometer 
 in its collapsed form is shown in fig. 533 : the gas enters by the 
 pipe a. The supply of gas to the mains requires careful regula- 
 tion, since it must be varied at diflerent hours, it being greatest 
 when the shops are open, and diminishing as the night advances. 
 The pressure is known by means of an indicator, fig. 536, which 
 consists of a small gasometer, A, rising or falling in a tank, 
 according as the pressure varies in the main, with which it is 
 connected by a small pipe, B. To the upper part of the'gasometer 
 is fastened a vertical rod, C, carrying a black-lead pencil, which 
 presses against a cylinder, D, covered with a sheet of paper, ruled 
 so as to mark the twenty-four hours of the day. By connecting 
 the cylinder with a time-piece, it is made to rotate on its axis, 
 by which means the pencil draws a line opposite the hour when 
 it is set going. If the pressure be constant for a number of 
 hours, the line will be straight ; but if the pressure vary, it will 
 be zigzag ; the amount of pressure being indicated by the 
 horizontal lines into which the paper is divided : a new paper 
 being added every twenty-four hours, a constant record is thus 
 preserved of the pressure kept up on the gasometers which sup- 
 ply the mains. The amount of pressure is ascertained by means 
 of a small gauge, fig. 527, consisting of a bent tube screwed into 
 the gasometer at b, and open to the air at a. Mercury is poured 
 
 in, so as to occupy the bend of the tube and to rise up a little 
 way in each limb. If the pressure be the same within the 
 gasometer as that of the air outside, the mercury will stand at 
 the same height in both limbs : if the pressure be greater in the 
 gasometer than outside, the mercui-y will be depressed in b and 
 rise in a, which is the case in the present example. 
 
 In small gas-works the pressure is regulated by a self-acting 
 instrument called gotenior, fig. 538. a is a tank, in which the 
 regulating vessel h floats in water ; c is a metal cone attached to 
 the top of b ; the gas enters by the pipe d, on the top of which is 
 a perforated plate, i ; e is the outlet pipe by which the gas escapes 
 into the street mains ; /is a counterbalance ; when this is small, 
 the pressure is of course greater than when it nearly counter- 
 poises the vessel b. When the consumption of gas from the 
 mains is steadily maintained, the supply by the pipe d adjusts 
 the vessel i to a certain height, and the cone c takes its place in 
 the opening i, so as to admit into b a quantity of gas equal to the 
 demand. Should the demand on the mains increase, the vessel 
 b, and consequently the cone c, will descend a little, thus enlarging 
 the opening at i and admitting more gas from d. If, on the con- 
 trary, the demand on the main should diminish, b will rise, and 
 the cone c will contract the opening at thus diminishing the 
 supply from d. This arrangement of the cone c in the opening 
 i is called a throttle-valve. 
 
 The gas meter, by which the consumer registers the amount of 
 gas burnt, consists of an outer case, b, fig. 530, more than half 
 filled with water, and an inner drum (c?), moving round on two 
 pivots, placed horizontally, and divided into four compartments, 
 a d a!' a'", by p)artitions, which are bent so as to form a cen- 
 tral space {g). The gas is supplied by a tube {i), and as one of the 
 four spaces becomes filled with gas it becomes lighter, and causes 
 the drum to turn round a quarter of a revolution ; when, rising 
 above the level of the water, the gas passes into the outer case, 
 and up a tube at the top which supplies the burner. While one 
 partition is rising and discharging its gas, another is being 
 brought under the water and being filled ; thus, so long as gas is 
 being burnt, the drum d is revolving ; and hy an an-angement of 
 wheels, hands are made to move upon dial plates, which register 
 the number of cubic feet of gas consumed. 
 
 Fig. 528 represents a water-valve, which is useful for making 
 connexions between pipes, such as those wliieh connect the first 
 lime purifier, fig. 529, with the second, the second with the 
 third, &c. The floating vessel d has a partition (e), which descends 
 so as to come into contact with the water in the cistern c, when 
 it is desired to shut off the supply of gas. Tliis partition is placed 
 between the two pipes a b, one of which is the inlet and the 
 other the outlet pipe. By increasing or diminishing the counter- 
 poise p, the partition recedes from or approaches to the surface 
 of the water in the cistern, and assists or retards the flow of gas 
 from the inlet to the outlet pipe. 
 
 The arrangements for supplying gas in a large city are on an 
 enormous scale. London and its neighbourhood are supplied by 
 fifteen gas companies. The Westminster gas works alone are 
 accustomed to supply as much as 5,000,000 cubic feet of gas in 
 one night from their three stations. Gasholders have also been 
 enormously increased in size ; one such vessel being sometimes 
 of the capacity of 1,000,000 cubic feet, or 140 feet in diameter 
 and 70 feet in height. The counterpoise weights and chains are 
 now dispensed with, the weight of the gasometer being sufiicient 
 for its stability. 
 
 The best form of burner is that on the Argand principle, in 
 which the holes for the escape of the gas are arranged in a circle. 
 Single jets without a glass chimney are of various forms, such as 
 the siDallow-tail, where the gas issues from two holes so inclined 
 that the streams cross each other and produce a broad continuous 
 flame. When the gas escapes by a narrow slit by the top of the 
 burner, it produces what is called the bafs-wing, fig. 535 ; there 
 are also the fish-tail, and some others. 
 
XXIX.— SALT. 
 
 Common salt {chloride of sodium'), wliich enters into the compo- 
 sition of bread and other kinds of food, and is eaten with meat 
 and vegetables, is one of the necessaries of life, and is therefore 
 supplied to us by Nature's bountiful hand in inexhaustible quan- 
 tities. Every gallon of sea-water contains nearly four ounces of 
 salt ; it is stored up in the solid form in vast deposits at a mo- 
 derate depth in several parts of the continent of Europe ; or it is 
 found in brine-springs, from which it may be obtained by evapo- 
 ration. Some parts of the world, however, are not so favoured ; 
 as in Central Africa, where salt is described as the greatest of all 
 luxuries, and a child sucks a piece of rock salt with as much 
 relish as our little ones consume barley-sugar. The vast conti- 
 nent of America is also scantily suj)plied with salt : thus, trade 
 and commerce arise from the abundance of supply on the part of 
 one nation and its deficiency on that of another ; and often by 
 means of this intercourse a secondary advantage arises, which 
 is of far greater importance than the primai-y one, namely, the 
 preaching of the Gospel in the farthest ends of the earth. 
 
 The deposit of salt among rocks of almost all ages is an inte- 
 resting and important fact, not easy to account for. Some suppose 
 the rock salt (or sal gem, as it is called from its beautiful gem-like 
 api^earance) to have been deposited by saline lakes, or even by 
 the sea, which once covered and afterwards quitted the place ; 
 but the purity and solidity of the masses, their bulk, and peculiar 
 and insulated positions, render these suppositions unlikely. Fig. 
 549 represents a deposit of rock salt at Whimpfen, in Wirtem- 
 berg : fig. 550 represents the deposit at Ischl, in Upper Austria, 
 among beds of limestone rock. The deposit is worked by means 
 of twelve horizontal galleries cut in the face of the mountain. 
 The salt mass S is separated from the limestone by bands of 
 gypseous marls, G. The jDosition of the town of Ischl is shown at 
 I, and also in fig. 551. The salt mines of the Tyrol are situated 
 near Hall, in the valley of the Inn, fig. 552. Fig. 563 represents 
 the salt rock at Cardona. In our own country, Cheshire is distin- 
 guished for its salt ; the principal deposit occurs near Northwich, 
 in two beds situated one above another, sejDarated by about thirty 
 feet of clay and marl, intersected with small veins of salt ; the 
 two beds together are not less than sixty feet in thickness, three 
 hundred feet in breadth, and a mile and a half in length : these 
 beds occur in magnesian limestone. Fig. 547 shows a section of 
 a salt mine, on the river Weaver. The strata passed through 
 usually consist of clay and gypsum in various proportions. The 
 workmen call the clay red, brown, and blue metal, according to 
 its colour ; and the gypsum they name plaster. Fig. 544 repre- 
 sents the interior of a salt mine, with pillars supporting the roof. 
 The appearance of the roof, with portions of earth mixed with 
 the salt, gives the effect of a rude mosaic, fig. 539 ; while fig. 541 
 represents veins of rock salt in crevices of the rock, tinged red 
 with oxide of iron. The rock salt is contained in masses of con- 
 siderable size, differing in form and purity ; they are separated 
 by the usual operation of blasting, and with the aid of miners' 
 tools. The rock salt is raised to the surface by steam-power ; but 
 horses are employed underground for conveying the rock to the 
 bottom of the shaft. 
 
 When water comes in contact with these deposits, brine-springs 
 are formed ; these are not uncommon in the valleys of the 
 Weaver and the Wheelock. In using the brine for the manufac- 
 ture of salt, a shaft is sunk down to it, and it is pumjjed up as it 
 is wanted into evaporating pans, fig. 540 ; these are of wrought 
 iron, oblong in shape, and from twelve to sixteen inches in depth ; 
 there are three or four f.res to each pan. At one end of the pan- 
 house is the coal-hole, and at the other end a chimney ; along each 
 of the two remaining sides is a walk, five or six feet wide, occupied 
 by benches, on which the salt is placed in conical baskets to drain. 
 
 after it has been taken out of the pan. The mode of manufacture 
 is varied, according as it is intended to produce staved or lump salt, 
 common salt, large-grained faki/, and large-grained or fisliery salt. The 
 effect of these variations will be understood by examining a crys- 
 tal of salt. The natural form of the crystals of pure chloride of 
 sodium is that of a perfect cube, fig. 542 ; and they constantly 
 assume this figure when the proper arrangement of their particles 
 has not been interrupted by agitation, or the application of too 
 strong a heat. Every perfect cube is composed of six quadrangu- 
 lar hollow pyramids, fig. 543, joined by their points and external 
 surfaces ; each of these pyramids, filled up by others, similar but 
 gradually decreasing, completes the form. Each of these pyra- 
 mids is composed of four triangles, and each triangle is formed of 
 threads parallel to the base, which threads consist of a series 
 of small cubes. These cubes dissolve in about three parts of cold 
 water, and they are scarcely more soluble at a temperature of 
 212°. 
 
 In making the stove or lump salt, the brine is brought to a 
 boiling heat, or 225°. Crystals of salt are soon formed on the 
 surface, and fall to the bottom as they form. In about twelve 
 hours most of the water has evaporated ; the fires are slackened, 
 and the salt is drawn to the sides of the pan with iron rakes. It 
 is then placed in conical baskets, fig. 545, to drain (see also fig. 
 548), and the drying is completed in stoves. The pan is filled 
 twice in the course of twenty-four hours ; and impurities which 
 rise to the surface are skimmed off before the brine boils. In 
 making common salt, the pan is filled but once in the course of 
 twenty-four hours. The brine is first brought to a boiling heat, 
 when the fires are slackened, and the crystallization is carried on 
 at about 160° or 170°. The salt forms in pyramids of close compact 
 texture, clustered together, with cubical crystals intermixed. The 
 large-grained flaky salt is crystallized at 130° or 140°, and the pan 
 is filled once in forty-eight hours. This salt is somewhat harder 
 than common salt, and approaches nearer to the natural form of 
 the crystals. In making the large-grained or fishery salt, the brine 
 is heated to 100° or 110°, so that the crystallization proceeds more 
 slowly than in making the other kinds : salt forms in large cubical 
 crystals, and five or six days are required to evaporate the brine. 
 The reason why the large-grained salt is better fitted than small- 
 grained salts for the packing of fish and other provisions is, that 
 the large crystals, from their hardness and compactness, retain 
 their solid form longer, and are very gradually dissolved by the 
 fluids which exude from the provisions ; thus, furnishing a slow 
 but constant supply of brine. But in preparing the pickle, or 
 striking the meat, by immersion in a saturated solution of salt, 
 the smaller-grained varieties are to be preferred, on account of 
 their greater solubility. 
 
 Natural salt springs are usually only slightly impregnated with 
 salt ; but there are many inland situations where the cost of car- 
 riage renders the importation of salt very costly, so that it is 
 advantageous to obtain a supply from the weak brine of these 
 si^rings. But as the cost of fuel might become a more serious 
 charge than that of carriage, successful attempts have been made 
 to evaporate the brine in the open air, so as to concentrate it 
 before it enters the evaporating pan. Thus, at Moutiers, in Sar- 
 dinia, the strongest spring contains less than two per cent, of 
 saline matter, and in most of them only one pound and a half of 
 salt can be obtained from thirteen gallons of water. In order to 
 concentrate it by natural evaporation, the weak brine is spread 
 over as large a surface as possible, since the rate of evaporation 
 depends on the temperature and the amount of surface exposed. 
 The evaporating houses, fig. 554, are each 350 yards in length, 
 twenty-five feet in height, and seven feet wide. They consist of 
 a frame of wood filled with double rows of fagots of black-thorn 
 
118 
 
 SODA. 
 
 (whence these houses are called thorn houses) ; and in the midst is 
 a stone building containing a hydraulic machine for pumping the 
 water to the top of the building, whence it j)asses into canals on 
 each side, which extend the whole length of the building ; from 
 these canals it passes into smaller channels, from which it trickles 
 through a multitude of small holes in a very gentle shower upon 
 the fagots, where it is divided into an infinite number of drops, 
 falling from one point to another. The evaporating surface is 
 thus indefinitely enlarged ; and as the thorn house is placed so 
 as to catch the currents of wind that rush down the valley, the 
 amount of evaporation is very large. By repetitions of the process 
 the water is at length nearly saturated, and is then jsassed to 
 evaporating pans, where the salt is crystallized in the usual 
 manner. 
 
 The arrangement at the Saxon salt works is similar to the 
 above, and will be understood by reference to fig. 555 ; in which 
 t is the wall of black- thorn fagots, covered by a roof, r, the gi-eater 
 portion of which, however, is removed in the engraving in order 
 to show the details ; b is one of the canals supplied with brine 
 from the upper reservoir, and c is the perforated channel from 
 which the brine falls drop by drop upon the fagots. The process 
 can be repeated by pumping the brine up from the lower tank. 
 The brine which is concentrated or gradtiaicrl, as it is called, 
 during the fine season, is stored up in vast reservoirs of masonry, 
 where it deposits impurities. The boiling is cari-ied on during 
 the winter months only ; the evaporating pan.s, fig. 656, are fur- 
 nished with a roof-shaped hood of boards, with a trunk at s for 
 carrying off" the steam, and shutters at d, which can be turned 
 back or closed according to the weather. The vapour that escajDes 
 from the surface of the brine contains about one per cent, of salt ; 
 and the portion that condenses and trickles down the sides of 
 the chimney s is collected in a channel, t, and conveyed to a tank. 
 
 Salt lakes in some parts of the world are used as a source of 
 salt. In the stej^pes of Asiatic Russia salt lakes are numerous, 
 and their waters hold so much salt in solution that the action of 
 the summer heat is sufficient to crystallize a portion of it ; and 
 the ci'ystals, being carried to the banks by the action of the 
 waves, form immense shoals of salt. The Dead Sea, fig. 562, con- 
 tains a larger proportion of salt than the waters of the ocean. 
 When agitated by wind, the surface has the appearance of foaming 
 brine ; and the spray, evaporating as it falls, leaves incrustations 
 
 of salt upon the clothes, and coming in contact with the skin 
 produces a pricking sensation, very painful to the eyes, nostrils, 
 and lips. The northern shore is very barren ; branches and 
 trunks of trees are scattered about, some charred and blackened, 
 others white with an incrustation of salt. The water is also 
 described as being greasy to the touch. On the southern shore, in 
 the neighbourhood of Usdom, is a pillar of solid salt, fig. 557 ; 
 it is capped with carbonate of hme. Fig. 559 is one of the ravines 
 at the southern end of the sea. 
 
 Sea-water is a convenient source of salt to persons residing on 
 or near the coast. The saline matter of sea-water varies from 
 three to four per cent., and of this quantity common salt forms 
 nearly two-thirds. An economical method of evaporating the 
 water is by means of salt gardens or salterns, fig. 661, which are 
 laid out upon a clay soil on the coast, and worked during the 
 summer months, from about March to September. In these 
 salterns the sea-water is exposed in a series of shallow ponds to 
 the action of the sun and of the air ; and as the water is evapo- 
 rated, the salt is deposited in the hindermost pools, while the 
 foremost ones receive fresh supphes of sea- water. The collecting 
 pond A is filled at the flow of the tide by means of a flood-gate, 
 and the water, having deposited its mud, is conveyed by a pipe 
 to the first series of pools, B ; from these, by means of a channel, 
 c, it is circulated through a canal, which passes round the 
 remaining pools. From this it enters at D into the ponds at E, 
 then into F, and, lastly, through the open channel to a third 
 series of ponds, G. During all this time evaporation has been going 
 on, and salt begins to form in the hindermost of these reservoirs. 
 When a crust of salt has formed on the surface G, it is collected 
 by means of rakes into small heaps, i, on the sides. When no more 
 salt separates by crystallization, the lye is allowed to run through 
 K into the sea. The chief impurity of the salt thus collected is 
 chloride of magnesium, which absoi'bs moisture and flows ofl"; 
 for which purpose the smaller heaps, i i, are made up into larger 
 heaps, J, and these are thatched with straw and left for a time. 
 The tools used in forming these heaps are shown in fig. 560. Since 
 the duty has been taken off" salt, the Cheshire manufacturers have 
 been able to produce the article at so low a price that salterns 
 cannot compete with them. In the year 1856, the quantity of 
 salt exported amounted to 29,820,481 bushels, of the declared 
 value of 401,240/. sterling. 
 
 I XXX.- 
 
 The enormous demand for common salt for curing provisions, 
 and for giving a relish to our food, does not cease with those 
 uses. Great quantities of salt are used in furnishing chlo- 
 rine to bleaching powder ; and still larger quantities in the 
 production of carbonate of soda, which enters into the com- 
 ^ jjosition of glass, of soaj^, and of several other chemical manu- 
 factures. 
 
 Between the years 1805 and 1823 there was a duty of 15s. per 
 bushel on common salt, so that its use was limited almost 
 entirely to the purposes of food. Most of the carbonate of soda 
 was then obtained from barilla, an , ash produced by burning 
 marine plants. For this purpose the salsola soda was largely 
 cultivated on the southern coast of Spain, as was the salicornia 
 on the southern coast of France : while on the coasts of 
 Ireland, and the western coasts and islands of Scotland, an 
 inferior article, named kelp, was produced by burning the Fitcus 
 vesiculosus and other species of fucus. The repeal of the duty on 
 salt placed that abundant article in the hands of the chemist, 
 
 SODA. 
 
 who soon discovered a method of decomposing it, so as to get rid 
 of the chlorine and retain the soda. The first part of the process 
 consists in converting common salt into a rough sulphate of soda. 
 This is done in reverberatoiy or decomposing furnaces, a number 
 of which are arranged side by side, fig. 564, all discharging their 
 flues into a tall chimney. The interior of one of these furnaces 
 is shown in fig. 563. In the division A, called the decomposing 
 bed, the salt and the sulphuric acid are brought together : the 
 charge of salt may be from five to six cwt., and an equal weight 
 of sulphuric acid (not concentrated, biit of the sjjecific gravity 
 1.6) is slowly poured in through a leaden syphon funnel, B ; the 
 mixture is stirred up with an iron rake covered with sheet lead, 
 and on the apphcation of a gentle heat abundant fumes of hydro- 
 chloric acid are liberated, which, passing up the chimney, are 
 discharged into the air in the form of a white cloud of acid, which 
 rains sterility on the adjacent country. Of late years, however, 
 these acid fumes have been made to pass through towers filled 
 with coke, through which water is constantly trickling ; the hydro- 
 
SULPHURIC ACID. 
 
 119 
 
 chloric acid, which is very greedy of moisture, is thus absorbed 
 and got rid of. In the bed A of the furnace, about half the 
 hydrochloric acid is expelled from the salt. The pasty mass thus 
 produced is pushed out through an opening into a vault C, and 
 another charge is introduced into A. The pasty mass is now- 
 removed from C into the other compartment of the furnace 
 nearest the fire, called the roasting heel (D), where it is exposed 
 to a much higher temperature, and in an hour or two loses its 
 remaining hydrochloric acid. The mass is now called salt-cake, 
 and it is raked out of D to make room for another charge. The 
 object of the next process is to convert the salt-cake or sulphate 
 of soda into carbonate of soda ; which is done by heating it to 
 redness with coal or charcoal and carbonate of lime. The salt-cake 
 is therefore mixed with chalk and powdered coal in the jDroportion 
 of three parts sulphate of soda, three of chalk, and two of coal ; 
 and is thrown in quantities of about cwt. at a time into a 
 reverberatory furnace, called the hlaclc ash furnace ; which is oval 
 in shape and divided into two parts, one of which, the farthest 
 from the fire, called the preparhig-bed, is higher than the second 
 division, called the fliixing-hed. When the charge is sufficiently 
 heated, it is transferred from the one to the other ; and towards 
 the end of the process the mass melts, and appears to boil, from 
 the escape of carbonic oxide gas, which burns with a greenish or 
 yellow flame, forming what the workmen call candles. At length, 
 after briskly stirring, the mass is completely fused, and is raked 
 out into cast-iron troughs or wheelbarrows, where it becomes 
 solid, and forms what is called hall-soda or black ash. It contains 
 about twenty per cent, of pure soda, mixed with unburnt coal, 
 and a compomid derived from the sulphuric acid of the salt-cake 
 and the calcium of the chalk (lime, which is the basis of chalk, 
 being an oxide of calcium), called oxy-sulphide of calcium. This 
 last-named substance, known to the manufacturer as soda-waste, 
 
 is a worthless bulky substance, constantly accumulating in the 
 neighbourhood of alkali works, and rendering it necessary to 
 purchase land merely to accommodate it. A cheap method of 
 recovering the sulphur from it would be a great boon to the 
 manufacturer. In order to extract the salts of soda from tlie black 
 ash, it is broken up into coarse fragments, and digested with warm 
 water for six hours in vats furnished with false bottoms (fig. 565) ; 
 and the washing is carried on until the soluble matters are ex- 
 tracted, the last washings being used for acting upon fresh 
 portions of black ash. The solution thus formed is allowed to 
 settle, and is then jximped up into large shallow iron pans for 
 evaporation. Heat is applied, and a good deal of the salt crystal- 
 lizes during the boiling, and is removed by means of perforated 
 ladles. To convert the caustic soda contained in the solution 
 into carbonate, it is evaporated to dryness, mixed with sawdust, 
 and roasted in a furnace called the white-ash furnace. Most of the 
 sulphur escapes in the form of sulphurous acid ; and the residue 
 yields the soda ash or alkali of commerce, which contains about 
 fifty per cent, of pure caustic alkali. It is ground under mill- 
 stones, and is sufficiently pure for most of the manufacturing 
 applications of soda ; but for the manufacture of plate glass, and 
 for furnishing crystals of carbonate of soda, the ash is further 
 purified by being again calcined at a moderate heat. The car- 
 bonate thus obtained is re-dissolved ; the liquid is allowed to 
 settle, and while hot is run into hemispherical pans (fig. 566) of 
 cast iron. In the course of five or six days, large well-formed 
 crystals appear ; these are broken up, and the mother-licjiwr, or 
 that portion which refuses to crystallize, is allowed to drain off 
 by withdrawing a plug in the bottom : this is evaporated to 
 dryness, and the residue, containing about thirty per cent, of 
 alkali, is fit for use in the manufacture of crown glass and of 
 soap. 
 
 XXXI.— SULPHUEIC ACID. 
 
 The applications of sulphuric acid in manufactures are so 
 numerous, that the consumption of sulphur may be taken as a 
 sort of index of our commercial prosperity. By far the largest 
 supply of sulphur is obtained from Sicily ; and we can under- 
 stand the motives which made our Government, a few years ago, 
 resolve to go to war with Naples, in order to abolish the sulphur 
 monopoly, which that Power had attempted to establish in the 
 face of existing treaties. There is abundance of sulphur in 
 many of the mineral productions of this country ; such as gyp- 
 sum, or sulphate of lime ; heavy spai-, or sulphate of baryta ; 
 galena, or sulphuret of lead ; iron pyrites, or sulphuret of 
 iron, &c. ; but it is cheaper to import sulphur from Sicily than 
 to obtain it from these sources. In that country, it occurs in 
 the native or uncombined state, in beds of a blue clay formation, 
 occupying the central half of the south coast, and extending in- 
 wards as far as the district of Etna. The excavations made for 
 getting out the sulphur resemble a quarry : the fragments of 
 sulphur, as they are got out, are collected into a heap and melted 
 in furnaces resembling cauldrons, six or seven feet in diameter, 
 and four or five feet in depth, by which means the sulphur is 
 separated from the clay, calcareous stones, and gypsum, and 
 while in a liquid state is run into wooden moulds of the form 
 of a large brick. The crude sulphur is more economically dis- 
 tilled in the furnace represented fig. 571. Two rows of earthen 
 pots, a a, are arranged in a close furnace upon supports, so that 
 the necks of the pots can be let into the top of the furnace 
 while the mouths are left fi'ee ; the pots can thus be charged 
 from the outside, and then be closed with lids cemented on ; 
 after which the fire is lighted and the distillation commences. 
 The vapours of sulphur pass over by the side tubes to the re- 
 ceivers, b b, outside, where they condense to liquid sulphur, which 
 flows into tubs of water. Stick or roll sulphur, or common 
 brimstone, is chiefly obtained during the roasting of copper ore, 
 
 or from iron pyrites ; the fumes being received into a long brick 
 chamber, where the sulphur is deposited : it is afterwards 
 purified by being melted in pots, in which some of the impurities 
 rise to the surface and ai'e skimmed off, while others sink to the 
 bottom, and the purer portion is poured into cylindrical moulds 
 of beechwood. The third form in which sulphur is met with is 
 that of a harsh, yellow, gritty powder, known z.^ flowers of sulphur. 
 It is obtained by sublimation, a process in which a solid is con- 
 verted into vapour by heat, and then suddenly solidified by cold. 
 It difiers from distillation, in which the vapour distilled is con- 
 densed by cold into a liquid. Flowers of sulphur are prepared 
 by heating crude sulphur in a vessel which communicates with 
 another of large capacity, such as a chamber of brickwork, the 
 walls of which being kept cool, and the process conducted 
 slowly, the sulphur condenses in powder. 
 
 When sulphur is heated in the air to the temperature of 450° 
 and 500°, it burns with a blue flame, and, combining with a 
 portion of the oxygen of the air, gives off jDungent suffocating 
 fumes of sulphurous acid. At 239° it melts, forming a yellow 
 liquid : on increasing the temperature, its colour changes to yel- 
 lowish brown, and at last becomes nearly black and opaque. At 
 350°, it loses its fluid character, and becomes thick and pasty. At 
 about 500°, it once more hquefies, and if poured into water it 
 foms into a ductile mass, capable of being drawn out into long 
 threads : at this temperature, it may also be used for making 
 casts and receiving impressions of seals, &c. It boils at about 
 824°. Sulphur is quite insoluble in water ; but boihng oil of 
 turpentine dissolves it. The specific gravity of sulphur is 1.95, 
 or nearly twice as heavy as its own bulk of water. 
 
 The quantity of brimstone imjiorted into the United Kingdom 
 in the year 1856 amounted to 1,417,807 cwts. The chief demand 
 for sulphur is in the preparation of sulphuric acid, gunpowder, 
 lucifer matches, rockets, and fireworks. It is also used in 
 
53u. CLOW-UP CISTEr.^NS. 
 
 5S1. BAG riLTEES. 
 
SULPHURIC ACID. 
 
 medicine, in the manufacture of vermilion (which is a compound 
 of sulphur and mercury), for bleaching straw and flannel, and 
 for some other purposes. 
 
 It has been already stated that when sulphur is burnt in the open 
 air, it tmites with oxygen, and forms sulphurous acid ; or, in 
 other words, one part of sulphur unites with two parts of oxygen. 
 Sulphuric acid, which consists of one part sulphur united with 
 three parts of oxygen, is not so easily produced : m fact, in 
 order to make the sulphur, in burning, take up three instead of 
 two proportions of oxygen, extensive chambers or houses, fig. 
 574, are erected, varying from sixty to two hundred feet in length, 
 and of jDroportionate height and width. The chambers are lined 
 internally with sheet lead, that being one of the few substances 
 which are not corroded by sulphuric acid at ordinary tempera- 
 tures. When sulphuric acid was first manufactured, about a 
 century ago, the materials were burnt in glass receivers, contain- 
 ing a few pounds of water, as iu fig. 567, and the acid jjroduced 
 was sold at about two shillings and sixpence per IV It is now 
 made in the vast chambers already referred to, and is sold for 
 less than a farthing a pound. 
 
 Four substances are used in the production of sulphuric acid : 
 1. Sulphurous acid, produced by the combustion of sulphur iu 
 air. 2. Nitric acid, from which the sulphurous acid obtains an 
 additional supply of oxygen. 3. Atmospheric air, which must 
 be constantly renewed. 4. Water or steam, for dissolving the 
 sulphuric acid as fast as it is formed. The sulphur which sup- 
 plies the sulphurous acid is burnt in a small furnace A, at one 
 end of the chamber, tig. 673 : immediately over the burning 
 sulphur is an iron pot, supported on a tripod, containing nitre, 
 mixed with sulphuric acid : the heat of the burning sulphur 
 drives off the nitric acid from the nitre, and the sulphurous acid 
 and the nitric acid vapours are conveyed into the chamber by 
 the wide tube j). At the same time, steam supplied by the 
 boiler B is conveyed by the tube f, and enters the chamber in 
 the form of jets. The chemical changes that take place within 
 the chamber are somewhat complicated. Sulphurous acid is 
 capable of taking up more oxygen from moist air, and of forming 
 suliAuric acid ; but the process is a very slow one. It takes 
 oxygen, however, rapidly from nitric acid (nitrogen -f- 5 oxygen), 
 and reduces it to the state of nitric o.xide (nitrogen -f- 2 oxygen), 
 a gas which, by mere exposure to the air, takes up an additional 
 supply of oxygen, and forms nitrous acid (nitrogen -f- 4 oxygen). 
 Now it is remarkable that the sulphurous acid readily takes an 
 additional supply of oxygen from this nitrous compound in the 
 presence of moisture ; so that two more portions of sulphurous 
 acid thus become converted into sulphuric acid, and the nitrous 
 compound is brought back to the condition of nitric oxide, in 
 which it is again fitted to rob the atmospheric air of its oxygen, 
 and thus to continue the action. Hence the nitric oxide becomes 
 a carrier of oxygen, continually taking it from the air of the 
 chamber, and giving it up to the sulphurous acid, so that a com- 
 paratively small quantity of nitre is sufiicient to convert sul- 
 phurous into sulphuric acid. The nitrogen of the atmospheric 
 air is discharged by the chimney C, while the sulphuric acid, 
 condensed by the steam, accumulates on the floor of the 
 chamber W. A sample of the acid may be taken out by making 
 an opening in the side near the bottom of the chamber, by push- 
 ing the lead inwards, and prolonging it so as to dip beneath the 
 surface of the liquid, as in fig. 570, and prevent the escape of gas. 
 As the vvfaste products of the chamber, in escaping by the chim- 
 ney C, fig. 573, take with them some of the valuable nitrous 
 compounds, arrangements have been made for retaining them by 
 jmssing them through a refrigerator immersed in a tank of water 
 at G, fig. 575, from whence they ascend into tall, cylindrical 
 chambers, H, filled with coke, and resting on a grating below, so 
 that the gas has to filter through it before it escapes into the 
 atmosphere. The coke is kept constantly wet with strong 
 sulphuric acid, supplied from the reservoir I. The coke is kept 
 wet by a sudden gush of liquid, which is renewed at regular in- 
 tervals by allowing a constant stream from I to flow into j, which 
 
 is shown on a larger scale in fig. 568. Here the syphon a h c 
 has its longer limb passed through the bottom of a cup, so that in 
 filling the cup no liquid will run out until it rises above the bend 
 at b, when the liquid in the cup will flow out at a gush, until it is 
 reduced to the level a. This intermittent flow of acid, trickhng 
 down through the column H, absorbs nearly all the nitrous com- 
 Ijounds which escape from the chamber, so that scarcely anything 
 but pure nitrogen is discharged into the air : the acid then flows 
 down the small pipe into the receiver L, from whence it can 
 be raised into the reservoir 0 simply by admitting high-pressure 
 steam from the pipe ni into L, when the acid is pressed up the 
 pipe « into 0. From O it is made to flow by another .syphon 
 cup, similar to fig. 568, into other columns of coke D, E, where 
 it meets with the fresh sulphurous acid gas generated in the fur- 
 nace A, on its way to the first chamber. The effect of this is to 
 separate the nitrous compounds from the acid which is trickling 
 down through the coke. In order to delay the passage of the 
 suli^hurous acid, the column of coke is divided by a stream, so 
 that the sulphurous acid generated in A passes up C, down the 
 column D, up the column E, and so into the first chamber, where 
 it meets the jet of steam F, generated in the boiler B. In fig. 
 575, the ends of the first and last chambers only are shown, the 
 iutermediate chambers being omitted ; ff also represent jets of 
 steam. 
 
 During these complicated changes, the sulphuric acid continues 
 to be formed, and to trickle down the sides of the chamber to 
 the bottom, gradually increasing in densitj'. When the specific 
 gravity of the acid has reached 1,450 (or, in other words, when 
 a bottle which holds 1000 grains of pure water, being filled with 
 the acid, such acid weighs 1,450 grains), it is drawn out of the 
 chambers, and evaporated in shallow leaden pans, until, by 
 throwing off a portion of its water, its density is 1.720. In 
 order further to concentrate the acid, it must be heated in glass 
 or platinum retorts, until white fumes of the acid begin to 
 appear. It is now a dense, oily-looking, colourless liquid, of the 
 specific gravity 1.842. It has no smell ; but, from its powerful 
 attraction for moisture, it chars and blackens most organic sub- 
 stances that it comes in contact with. When mixed with water, 
 it becomes exceedingly hot, from the condensation that takes 
 place ; the two liquids occupying less bulk than they did before 
 being juixed. If a portion of the acid be exposed to the air in 
 a shallow dish for a few days, it will double its weight by absorb- 
 ing moisture. The acid is removed from the retorts by means 
 of a lead .syjDhon (fig. 569), in which the end of the shorter arm a 
 is turned up : this syphon is first inverted and filled with water ; 
 and the long end b, being closed with the finger, the short limb 
 is inserted into the body of the retort. On removing the finger, 
 the water in the syphon is set in motion, bringing after it the acid : 
 the water is caught in a small cup, which is removed the moment 
 the acid begins to appear. It falls into the vessel placed for its 
 reception, in a smooth, quiet stream, resembhng oil ; whence 
 originated the old name of oil of vitriol, apphed to this acid. It 
 is transferred to large globular green glass bottles, called carboys, 
 packed in straw in wicker baskets, and thus sent to the market. 
 
 In large works, it is found more economical to concentrate 
 the acid in stills made of the metal platinum than in glass stills, 
 which are liable to break by the heat, and entail loss of acid, and 
 danger to the operatives. A platinum still, with its appendages, 
 will ccst about 80,000 francs, or 3,200/. sterling (for these stills 
 are nearly all made in Paris). When the acid is sufficiently con- 
 centrated, it is removed by means of the syjshon, fig. 572. The 
 leg a is plunged nearly to the bottom of the still, the stop-cock 
 b is closed, and the worm is filled with cold acid through the 
 funnel C. The stop-cock to this funnel is then closed, and b 
 suddenly opened, when the acid thus set in motion draws out 
 the contents of the still. The acid is cooled by keeping the 
 worm immersed in cold water, a supply of which is introduced 
 into the vessel V, by the pipe (, which supplies the colder and 
 heavier water to the bottom of the vessel ; while the water 
 heated by the worm escapes at the opening f. 
 
XXXII.— SUGAU. 
 
 Sugar is a common product of the vegetable kingdom, and 
 forms an article of nutriment to most plants at some fieriod 
 of their growth. There are four principal varieties of sugar, the 
 most important of which is cane sugar, the ordinary 23roduct of 
 the sugar cane. The second, known as fndt sugar, is the prin- 
 ciple of sweetness in most acidulous fruits ; it does not crystallize 
 like cane sugar, but forms a syrupy liquid, which is abundant in 
 treacle. The third variety, known as grape or starch sugar, is often 
 formed from the second variety, and may be noticed in old dried 
 fruits, such as raisins and figs, where it forms in hard granular 
 sweet masses : it may also be prepared artificially by boiling 
 starch with a dilute acid. The fourth variety, known as milk 
 sugar, is that to which milk owes its sweetness. These varieties 
 of sugar consist of nothing more than charcoal and water in a 
 state of chemical combination : thus, cane sugar contains 72 
 parts of carbon and 99 of water ; fruit sugar contains the same 
 quantity of carbon and 108 parts water ; while in starch sugar 
 there are 126 parts of water. Cane sugar is much sweeter than 
 the other varieties. As much as 2i lbs. of starch sugar would be 
 required to equal in sweetening effect 1 lb. of cane sugar. Con- 
 fining our attention, therefore, to the latter article, which is 
 distinguished from the others by its crystalline character, we 
 proceed to state some of its properties, and the mode of manu- 
 facture. In its pure form, as in loaf sugar, it consists of a 
 collection of minute transparent crystals, which reflect and 
 refract the rays of light within it so as to produce the effect of 
 dazzling whiteness : when a lump of sugar is broken, it emits an 
 electric spark, which is visible in the dark ; and when two pieces 
 are rubbed together, a pale violet phosphorescent light is visible 
 in the dark ; its specific gravity is 1.6 ; it is soluble in about one- 
 third of its weight of cold water, and in a much smaller quantity 
 of boiling water. On evaporating the viscid syrup thus formed, 
 fine crystals of sugar candy are deposited. A solution saturated 
 at 230"^ (that is, sugar stirred in until the water will dissolve no 
 more) forms in cooling a granular mass ; but when the solution 
 is rapidly boiled down until it acquires a glass-like texture on 
 cooling, it forms harley sugar, so called from its having been for- 
 merly made by rapidly boiling down a concentrated solution of 
 sugar in barley water, heating the mass and cutting it while hot 
 into strips, rolling the strips into cylinders, and then giving them a 
 spiral twist. The candy does not long retain its vitreous and trans- 
 parent appearance ; but it soon acquires a fibrous or granular 
 texture, and becomes opaque. The show sticks in the windows 
 of grocers are made of coloured glass, which resembles barley 
 sugar m its freshest state. 
 
 The sugar-cane (Saccharim officiiiarum) is a perennial plant 
 belonging to the family of the Grasses ; it varies in height from 
 six to fifteen feet, and has a diameter of from one and a half 
 to two inches ; it has a knotty stalk, and at each knot or stalk 
 is a leaf and an inner joint : the number of joints may vary 
 from forty to sixty, and even eighty in the Brazilian cane. The 
 cultivator distinguishes thi'ee kinds of cane : — 1, the Creole cane, 
 with dark green leaves and a thin but very knotty stem ; 
 2, the Batavian or striped, cane, with dense foliage, and covered 
 with purple stripes ; and 3, the OtaJieite cane, which grows 
 luxuriantly, is the most juicy, and yields the largest product. 
 It is chiefly cultivated in the West Indies and South America. 
 The sugar-cane was originally a bog plant, and requires a moist 
 nutritive soil and a hot tropical climate. It is propagated by 
 slips, or pieces of the stem with buds on them ; these are 
 planted in holes from fifteen to eighteen inches square and from 
 eight to twelve inches deep (fig. 576). It takes from twelve to 
 sixteen months before the plant arrives at maturity. When the 
 canes are ripe, they are cut, and the roots strike again and produce 
 
 a fresh crop ; but in about six years they require to be removed 
 and fresh ones planted : the canes which grow immediately from 
 the planted slips are called plaut-canes., while the sprouts from 
 the old roots or stoles are named rattoons. The canes should be 
 cut as close to the stole as possible, the juice of the lower joints 
 being the richest ; the cane top, with one or two joints, is also 
 cut off, when the canes are tied up in bundles (fig. 577) and sent 
 to the crushing-mill (fig. 578). This consists of cast-iron rollers, 
 worked by means of toothed wheels attached to the axles. The 
 cane is crushed by the first pair of rollers, and the juice is ex- 
 pressed by the second pair ; the juice passes into a channel 
 below, and then flows away to a reservoir. The crushed cane, 
 called cane-trash, is used as fuel in the boiling-house, and the 
 ashes are returned as manure to the cane plantation. The juice 
 is clarified by means of heat, which coagulates the albumen, and 
 by the addition of lime, which neutralizes the acid and renders 
 some of the solid impurities insoluble. The old method of 
 applying heat was by means of iron boilers, called teaches (fig. 
 579). The juice is conducted from the juice-reservoir, below the 
 crushing mill, into the clarifying pan ; which is the largest, and 
 situated farthest from the fire. The proper dose of milk of lime, 
 or temper^ as it is called, is added ; when a thick scum collects on 
 the surface, and is removed by skimming. The juice is passed 
 through four other teaches, and heated until the evaporation is 
 complete, the scum being removed from each and passed into the 
 molasses cistern, and is used for making rum. The scum consists 
 of nearly pure sugar, decomposed by heat, together with the 
 natural impurities of the juice. The syrup is known to be suffi- 
 ciently concentrated in the last teach, when on taking up a small 
 portion between the finger and thumb it can be drawn out into a 
 thread of about half an inch in length. The syrup is then trans- 
 ferred to coolers or shallow open vessels, fig. 579, and in about 
 twenty-four hours the sugar grains, that is, forms into a soft 
 mass of crystals embedded in molasses. The sugar in the coolers 
 is frequently stirred with iron rods to equalize the temperature ; 
 and it is then removed to the curing house, and placed in hogsheads 
 w potting casks, which rest on an open framing over the molasses 
 reservoir, a large cistern lined with lead. The bottom of each cask 
 contains holes an inch in diameter, into each of which is thrust 
 a plantain stalk, extending to the top of the cask ; when, in the 
 course of a few weeks, the molasses gradually drain away, leaving 
 the crystalline portion of the sugar tolerably dry. There is a 
 further drainage of molasses in the hold of the vessel after the 
 casks have been shipped. Such is the rate sugar of commerce : 
 it consists of a crystalline flour of pure sugar, moistened 
 throughout with molasses, varying in quantity, but often con- 
 taining one-third of its weight of that substance. Of late years, 
 improved methods of evaporating the juice have been introduced, 
 so that the system is not liable to the satirical remark which 
 defined the old method as " an elaborate and effectual means of 
 converting pure sugar into molasses and scum." The new system 
 consists in the application of a regulated steam heat where heat 
 is required ; separating solid matters from the juice by means of 
 filters or flannel, or of animal charcoal ; and evaporating either 
 by means of the vacuum pan, or in open pans containing a coil of 
 steam pipe. 
 
 The maimfacture of refined sugar in this country originated 
 in the defective methods of preparing raw sugar in our colonies. 
 It is still carried on to a large extent, in order to produce that 
 beautiful variety of sugar known as lump or loaf sugar, which is 
 probably used more or less in every house in the kingdom. The 
 raw sugar from the West Indies, America, and the East Indies is 
 imported in cases ; that from Jamaica, St. Domingo, and St. Croix 
 in hogsheads ; from Manilla and the Mauritius in double sacks. 
 
]24 
 
 SUGAR. 
 
 plaited or woven from the leaves of reeds ; the man in fig. 580 
 is l)ringing in a sack of this kind. In the year 1856, the quantitj' 
 of unrefined sugar imported into the United Kingdom amounted 
 to 7,240,626 cwts : of refined sugar and candy 258,929 cwts., 
 and of molasses 942,223 cwts. The quality of rem sugar varies 
 from white Havannah, which is almost equal to loaf sugar, to the 
 dark brown, moist, sticky, and smeary characters of the woi'st 
 varieties. But whatever the character of the sugar, the first ope- 
 ration of the refiner is to dissolve it in water. For this purpose 
 the sugar is emptied on the flooi^, as in fig. 680, and the hogshead 
 is inverted over an arched copper ; while a jet of steam directed 
 into it removes whatever sugar adheres to the staves. From the 
 floor the sugar is shovelled into cisterns, named hloio-up cisterns 
 from the fact that a perforated steam pipe, fixed at the bottom 
 of the pan, blows up steam through the water and completes the 
 solution. The solution is clarified by stirring in a small portion 
 of blood and ground animal charcoal, together with some lime- 
 water for neutralizing the acid. The solution is stirred up with 
 oars ; and the albumen of the blood, dispersed through the solu- 
 tion, entangles and thus collects small mechanical impurities, and, 
 coagulating by the heat, forms iiato large connected flocks, easily 
 sejjarable by strainers : it also forms with the charcoal a comj)act 
 scum, which can be readily removed. Other mechanical impuri- 
 ties coated with albumen are separated by passing the solution 
 through bags hung up in square vessels of iron, the top of which 
 contains reservoirs for the concentrated solution obtained from 
 the blow-up cisterns. In fig. 581 a portion of the iron case is 
 removed to show the man engaged in fastening up the bags. The 
 syrup, after it has run through the filters, is of a reddish colour, 
 and is next passed through beds of animal charcoal, prepared by 
 calcining bones in close vessels and reducing them to a coarse 
 powder. The filtei-s, tig. 582, consist of large vats twelve or 
 fourteen feet in depth, with perforated false bottoms ; these are 
 covered with ticking, and the charcoal is then put in to the depth 
 of twelve feet ; above this is another layer of ticking, covered 
 with a perforated metallic plate. The syrup is then poured over 
 the surface, and by the time it has run thr(3ugh the filters, it has 
 been deprived of colour by the curious attraction which exists 
 between colouring matter and bone black. The syrup, now 
 called liquor, is passed into the reservoir for supplying the boiler. 
 The old method of concentrating the liquor to the point required 
 for crystallization was by raising it in open vessels to the tempe- 
 i-ature of at least 230° ; but at this point,, and under the influence 
 of the air, sugar qiuckly passes into molasses, or uncrystallizable 
 sugar. By excluding the air, liquids will boil at a much lower 
 temperature than when they are exjjosed to atmosi^heric pressure. 
 Thus water, which boils under ordinary circumstances at 212°, 
 will in vacuo boil at 90° or 100" ; so also a solution of sugar which 
 requires 230° under atmospheric pressure will, if that ijressure be 
 absent, boil at 150° or 160'. This is what is done in the vacuum 
 pan, fig. 583 ; which consists of a large copper boiler of a spheroidal 
 form, to enable it to resist the crushing pressure of the external 
 air, which is equal to about fifteen pounds on every square inch of 
 surface ; and the pressure of the air from within is removed by 
 means of a powerful air-pump : the lower half of the pan is double, 
 for the purpose of admitting steam to heat the pan ; and there is 
 also a coil of steam pipes within the pan for assisting the evapora- 
 tion. By Continuing to work the air-pump, vapour of water which 
 rises from the liquor is pumiced out ; so tiiat the liquor can be kept 
 boiling at a moderate steam heat. The attendant watches the pi'O- 
 gress of the concentration by means of a proof stick, fig. 586, which 
 
 consists of a cylindrical rod, exactly fitting a hollow tube, which 
 enters the pan in a slanting direction. The upper end of the rod 
 is open; but the lower end, which dips into the syrup, has a slit 
 on one side of it about half an inch wide : within this tube is 
 another shorter tube, which can be moved round in it through 
 half a circle ; near the lower end of this tube is a hollow, which 
 corresponds with the slit in the outer tube. By making the slit 
 and the cavity coincide, the latter is filled with sugar ; and by 
 turning the stick round through half a circle, the slit is covered 
 by the fixed tube, and the inner tube can be withdrawn without 
 allowing air to enter the pan. When it is ascertained, by drawing 
 out a thread of the syrup between the finger and thumb, that the 
 hquor will deposit its crystals on cooling, the air-pump is stopi)ed, 
 an- is admitted into the pan to equalize the pressure, a plug at 
 the bottom of the pan is opened, and the .syrup flows into a 
 receiver in the room below. In this vessel, a portion of which is 
 seen at the right of fig. 584, the syrup is raised to the tempera- 
 ture of 180° or 190°, twenty or thirty degrees higher than it was 
 in the vacuum pan, in order to prevent crystaUization before the 
 sugar is placed in the moulds. To assist this object, men are 
 employed in stirring up the syrup with poles. The conical sugar 
 moulds are made of brown earthenware or of sheet iron ; there 
 is a hole in the pointed end which is first stopped with paper ; 
 and these moulds being set up, as shown in tig. 584, are tilled 
 from the heater by means of copper basins, and the sugar is 
 stirred up in each mould in order to get rid of air bubbles, which 
 would give the sugar a honeycomb appearance. The moulds are 
 left in this condition for about twenty-four hours, and are then 
 j-emoved to an upper floor, where the temperature is maintained 
 at about 80° by means of steam pipes ; the paper plugs are taken 
 out, and a wire is passed through the hole to insure an open 
 channel, when the moulds are set in earthen jars or suspended 
 in a framework over a gutter. The syrup which flows off is of a 
 greenish colour, which being collected and boiled over again with 
 raw sugar furnishes an inferior kind of lump ; this again furnishes I 
 a syi'up which supplies a yet lower description of lump ; and i 
 when all the crystalline particles have been removed, the residue I 
 is sold as treacle. The inferior loaves thus produced are often ; 
 used for making what is called crushed sugar, from which the | 
 uncrystallized syrup is separated by jjlacing the sugar in a drum 
 mounted on a vertical axis, and giving it a rapid rotatory move- 
 ment. The drum is formed of stout wire gauze, and is inclosed 
 in a fixed cylinder, in which the liquid syrup is collected. But 
 to return to the sugar which we have transferred to the moulds, 
 fig. 584, and now draining in an upper floor. The sugar is not 
 yet of the jjroper colour, or of that dazzling Avhite required in 
 the finest variety. The crystals in the mould consist of pure 
 sugar, but there is a good deal of coloured syrup entangled among 
 them. To remove this, a saturated solution of pure sugar is 
 l^oured into each mould ; being saturated, it is incapable of dis- 
 solving the crystals, but it thoroughly washes them, and thus 
 gets rid of the coloured syrup. The loaf improves in whiteness 
 from the base to the point every time this opei'ation is perfornied. 
 When a satisfactory result has been attained, the loaves are re- 
 moved from the moulds and are arranged in a hot room (fig. 585), 
 which is kept at a constant teiupei-ature of about 140° by means 
 of steam pipes. Shape is given to the loaves by passing them 
 through a kind of lathe or a series of cutting blades arranged 
 in a conical form as in fig. 587, after which the loaves are tied 
 ujj in paper and are ready for the market. 
 
 THE END. 
 
'0 
 
 P getty research institute 
 
 3 3125 01409 4797 
 
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