SPINNING is the art of forming continuous threads by drawing out and twisting together filamentous materials. This was at first a manual art, and was practised in the earliest ages. The simple tool first made use of, consisted of a piece of wood, with its lower extremity of a conical form like a boy’s top, and its upper portion long and tapering to a point, to which the fibres to be spun were fixed; this was termed a spindle, and in using was spun like a top to twist the threads. To the spindle an addition was soon made of the distaff, consisting of a piece of wood, round which the material to be spun was lapped. The distaff was held in the one hand of the spinner, while the other hand was engaged in drawing the fibres from the mass, and ever and anon giving fresh impetus to the motion of the spindle. This simple apparatus must have been early used, as, among the sculptures of the early Egyptian tombs, we find representations of females forming threads with the spindle; and singular though it be, the same apparatus may yet be found in a few places in Scotland, affording, in its toilsome progress, a striking contrast to the whirling wonders of the cotton-mill.

A great improvement in the use of the distaff and spindle, by which the spinner’s hands were in a great measure left free to regulate the formation of the thread, was made by mounting the spindle in a frame, and using a larger wheel to drive it by a belt; and this again was further improved by using a treadle to effect the movement of the wheel by the foot of the spinner. No attempt, however, to introduce mechanism to supply the place of the skill and dexterity in manipulation, which the spinner could acquire only by assiduous practice, appears to have been made before the be ginning of the eighteenth century. At that time there were in common use two kinds of spinning implements. The one, called the large wheel was used in the spinning of w∞l and cotton, consisting of a large wheel or rim mounted in a frame, and having a belt to drive the spindle which projected from the side of the frame, and had the material to be spun affixed to its end. In spinning, the operator, usually a female, laid hold of the wool or cotton with the finger and thumb of her left hand, at a few inches distant from the spindle, and drew it towards her, while she turned the wheel with her right hand; she thus extended and twisted repeated por tions, and as they were twisted, she, by guiding with her hand the thread she had formed, allowed it to be wound upon the spindle. Thus, from the carded cotton or wool, a loose flabby thread or rove was formed, which was again subjected to a similar drawing or extension, and twisted until reduced to a fine and compact thread. The other implement, called the small or Saxon wheel, was a more per feet apparatus, and was used for the spinning of flax; it had on its spindle a bobbin, on which the thread was wound, and a flyer revolving with greater rapidity than the bobbin to give the thread twist; a fixed distaff, on which the pre pared flax was loosely rolled; and a treadle by which a rotatory motion was given to the wheel by the foot of the operator, whose hands were thus left at liberty to draw out the fibres of the flax in the requisite number to form the thread; in doing this, the fibres were, from time to time, moistened with saliva, to make them more readily corn bine.

Such were the implements used in Britain and elsewhere, when, about the year 1738, an ingenious mechanist, John Wyatt, made an attempt to substitute mechanism for the hands and the skill of the spinner. To him is due the honour of discovering the principle of roller-spinning; a principle which, forty years afterwards, was fully developed by the genius of Arkwright The following account of Wyatt’s invention, by his son Mr. Charles Wyatt, will shew to what extent he carried the principle of roller-spinning.

“In the year 1730, or thereabouts, living then at a village near Litchfield, our respected father first conceived the project, and carried it into effect; and in the year 1733, by a model of about two feet square, in a small building near Sutton Coldfield, without a single witness to the performance, was spun the first thread of cotton ever produced without the intervention of the human fingers, he, the inventor, to use his own words, ‘ being all the time in a pleasing, but trembling, suspense.’ The wool had been card ed in the common way, and was passed between two cylinders, from whence the bobbin drew it by means of the twist.

“This successful experiment induced him to seek for a pecuniary connexion equal to the views that the project ex cited, and one appeared to present itself with a Mr. Lewis Paul, which terminated unhappily for the projector; for Paul, a foreigner, poor and enterprising, made offers and bargains which he never fulfilled, and contrived, in the year 1738, to have a patent taken out in his own name for some additional apparatus, a copy of which I send you; and in 1741, or 1742, a mill turned by two asses walking round an axis was erected in Birmingham, and ten girls were employ ed in attending the work. Two hanks of the cotton then and there spun are now in my possession, accompanied with the inventor’s testimony of the performance. Drawings of the machinery were sent, or appear to have been sent, to Mr. Cave, for insertion in the Gentleman’s Magazine.

"This establishment, unsupported by sufficient property, languished a short time, and then expired; the supplies were exhausted, and the inventor much injured by the experiment, but his confidence in the scheme was unimpaired. The machinery was sold in 1743. A work upon a larger scale, on a stream of water, was established at Northampton, under the direction of Mr. Yeoman, but with the property of Mr. Cave. The work contained 250 spindles, and employed fifty pairs of hands.

“The work at Northampton did not prosper. It passed, I believe, into the possession of a Mr. Yeo, a gentleman of the law, in London, about the year 1764; and, from a strange coincidence of circumstances, there is the highest probability that the machinery got into the hands of a person who, with the assistance of others, knowing how to apply it with skill and judgment, and to supply what might be deficient, raised upon it, by a gradual accession of profit, an immense establishment, and a princely fortune.”

The principles of Wyatt’s invention are contained in that portion of Paul’s specification which we here quote: “The wool or cotton being thus prepared (by carding into slivers), one end of the mass, rope, thread, or sliver, is put betwixt a pair of rowlers, cillinders, or cones, or some such movements, which being twined round by their motion,[7:20:537] draws in the raw mass of wool or cotton to be spun in pro portion to the velocity given to such rowlers, cillinders, or cones. As the prepared mass passes regularly through or be twixt these rowlers, cillinders, or cones, a succession of other rowlers, cillinders, or cones, moving proportionably faster than the first, draw the rope, thread, or sliver, into any degree of fineness which may be required. Sometimes these successive rowlers, cillinders, or cones (but not the first) have another rotation besides that which diminishes the thread, yarn, or worsted, viz., that they give it a small degree of twist betwixt each pair, by means of the thread itself passing through the axis and center of that rotation. In some other cases only the first pair of rowlers, cillinders, or cones, are used, and then the bobbyn, spole, or quill, upon which the thread, yarn, or worsted is spun, is so contrived as to draw faster than the first rowlers, cillinders, or cones give, and in such proportion as the first mass, rope, or sliver is proposed to be diminished.”

To appreciate rightly Wyatt’s invention, we must take into consideration the state of the art at his day. No ma chine, except the household wheels, already described, then existed, and their useful effect depended on the skill and dexterity of the spinner. Wyatt’s invention contained the germ of a selfacting and self-regulating principle; and the means which he used were so unlike any operation perform ed by the hands, that although unfortunately his success was only partial, he is yet entitled to our admiration for the originality of his genius. He did much for the art, if what he did prepared a foundation for Arkwright’s superstructure.

The next invention was one in which an effort was made directly to imitate the action of the spinster, as exemplified in the wool-wheel, in drawing away the roving of wool un til extended to the proper length, and, after having twisted it, winding it on the cope or spindle. This was the “Jenny” of Hargreaves, a poor weaver of Lancashire.

If we imagine many spindles to be set in motion by one wheel, and the ends of the rovings connected with these to be inserted between two pieces of wood, which, like the jaws of a vice, would hold them firmly, and by which they could all be drawn back at one time by the left hand of the spinner, while with his right hand he could drive the wheel which gives the spindles their motion, we shall have a good idea of the first spinning-jenny, which was indeed, no more than this. In process of time, however, the machine was rendered very different from the one first constructed. The spindles were increased from eight (the number in Har greaves’s original machine) to eighty, and upwards; the clove or clasp by which the slivers or rovings were held was improved in form, and mounted on a carriage, and made to run on a railway in the framing, the effect of which was more perfect equality of the thread, and a greater degree of precision in the process. The yarn when spun was built up in a conical form on the cope or spindle by a pro per apparatus, and altogether the machine was very much improved. Still, with all its improvements, it was only a handwheel of many spindles. But as a handwheel it probably effected more good than it would have done had it been more complete. It still remained a domestic implement of small cost, and its use rapidly extended. The jenny was imperfect in so far that it could only be brought to act upon rovings, which required to be formed on the hand wheel already described. This defect was soon remedied by the introduction of the slabbing billy, in which the parts of the jenny were reversed, the place of the clove or clasp being supplied by rollers, and the spindles being mounted in a frame running on a railroad. The card rolls or slivers were in this machine placed continuously on an inclined plane, formed by a travelling canvas, which conducted them up to the feeding rollers, placed at its highest point; and on passing through the feeding rollers the slivers were attached to the spindles, which, receding from the rollers, twisted the slivers and formed rovings for the jenny. This machine is still used for forming the rove in wool-spinning.

The problem of automatic spinning, however, remained yet to be practically solved, and this solution was reserved for the genius of another man in poor circumstances,— Richard Arkwright.

The bad success of roller-spinning in the hands of Wyatt, a most ingenious man, would have deterred most men from again attempting it; but partial failure appears to have ever stimulated the persevering Arkwright to fresh exertion. He, a poor man, a barber by trade, unaided, almost uneducated, and totally unacquainted with mechanics, perfected a system of machine-spinning which ultimately raised the manufactures of his country to a height unexampled, and obtained for him honour and wealth.

Arkwright’s principle of roller-spinning need not here be particularly described, as we shall have occasion to illustrate it more fully afterwards. It is only necessary generally to observe, that in this mode of spinning the material is ex tended to the requisite degree by rollers, and twisted and wound up by a flyer and bobbin, as in the small flax wheel, the drawing, the twisting, and the winding up being simultaneously carried on. Important as the invention of roller spinning is, it is not on it alone that the fame of Ark wright rests, but also on the power of mind displayed in remodelling the habits of people accustomed to desul tory working, and, in short, in establishing the factory system.

The next great invention was also produced by a man in humble circumstances,—Samuel Crompton, a weaver at Hall-in-the-wood near Bolton. This ingenious individual, combining the drawing roller of Arkwright with the jenny of Hargreaves, produced a beautiful, though somewhat complex, machine, to which he gave the appropriate name of the mule-jenny. In the mule-jenny the drawing rollers are mounted in a stationary frame, and the twisting spindles in a moveable carriage; the rovings are passed through the rollers and attached to the spindles; the rollers and spindles are then made to revolve, and the carriage to recede from the rollers, carrying away and twisting the attenuated rove. When a sufficient quantity of rove has been given out, the motion of the rollers is suddenly stopped and that of the spindles of the carriage increased to nearly double its former velocity, the carriage itself still receding from the rollers, but at about one-half its former speed; thus the greatest extension only takes place as the rove receives twist to enable it to bear it

These machines were all the offspring of the cotton manufacture; but it may be well supposed that the principle on which they act would soon be adopted in the spinning of wool, flax, and silk. It is not here necessary to trace the different steps through which, by slow degrees, the parts of these machines were brought to suit the peculiarities of other manufactures. We shall, therefore, proceed to the elucidation of the principles of spinning the various textile materials by machinery, observing first, that, to fit these materials for spinning, they are made to undergo several preparatory processes; the effect of which, when well performed, is to separate the fibres, to unravel those which are entang led, and, except in the case of flax, to present the whole mass in a continuous sliver or ribbon of an equal width and density throughout its whole extent. On this sliver the operation of spinning is performed.

If we take hold of a portion of euch a sliver with the hands rather farther apart from each other than the average length of the fibres of which it is composed, we shall find that, by the sliding of the fibres on each other, we can extend it a little without breaking it. Suppose then that we thus extend a few successive portions, and lay them together, and corn bine them by slightly twisting them, so that the tortion shall[7:20:538] generate a certain compression among the co-fibres, we shall now find that we are able to extend the mass considerably farther without breaking, and so by continued drawing and twisting we may attenuate the sliver until it become a fine thread. There are two circumstances which limit its extensibility. The first is that state of it when many of the fibres which compose it end together at the same place, and which it is one of the objects of carding, and the purpose of some of the after processes, to prevent. The second is when the friction produced by the twisting becomes so great that the fibres will sooner break than slide on each other.

The operations, then, to be performed by the spinning machinery, are, to extend the mass of sliver as it comes from the preparatory machines, by repeated operations, or drawings, as they are termed, into a narrower and nar rower ribbon; to twist this ribbon into a loose thread or rove, to enable it to bear greater extension; and, further, to extend this rove to the last degree of attenuation re quired, twisting it, at the same time, so hard, that, when the operation is finished, and the thread perfectly formed, the fibres will sooner break through, than separate, by sliding on each other. All these operations are, however, more or less mixed up with each other in practice. Thus, the carding engines, besides disentangling the fibres, draw the broad sheet of loose filaments into a narrower and more compact sliver; the drawing-frames extend this into a still narrower ribbon; in the roving-frames the drawing still proceeds, and by an additional apparatus the sliver is twisted; and this drawing and twisting are carried on together in the spinning-frame and in the mule-jenny until the completion of the thread.

The manner in which the drawing is effected may be conveniently represented by a figure. Let a a in the figure represent a pair of rollers, which are called retaining rollers; let these revolve in the direction of the arrows with a given velocity, and receive between them the sliver b d; they will thus impart to it the rate of motion of their own surfaces; let c c be an other pair of rollers, which are called drawing rollers, revolving with twice the speed of a a, and receiving be tween them the sliver. Imparting to it now their own motion, they will cause it to move forward twice as fast as it is yielded by a a, which it can only do by the fibres sliding asunder. If, therefore, a given length of sliver be passed through the roller, it will be drawn out to twice its original length, and its sectional area will be but half of what it was. The drawing rollers have here been sup posed to move twice as fast as the retaining rollers, but their relative speed may be in other proportions. Thus the drawing rollers may move three, four, or five times faster than the other pair, and extend the sliver to three, four, or five times its original length. This difference of speed is termed the draught of the machine, and a machine is said to have a draught of two, three, four, five, or six, as the speed of the surface of the drawing rollers is so many times greater than that of the retaining rollers. It is obvious that, to effect the lengthening of the sliver, the distance between the drawing and retaining rollers must be somewhat greater than the average length of the fibres which compose the sliver. For were the distance less than this, the consequence would be disruption of the fibres themselves, from both rollers having hold of the opposite ends of the same fibres at the same time. But the distance may be too great, which would tend to make the fibres separate entirely at the middle point between the rollers, or at least to make the greatest attenuation take place there.

It is obvious, too, that the amount of extension which a single sliver can endure must be small, from the danger of the ends of many fibres occurring at the same place. Hence there exists a necessity for laying many slivers of the first drawing together, for the second drawing, and many of these again for the third drawing. This laying together of the drawings, which is termed doubling, possesses the advantage of ensuring greater equality in the thread, from the inequalities of the separate drawings contemperating each other. The oftener this doubling is repeated, the more compact and equal, or level, the thread will be, and the more capable of enduring attenuation from the interspersion of the endings of the fibres.

As an example, in figures, of the effect of the drawing and doubling processes, suppose the velocity of the drawing rollers to that of the retaining rollers, or, in other words, the draught of the machine to be as 5 to 1, let the length of the sliver before drawing be 1, and its density 1; after the drawing we shall have the length increased to 5, and the density diminished to ∙2. Suppose a doubling consisting of 8 of those new drawings to be put through the rollers, we shall have a new sliver formed, length 25, density ·32; and the result of this doubling being repeated four

8

times, the ratios being the same, that is in figures, 8 / 5 × 8 / 5 × 8 / 5 × 8 / 5 = 4096 / 625 = 6·5 will be a length of 625, and a density 6∙5; that is to say, there will be 6∙5 times as many fibres in the same space as there were originally, and the length will be increased to 625, this length of 625 being made up of 4096 separate slivers, or ends, as they are termed.

Such is the process of drawing without twist, in its simplest form, and as it is applied to cotton, wool, and silk waste. In flax spinning the nature of the material renders a more complicated apparatus necessary. Each fibre of flax, on minute examination, will be found to be made up of a number of smaller parallel filaments bound together. The separation of these bundled filaments is partially effected by the hackling process; but it is evident, that the thread is not capable of its greatest degree of attenuation, until the total separation of the filaments be completed. For this reason, a hackle, which shall separate the filaments, is an essential part of the drawing apparatus for flax; and, in the repeated doublings of the slivers, a succession of machines is used, in which the hackles are gradually finer.

From the length of the fibres of the flax, the rollers re quire to be at a considerable distance from each other, and the hackles are placed in the interval between them. They are fixed to an endless chain, working over rollers, and their points are made to move through the sliver, with a speed a little greater than that of the retaining rollers. They thus have a double action. Entering the sliver immediately on its emission from the retaining rollers, and moving faster than it does, they split down the bundles of the fibres, and allow the sliver to be ex tended by the rollers. As they proceed onwards, the action of the drawing-rollers makes the extending sliver move many times taster than the hackles, and, by this means, straightens and lays parallel those fibres which may happen to be doubled, or to lie obliquely in the sliver. This ingenious apparatus is called the Gill, from the name of its inventor.

The process which succeeds these repeated drawings, whether made by the simple rollers or by the gill, is twisting the sliver into a rove. For this purpose, an addition of a bobbin and flyer is made to the drawing machine. The bobbin is made to revolve with such speed, as to wind up the rove as fast as it is yielded by the last pair of rollers, and the flyer with so much additional speed as to give to the sliver the desired twist while moving between the roller and the bobbin. As the diameter of the bobbin[7:20:539] is continually increasing by the accumulation of the rove, and as the speed of the rollers remains constant, it is necessary to vary the speed of the bobbin, so that, as it increases in diameter, it may diminish in speed, and wind up the rove at the same rate throughout. The mechanism for effecting this is, in some machines, very complicated.

The next operation is forming the thread from the rove. For this there are two kinds of machines used,—one, the throstle, which is a simplification of Arkwright’s spinning frame, and consists of a set of drawing rollers with bobbins and flyers as in the roving frame; the other is that combination of the drawing rollers with the jenny, which is termed the mule. In the roving and throstle frames the twisting apparatus is stationary, and merely twists, and the twisting succeeds the drawing. In the mule the twisting apparatus recedes from the rollers faster than they yield the sliver, and consequently has a drawing as well as a twisting power. In the throstle, the rove being pulled by the bobbin through the flyer, is, while yet tender, subject ed to a continual strain. In the mule the rove is only subjected to strain, as it receives twist enough to enable it to bear the strain without injury. The mule, too, by the peculiarity of its mode of action, destroys those inequalities of the rove which result from defects in the drawing, or injury sustained in the roving. To understand how it does so, it is necessary to observe, that, when a thread of unequal thickness is twisted, the fibres which compose the thick parts, forming larger and more oblique spirals than those which compose the small parts of the thread, require a greater force to twist them, and consequently remain soft, while the small parts become comparatively hard twist ed. If a considerable length of such a thread were pulled, the fibres of the thick parts would slide upon each other; while those of the smaller parts, being mutually compressed, by their greater degree of torsion would resist the drawing asunder. The drawing would thus take place only in the thick parts; and, as they diminished in size, the twist would gradually become equally diffused. The mule, acting in this manner, with a drawing and twisting power, upon a considcrable length of unequally sized, and consequently unequally twisted rove, reduces its inequalities, and renders it level and uniformly twisted throughout.

Having thus endeavoured to make the reader acquainted with the general principles on which these machines act, we shall now proceed to describe the machines themselves. Arkwright’s first machine was called the water-twist frame, from having originally been driven by waterpower. It consisted of a pair of retaining rollers and a pair of drawing rollers, such as those we have used for the sake of illustration, which effected the extension of the sliver. From the drawing rollers the sliver passed to another pair of rol 1ers, called the delivering rollers, which, moving with the same velocity as the drawing rollers, had no extending power, but merely compressed the sliver and delivered it to the twisting apparatus. This consisted of the bobbin and flyer of the Saxon or flax wheel, improved in respect of the flyer being rendered automatic in spreading the thread on the bobbin, in the manner which will be seen in the descriptions and drawings of the roving and spinning machines; and this automatic action was shortly afterwards, with good effect, transferred from Arkwright’s machine to the handwheel by a Mr. Antis. Each system of rollers and twisting apparatus in Arkwright’s machine was separate, and was driven by a separate system of gearing, and pulleys and bands, rendering the machine, when of great extent, exceedingly complicated. One of the greatest improvements of modern days, is the simplification of the moving parts, by making each roller continuous along the whole length of the machine, and using only one set of driving apparatus at the one or other extremity, and by making the shaft for driving the twisting machinery also continuous, as will be seen in the drawing of the frame for flax spinning.

We have seen that the parts of the machine which per form the operations of drawing and twisting, viz the rollers, and the bobbin and flyer apparatus, are very simple. The compexity arises, therefore, from the number of parts required to communicate motion to these parts, and to regulate their movements; and the arbitrary nature of the form and arrangements of the parts for communicating motion, causes the great differences which exist in the various spinning machines. In a brief sketch like the present, it is obviously impossible to notice the many beautiful arrangements which, from time to time, have been introduced. In addition to those machines figured in Plates CLXXVII. CLXXVIII. CLXXIX. Art. Cotton Manufacture, we shall pre sent our readers with some of the spinning machines used in the flax manufacture, and also with the latest improvements in the cotton and worsted spinning machines, which we are enabled to do in the most perfect manner, having, through the kindness and liberality of Mr. Smith of Dean ston, been furnished with beautiful drawings of the self-actor cotton and woollen mules, of which he is the inventor and patentee.

Referring then to the above-mentioned Plates, we proceed to the description of the machines contained in Plates CCCCLXV. CCCCLXVI. CCCCLXVU. Plate CCCCLXV, fig. 1st, is an end view of the first machine used in the operation of flax spinning, and which is called the spreading machine. A is a board or table, called the spreading table, over the surface of which an endless web moves round rollers at its opposite ends; on this endless web the stricks of flax are spread, and are by it carried forward to the retaining rollers B. As it comes from between these rol lers, it is acted on at the opposite side by the gills or moving hackles, which, with their moving apparatus, occupy the space between B and C the drawing rollers; the upper drawing roller C is moved by the friction of the under one, and is called the pressing roller; its surface is usually covered with leather. The pressure is communicated either by a lever and weight, as in the figure, or by a spring and screw. D the delivering rollers. These have no drawing power, and move just so fast as to keep the sliver tight between them and the drawing rollers, and by them the sliver is dis charged into the can E, placed to receive it. All these rollers, when seen in front, as in fig. 2, exhibit the appearance of narrow wheels, as, were they made broader than is required for the mere action on the sliver, the flinty surface of the flax would speedily wear them down into channels, while, by being narrow, their whole surface is worn down equally, and funnel-shaped plates are placed in front of the rollers, to guide the sliver properly between them. The whole of the motions are taken from the drawing-roller shaft in the following manner. A belt from the main gearing of the mill works over a fast pulley on the drawing roller-shaft, which has also a corresponding loose pulley to receive the belt when the machine is to be stopped. To avoid complexity, these pulleys are not shewn in the drawings. A pinion a , on the end of the drawing roller-shaft, communicates motion through two intermediate stud wheels b , c , to a pinion d, on the end of the shaft which drives the gill apparatus; on the end of the shaft is fixed a small pinion e, fig. 3, to drive the under retaining roller B, through a spur wheel f whose axle carries a small pinion g, gearing into another spur wheel A, which gears into a spur-wheel i , fixed on the roller axle, and the upper retaining roller is driven by the friction of the under one. The pinion on the shaft of the spur-wheel f also drives the inner roller of the spreading table through an intermediate spur-wheel k, working into a spur-wheel l, fixed on the roller axle. The lower delivering roller has on its end a pinion m, which is driven through the intermediate wheel o by the pinion n fixed[7:20:540] on the end of the drawing roller-shaft o. From this pinion motion is also conveyed to other three portions of the machinery; first, through the wheels p q, to the cleaning roller which is seen at F in the figures; this roller is formed of wood covered with listing, which rubs on the surface of the pressing roller, and removes any filaments that may adhere to it; second, through an intermediate wheel and pinion r , to a wheel s , on the shaft of which a circular brush is fixed, whose purpose is to clean the gills, as is seen in the enlarged representation of that part of the apparatus at fig. 11; and, third, to another pinion t, whose shaft carries an endless screw working into the teeth of a small wheel u, called the measuring wheel. Its purpose is to give notice to the attendant of the machine, whenever a pre determined quantity of sliver has passed through the rollers: this it does by a stud fixed on its face coming in contact, at every revolution, with the tail of a lever v , whose other end is attached by a wire to the spring of a bell; when the stud, in its progress round, comes in contact with the upper end of the lever, the spring of the bell is drawn from its position, and the moment the stud escapes the lever, the spring is let back with a jerk, which rings the bell. The wheel can be substituted by others containing a greater or lesser number of teeth, according to the length of sliver re quired.

The only remaining part of the machine to be noticed is, a shaking motion, communicated to the cans while receiving the sliver, that it may be deposited in regular layers. This is best seen in fig. 1. The can is placed on a hinged bracket at v , and is steadied by another bracket at x, both brackets having semicircular arms, which partly em brace the can; to these brackets, and consequently to the can, a regular jolting motion is communicated as follows. On a rod which passes across the machine a short lever y works; on its outer end is hung a weight, and to its other end is attached a rigid rod, connecting it with an eccentric fixed on the drawing roller-shaft. The lever is by this means jolted alternately up and down in every revolution of the drawing roller, and being connected by rods with the brackets v, x, they, with their cans, are also moved in the same manner.

Flax, after having been passed through the spreading machine, is drawn twice or oftener. The drawing machine is the same as the spreading machine, except in having no spreading table, the sliver being drawn directly from the cans, which are carried from the spreading machine, and placed at the retaining roller end of the drawing machine at H, and in having three in place of two retaining rollers. The drawing machine, too, is of a lighter construction than the spreading machine, and its gill teeth are finer.

Figs. 4 and 5 shew the two sides of the machine. A is the drawing roller-shaft, and the motion is communicated from it to the other parts as in the spreading machine.

The roving machine, fig. 6, is similar to the drawing ma chine, except that it is still lighter in construction, and that in it, in place of the delivering rollers, and the cans to receive the sliver, there is substituted the apparatus for twisting the rove seen detached in fig. 7. When the sliver leaves the drawing rollers of this machine, it is passed through the top part of the spindle, which is tubular, and called the eye of the spindle; it is then conducted by the flyers K to the bobbins L. The arms of the flyers are usually bent wires, with eyelits at their lower extremity, through which the thread is passed. Here they are represented to be tubular throughout their whole length, this being considered to make a smoother thread. The parts of the machine not already described are, the spindle rail M, the coping rail or shifting plate N, on which the lower disc of the bobbin rests. The coping rail has an alternating motion up and down through a space equal to the surface of the bobbins on which the threads are spread; and by carrying the bobbin through this space, the thread is spread equally over its surface. This alternating movement is variously effected. In the machine represented, it is done by a mangle wheel at O; but in other machines it is given by a heart wheel acting on the rail through a lever and chain. From the circumstances before described, it is necessary that the rotatory motion of the spindle and bobbin should be, to a certain extent, independent of each other; and, accordingly, while the speed of the spindle remains con stant, the speed of the bobbin is made to diminish as its diameter increases by the accumulation of thread. In the ordinary construction of the machine, this differential movement is regulated by the attendant, by the friction of a string which can be made to embrace more or less of the periphery of the bottom disc of the bobbin, as represented in the figure of the spinning machine. The spindle and bobbin are both driven by a band passing over a pulley fixed to them; and while the speed of the spindle re mains constant, that of the bobbin is gradually diminished as it fills, by the attendant moving the string successively along into the different teeth of a rack, so as to make it embrace more and more of the surface of the bottom disc, and thus create a friction which retards the speed. Thus the proper working of the machine depends entirely upon the vigilance of its superintendent; and a simple yet accurate differential movement is still a desideratum.

In the machine represented in the plate, the differential movement is exceedingly accurate and beautiful, but is so complex that it would require many detailed drawings, to give the reader a correct idea of it. This motion, and many other improvements in the spinning apparatus, are the invention, we believe, of Mr. Fairbairn of Leeds.

Figs. 8 and 9 are a side and front view of a spinning frame, drawn from a machine constructed by Mr. Russell of Kirkaldy. A A is the bobbin rail on which the bobbins from the roving machine arc placed; b b, the retaining rollers; c c, slip rollers for guiding the rove; d d, drawing rollers; e , the traverse shaft; f the cylinder shaft.

The cylinder shaft is driven from the main gearing. A belt from a pulley on the end of the cylinder shaft gives motion to a pulley, which is called the speed pulley, be cause all the motions are calculated from it. The speed pulley shaft carries a pinion gearing into a wheel b , on the end of the drawing roller shaft, which again, by a train of wheels, communicates motion to the retaining rollers. The spindles are driven by small bands from the cylinders of the cylinder shaft passing over wharves on the spindle shaft; and the differential motion of the bobbin is produced by the friction obtained from a small cord or temper-band, as it is called, embracing more or less of the periphery of the under disc of the bobbin, as before described.

The motion of the heart-wheel, which, through the lever and chain, gives the traverse motion to the bobbin, is taken by wheel and pinion from the retaining roller shaft. The speed of the spindle is from 3200 to 3500 revolutions per minute. The average work of this machine is two hasps of yarn, of average quality, for each spindle in a working day of twelve hours.

The machines for drawing and spinning tow are the same, or nearly the same, as those for spinning flax. From the shortness of the fibre of tow, the drawing and retaining rollers are set much closer together, and the gills are cir cular.

In the fine spinning of flax, the thread is moistened, by being made to pass through a trough containing water; a practice probably derived from the custom of spinsters moistening the thread with saliva in household spinning. By the modern improvement of the substitution of hot for cold water, a much finer, smoother, and more even thread can be spun from the same quality of flax than before.

The flax-spinning machinery has recently been introduced with great success into the spinning of silk waste,[7:20:541] which was formerly treated in the same manner as cotton.

As the gills are used in the spreading, the drawing, and the roving machines, and as it is in the use of the gills that flax machines differ from the machines for spinning cotton, we have given in figs. 10, 11, and 12, the two kinds inordinary use.

Fig. 10 shews the common chain gill. A A are the gill rollers; B the gill chain, consisting of a series of links, jointed together at their lower extremity, as is better seen in the separate representation of them at C. There is one of these gill chains at each side of the machine, and they arc connected together by the guard bars d d, which ex tend across the machine. The gills are attached to the gill stocks e e , which stretch across the machine, and whose ends work through the slit in the links of the gill chain, and extend beyond the links into the slit of the guide frame f of which there is one on each side of the machine. These slits are called the gill slides, and perform the office which we will immediately see. As the gill stocks are carried round by the links of the gill chain, it is evident that they will be elevated or depressed according as the path of the links agrees with the line of the slides. Their path and the slides are so made to agree from a to b, that the stocks occupy the highest point of the links, and the hackles are protruded to their greatest extent, and work through the sliver in its passage between the retaining and drawing rollers. At the point b, the slides suddenly diverge from their former line, and nearly at right angles, by which divergence the gill stocks’ ends are suddenly moved from the highest to the lowest point of the link, and the hackles arc withdrawn from the sliver nearly at right angles. In following further the course of the guides, it will be seen that the circles of the slides are of the same size as those of the inner ends of the links, and consequently the gills are retained at the inner end of the links until the divergence of the slide at a again protrudes the hackles through the sliver in a direction nearly at right angles to its course. When the gills are withdrawn, their points fall just beneath the level of the guard bars which sustain the sliver, and in the case of entanglement, prevent it from being drawn down along with the gills.

Such is the common flax gill; and its defects are, first, that the teeth of the gills cannot be made to approach close enough to the drawing rollers, or to enter the sliver immediately after leaving the retaining rollers; and, second, that they do not leave and enter the sliver at right angles to its course. To remedy these defects, the screw gill has been introduced. Of this a longitudinal section is given at fig. 11, and a transverse section at fig. 12. a a, a a, are four screws; the two upper screws have their threads lying in the reverse directions of the under ones; bb are the gill bars, stretching across between the opposite pairs of screws, and having their ends working in the screw threads. When the upper screws are moved round their axis, the gill bars are carried forward through the sliver, being supported in their position by the bracket pieces cc, under the screws. These bracket pieces and the threads of the screw terminate, just at the drawing roller, so that when the gill bar has arrived at that point, it is no longer supported by the bracket, and falls down to a lower bracket dd, which guides it in the same manner for the under screws. In its fall the gill bar is aided by a cam or, the screw-shaft striking it when it has reached the termination of the screw, and it is guided in its descent, and press ed into the thread of the lower screw, by a strap of iron forced against it by a lever. The threads of the lower screws are so arranged as to carry the gills along on its bracket piece towards the retaining rollers, and when it has reached the termination of the screw, a cam on the screw-shaft, with a guiding apparatus as before, raises the gill again to the upper bracket, to be acted on again by the upper screws.

As an introduction to the description of Mr. Smith’s self acting mule, it is necessary to give the reader a general idea of the hand-made jenny, a representation of which will be found at Plate CLXXVIII, fig. 12. By consulting that figure, the reader will see that the mule consists of two distinct parts; first, the beam at the right hand of the figure carrying the drawing rollers; and, second, the carriage upon which the spindles are mounted for the purpose of giving twist, the beam being stationary, and the carriage capable of moving upon iron races along the extent of the machine, as may be seen by the dotted lines on the figure. Motion is communicated to the different parts by mechanism, mounted on a framework placed across the mule, either at one end or in the centre. This framework, with its appa ratus, is called the headstock.

When the mule is put in motion to perform the operation of spinning, the rollers are moved by wheel-work from the headstock, and the carriage is gradually moved outwards, keeping pace with the delivery of the rollers; and while this process is going on, the spindles are put into a rapid motion by belts and bands proceeding from the flywheel of the headstock, and which can be adjusted to give such an amount of twist as may be necessary. The whole of the twist may be thrown in during the outcoming of the carriage, as is generally done in spinning wefts, or as in twist-spinning, when part is thrown in during the slubbing, and the remainder after the carriage has reached its limit, and the rollers have stopped. In the outward movement of the carriage, the mule is driven by power communicated from the main gear to the flywheel shaft of the headstock, by a belt with a fast pulley, and when the stretch or draw has been completed, the machine is entirely stopped, by the belt being thrown on a loose pulley adjoining. The spinner then lays hold of the flywheel with one hand, and turns it back so far as to throw off all the coils from the stems of the spindles, which is technically called backing off, while with the other hand he puts down the faller or guide to the proper position for winding the threads on the copes. He then pushes the carriage towards the beam, directing the faller with one hand, so as to guide the threads in proper form on the cope, while with the other hand he turns forward the flywheel with such force, as to cause the threads to be wound upon the copes with a uniform and proper tension. When the carriage has arrived at the beam, he lifts up the faller wire, so as to throw the threads in coils from the copes to the points of the spindles, thus completing the draw or stretch, as it is called, and leaving the whole in proper order to commence a new draw. The driving belt being then thrown on the fast pulley, the ma chine is again put in motion, and so goes on successively.

All these motions are in Mr. Smith’s machines performed at the proper instant by the machines themselves. Plate 466 fig. 1, shews a side elevation of the headstock, and an end elevation of the carriage. Fig, 2 is a bird’s eye view of the carriage, race-rods, &c. The other figures in the same plate exhibit details of the mechanism, which will be referred to in their proper place.

The same letters refer to the same parts in all the figures. A A A A is the framing of the headstock, B the beam upon which the rollers are mounted, C the race-rods upon which the carriage runs, D the framework of the ends of the carriage, E the wooden rails of the carriage.

The motion of all the parts of the machine is derived by belts and pullies from the driving shaft F, which is itself driven by a belt from the main gearing acting on its fast pulley G, and when it is necessary to stop the whole machine, the belt is thrown on the loose pulley H. The driving shaft carries two pullies; a belt from the larger one I drives the pulley K of the speed-shaft T, and a belt from the smaller one L drives the pulley of the change-shaft M. These two shafts also carry loose pullies, on which the belts are thrown at the proper instant for stopping the motion of the shafts,[7:20:542] by levers and apparatus whose action will be better de scribed while noticing the action of the machine.

The regular outward motion of the carriage, its time of rest when at its outward limit, to allow time for the twisting of the threads, and its rapid inward motion during the winding of the threads on the copes, is obtained from the change-shaft N in the following manner. The near end of the change-shaft carries a pinion O, which, through the wheels a b c, drives the shaft c . The shaft c is carried in the lower, and the shaft of the wheel p in the upper socket of a frame, called the vibrating frame, from its having a vibrating motion, by its axis turning in bearings d d. The further end of the shaft c carries a pinion of eight, nine, or more leaves, which works into the teeth of a peculiarly formed wheel P, called the regulating wheel; and it is this wheel, by the motion derived from its singular line of teeth, which effects the varied movements of the carriage, by the spur-wheel e attached to it working into the teeth of the carriage-rack Q Q. When the pinion is working into the outer ring of the teeth, which, it will be observed, are re versed, the regulating wheel and its spur-wheel move in a regular manner, and roll the carriage outward. When the carriage has arrived at its outward limit, the pinion will have begun to act on those teeth of the wheel which are eccen tric, and which, lying nearly in the direction of a radius of the wheel, cannot give it rotatory motion; it therefore stops, and the carriage of course is also stationary, while the pinion, rolling along the radial line of teeth, forces the vibrating frame, which carries its shaft, to vibrate round its axis, to enable the pinion to approach nearer to the centre of the regulating wheel. When it arrives at that part where the teeth begin to get concentric, it again puts the regulating wheel in motion, but in an opposite direction to its former motion, for the teeth are now outward. This causes the inward movement of the carriage, which is much more rapid than its outward movement, from the smallness of the circle of teeth. When the carriage, in its inward motion, has nearly reached the drawing rollers, the pinion will have begun to work into the opposite eccentric line of teeth; this, as before, will be followed by a reverse vibration of the frame, and the simultaneous stopping of the regulating wheel, until the pinion have again arrived at the reversed teeth of the outer circle, when the same series of movements is again ready to take place, and these changes in the motion of the carriage are, by the peculiar form of the line of teeth, made in the most gentle manner. It is necessary that the carriage maintain perfect parallelism with the line of the drawing rollers throughout its course; nor will this appear to be easily effected, when we consider that it is sometimes fifty or sixty feet long, and that the force for moving it is applied either at one end or at the middle of its length. This parallelism of the carriage, which is technically called squaring, is effected in hand-mules by means of bands, called squaring bands; but in this machine it is effected in the following manncr. A long shaft or cylin der f f which, for the sake of lightness, is constructed of iron or tinplate, passes along the whole length of the car riage, and carries upon it at each end, and sometimes, in long carriages, in the middle also, toothed wheels g g, which, working into racks hh, attached to the races or railroad on which the carriage runs, insure perfect parallelism in its movements.

From the spur-wheel e , attached to the regulating wheel, the motion of the drawing rollers R is derived through the wheels i k l; but as the motion of the rollers is only in one direction, and continues only during the outward motion of the carriage, while the regulating wheel has a forward and backward motion, there is required a means of disconnecting them, when it is necessary that the rollers should stop Accordingly, the wheel k, through which the roller shaft b is driven, runs loose on that shaft, but has within it a ratchet wheel fixed to the shaft, and the pauls of the ratchet are attached to the wheel k. Hence it follows, that when the spur-wheel is driven in that direction in which the pauls will slip over the ratchet, the ratchet-wheel, and consequently the shaft l, and the rollers, will remain stationary, and this they do while the regulating wheel is performing its back ward motion; but when the regulating wheel is moving in the opposite direction, the pauls of the spur-wheel catch on the ratchet-wheel, and give motion to it and to the rol lers.

Having thus described the manner in which the motion of the carriage and rollers is effected, we will now show how the twisting and winding-on motion is communicated to the spindles of the carriage. The speed-shaft K, we have seen, is driven directly from the driving-shaft pulley I; from the pulley R of the speed-shaft a band proceeds and passes over the stud pulley in the frame at R', and over the guide pul lies of the carriage at S, and thence to the drums 43, which act on the spindles in the usual way; by this a uniform revolving motion is communicated to the spindles, while the carriage is running out, and during its pause at the end of the course. The speed-shaft must then be stopped, that the backing Off may take place, and while the carriage continues its inward motion, as, although the speed-shaft moves and drives the spindles during this inward motion, for the purpose of winding on the thread, yet the winding-on motion being variable in speed, and the speed of the shaft being constant when driven by the driving-shaft pulley, it is necessary for winding on, to drive it by some other means. Accordingly, an apparatus is provided, which at this juncture throws the driving belt of the speed-shaft upon its loose pulley, and at the same time lets fall a break m upon a break pulley fixed upon the shaft, and thus allows the new moving parts or winding-on apparatus to come into play. The break is attached to the short end of a lever n to the upper part of whose long end a spiral spring is attached. The action of the spring tends constantly to force the breaks upon the pulley, but it is restrained by a catch which is withdrawn at the proper moment by the action of an apparatus to be afterwards described; and when the winding on is completed, the break is withdrawn from the pulley, and the break lever again put on its catch, by the action of a cam fixed to the under socket of the vibrating frame pressing down the lever friction-pulley, as is better seen in detached fig. 3. To communicate the winding-on motion to the speed-shaft, when its twisting motion is stopped, there are three or more pauls o, attached within the rim of the break pulley, which, when the speed shaft is at rest, fall into a ratchet-wheel o', to which is attached a spur-wheel ρ, fitted loose upon the shaft; but when the speed shaft is in full motion, the pauls, by the action of the centrifugal force, are thrown out of the ratchet-wheel, which, with the spur-wheel, may thus remain at rest, or be driven at any slower or quicker rate by the spur wheel q of the winding-on shaft r, which derives its motion from the roller shaft t, through the spur-wheels s, r', and it is plain that when the belt of the speed-shaft T is thrown on the loose pulley, causing the shaft to stop, and the pauls of the break pulley to fall into the ratchet-wheel o' , then the motion transmitted from the roller shaft to the spur-wheel p, to which the ratchet-wheel o' is attached, will be by it communicated to the speed shaft T. The motion thus transmitted from the roller shaft t, which is itself moved by the regulating wheel P, to the spindles, is capable of adjustment by a peculiar mechanism, so that the motion of the spindles, and the degree of ten sion which the threads undergo in winding on, may be modified in the degree required. This elegant differential movement, carried by the shaft r , is seen at fig. 4. An arm 1 is carried by the shaft r , from which a stud 2 projects, carrying a pinion 3; this pinion on the one side gears into a series of inverted teeth, extending round near the periphery[7:20:543] of the friction pulley t , and on the other into a series of external teeth 4; the pulley t, and the wheel 4, are both fitted loose on the shaft r; when the shaft r, with its arm 58, move round, the pinion being in gear both with the teeth of the pulley t, and the wheel 4, has a tendency to carry both of them in rotation with it; but if either of them be held fast, it is evident that the motion of the pinion will communicate so much additional motion to that which is loose, by acquiring from the stationary wheel a motion round its own centre, as well as its motion round the shaft. In this way, whatever part of the motion of the one is restrained, will be imparted to the other. This restraint is imparted to the pulley t, by a band or strap passing round it in its groove. The band is of cotton thread, made fast at one end to a stud t, projecting from the frame, and passed round the pulley and carried along to the opposite end of the headstock, where it is attached to the cross-tail t' t' of the lever u ; and the degree of tension communicated to the friction-band can be modified within certain limits, by the lever u having a moveable weight u ' adjustable in any position by means of the pinching screw. When the threads are winding upon the bare stems of the spindles, at the beginning of a new set of copes, and for a few stretches after the commencement, it is necessary to increase the motion of the spindles suddenly at the beginning of each winding on, until the bottom of the cope has acquired some volume. For this purpose an additional pressure is applied to the lever v , through the connecting rod proceeding from the lever w , upon the lower sur face of which pressure is thrown by a simple apparatus connected with the building bar of the carriage, to be after wards described.

The mode by which the amount of twist is regulated, is as follows. On the outer end of the driving shaft F, there is an endless screw F, working into a screw-wheel X, on the end of an upright shaft. The number of teeth on the screw wheel is so regulated, as to cause it to perform one revolution during the time when the twist is throwing into the threads, after the carriage has reached its limits at the head; and it stops the twist by a cam X', on its upright shaft acting on the levers, which throw the belts from the fast to the loose pulley of the speed-shaft.

The next thing to be considered is the apparatus attach ed to the carriage for backing off, and for building the threads regularly on the copes during the winding on. When the carriage has arrived at the utmost limit of its outward stretch, and the spindles have been stopped by the break, then before the taller wire can be put down to guide the threads upon the spindles, the operation of backing off or unwinding the spiral coils of thread from the spindles, takes place. The usual mode of effecting this, is by causing the spindle to make three or four backward revolutions; but a more simple mode is here adopted. An under taller shaft U, with its arms and wire, stretches along the whole length of the carriage, and is placed behind the building faller shaft V; but its arms are so much longer, that its wire is in front of the building wire, and the wire is kept in such a position, while the carriage is coming out, as to be at about a quarter of an inch distance below the threads, and by being raised at the proper moment, it strips the spiral coils from off the spindles. To the further end of the under faller shaft, there is attached a lever y, carrying an adjustable nμt to the lower part of which the upper part of a spiral spring is attached by a hook, and its lower end to the framework below. The effect of the spring is to draw down the lever, and consequently to raise the under faller wire. This is how ever counteracted until the proper moment for stripping off the coils, by a projecting lever z at the other end of the under faller shaft, being held down by a moveable rod z': the upper end of the rod is attached to the lever z by a stud bolt passing through an opening in the arc head of the lever, and its lower end rests on an inclined plane, forming part of the building-on apparatus to be afterwards described. On the rod there is an adjustable stud, made fast by a pinching screw, which, resting on the top of a lever W, prevents the spring from drawing up the under faller. When this lever is turned round its fulcrum, in the manner we shall afterwards see, it allows the rod to fall, and the under faller consequently to rise, and the faller is again depressed at the proper instant, by the inclined plane z'' attached to the building-on apparatus, which we shall afterwards describe, raising the rod into its original position, in which it is again retained by the lever W. From the near end of the building wire shaft V there projects a toothed arc 5, gearing into a vertical rack 6. This rack has a small projection on the back, to which is jointed the folding arm 7, whose opposite end is jointed to the folding leg 8. The lower extremity of the folding leg carries a friction pulley, which rests on the upper surface of the curved piece 9; and it also carries a T-headed nut, which works in a vertical groove on the spur piece 10 attached to the carriage, and so guides the lower end of the folding leg in a vertical line, while it is moved up and down by the action of the curved piece. If the bent arm and leg be drawn into the same straight line, while the friction pulley of the leg remains in its position, the rack to which the upper joint of the arm is attached will move up, and acting upon the toothed rack of the building wire shaft, will turn that shaft round, and depress the wire; and the depression of the wire will be greater or less, as the foot of the folding leg is at a higher or lower point of its vertical slit. To force the folding leg and arm into the same straight line, the following apparatus is em ployed. A sliding bar X called the poker, resting upon a bearing at 11, is attached by a joint to the connecting arm 12, whose other end is attached by a joint to the folding leg. When the carriage is nearly at the limit of its back ward motion, the end of the poker to which the arm 12 is attached, catches against, and is retained by the end of the lever 13, while the carriage runs back to its full stretch. The poker is thus sent home, and as a consequence, carries with it the arm 12, and the jointed leg and arm 8 and 7; and it carries these a little beyond the vertical position or line of centres, from which they are again disengaged, and fall into the position represented in the drawing, when the carriage, having arrived nearly at the limit of its inward course, causes the adjustable nut at the other end of the poker to strike against the bracket piece Y of the frame. In considering the next apparatus described, we shall show that the point upon which the folding leg rests, is subject to being raised and lowered, and consequently the sliding bar is also raised and lowered; the effect of which is to make the nut at the end of the poker strike on different vertical points of the restraining bracket Y; so that by making the surface of this bracket upon which the points strike to lie in an oblique direction, the exact period of liberating the jointed leg and the building faller can be regulated with precision. Thus, when the building takes place at the bot tom of the spindles, the faller is made to be liberated sooner than when the building approaches nearer to the point, and by this means the due tension of the thread is preserved at the lifting of the faller. A palm from the arm 12, reaches to the supporting lever W of the under faller, and carries a stud which works through the curved slit in the tail of the lever, and retains it in its position; and a small spiral spring, seen in the drawing, being attached to the end of the palm, and to a pin upon the folding leg, serves to keep the arm 12 in its place. From this arrangement it follows, that as the lower end of the folding leg is moved up in its vertical slit, it will carry the stud of the palm nearer to the fulcrum of the lever W; and that when the jointed arm and leg are brought into the same straight line, the stud of the palm will force the lever W round its fulcrum more or less quickly, as the stud of the palm is at a greater or less dis[7:20:544] tance from the lever’s fulcrum, or, what is the same thing, as the lower end of the folding leg is more or less elevated in its vertical slit.

The form of the copes when finished is conical; and to build the thread in this form, it is necessary that the building wire should at first have a very limited range of mo tion, guiding the thread over that part of the bobbin alone where the body or thickest part of the cope is to be, and gradually extending the surface on which the thread is to be deposited at every successive layer, until the cope be completed. To effect this, it is necessary that the appara tus of the jointed rods which we have described, should first have a very limited range of motion. The friction pulley at the foot of the rod, rests, as has been said, on the curved surface of the piece 9∙ This piece turns on a joint in the building frame at 14, and has a tongue 15, passing down to a pin 16, which moves in a horizontal slit in the headpiece

17. This pin projects from the frame, and carries a nut 16, through which a screw, held in bearings in the headpiece

17, works. On the end of the screw there is a ratchet-wheel

18, which is moved round a tooth at every traverse of the carriage, by the lever of its paul being acted upon by an inclined plane 19, attached to the carriage; and thus the screw carries the nut 16 and its pin along the slit in the headpiece, under the end of the tongue of the curved piece 15. A diagonal bar 20 in the building frame rests also up on the nut pin. The lower surface of this diagonal bar is nearly a straight line. As the pin moves along under this sur face, the building frame 21 is allowed to drop gradually in proportion to the obliquity of the diagonal; but as the surface of the tongue 15, which rests on the pin, forms an angle with the line of the plane of the diagonal, so the tongue piece, and the curved surface-piece to which it is attached, will be allowed to drop more than the building frame, as the nut passes along; and the curved surface will thus be more and more declined from the horizontal position, thereby allowing a greater vertical movement of the folding leg at each successive draw, the effect of which will be to increase the range of the falling wire, and consequently to give the body of the copes a longer form. When the pin has been carried to a certain point, it escapes the tongue-piece, and proceeds along the surface of the diagonal only, which being straight, and at a regular inclination, allows the building frame to fall down through equal spaces at each successive draw, producing also equal increase on the range of motion of the falling wire. When a set of copes has been completed, the pin is wound back by the winch attached to the end of the screw. The whole of this apparatus is attached to a sliding bar 22, working on studs fixed to the frame of the carriage, and having at its further end a rack, into which a pinion, attached to a wheel on the axis of the carriage, works. This wheel moving in unison with the carriage, by means of the pinion and rack, causes the sliding bar to perform a traverse of six inches at each draw. The curved piece 9 is thus moved under the friction pulley at the foot of the folding leg, and forces it to move in its vertical slit, to the ex tent regulated by the screw apparatus which we have just described. To this building apparatus is attached the simple addition before alluded to, for throwing an additional pressure on the lever v. It consists of a small lever 23, jointed at 24, and having a nose-piece on its opposite end resting upon the nut pin 16. From the nose-piece end there projects a pin, 25, at right angles, which, when the carriage is at its outward limit, passes along the under surface of the lever o, and by means of the rod connecting this rod with the lever U, throws an additional tension upon the tension band; and as the nut 16, by the action of the ratchet-wheel, is drawn back, it relieves the nose-piece of the lever, which falls down into the position shown in the drawing, and its pin ceases to act on the lever o, until one set of the copes being finished, the nut and pin 16 are again brought forward by the screw and winch, and raise the nose-piece, ready to commence a new set of copes. The apparatus which forces the poker home is the spinner lever 13, whose inner end is attached by a universal joint to one end of another lever, 26, the other end of which is attached to the bottom of the vibrating frame. When the regulating wheel ceases to move, the vibrating frame vibrates nearer to its centre, and by means of the lever 26, moves the outer end of the spinner lever toward the carriage, which is at that time nearly at the limit of its outward course; and the lever thus lays hold of a projecting piece on the end of the poker before alluded to, and so slides it home.

Leaving the minor parts to be incidentally noticed, we shall proceed to describe the general action of the machine during the completion of a stretch or draw. The carriage being at the roller beams, the machine is put in motion; and the pinion working in the outer teeth of the regulating wheel, brings out the carriage with a slow and uniform motion, while the rollers move in exact unison, and the speed shaft is in full motion to give twist to the thread, as the slubbing is given out by the rollers. When the carriage is nearly at its utmost limit, a finger piece 27, attached to the pulley bearer of the carriage S, comes in contact with the tail of a hanging lever 28, which is connected by a wire 29, to a cross-tail 30, on the bottom of the axis of the lever. This causes the lever 31 to move round its fulcrum, and throw the driving belt of the pinion shaft from the fast pulley M to the loose pulley M, whereby the movement of the regulating wheel, and all the movements taken from it, are stopped; but the speedshaft T being driven directly from the main shaft, continues to revolve. When the proper quantity of twist at the head has been given, the cam x will have arrived at the point of the lever 32, and pushing it round upon its fulcrum, will cause its opposite end 33, to draw the wire 34, attached to the guide lever 35. This shifts the belt from the fast pulley K, of the speed shaft T, on to the loose pulley K'; and the cam immediately moves the lever 36, which, through the medium of the wire 37, draws off the break lever-catch 38, and allows the break to fall down upon the break pulley, and stop the movement of the speed-shaft and spindles. At the same instant, the cam x' having reached the adjusting point of the lever 31, moves this lever, and throws the belt again upon the fast pulley of the change-shaft. Thus the shaft is again in motion, and its pinion travelling down the radial series of teeth of the regulating wheel, causes the vibrating frame to vibrate towards the centre of the wheel. The cam on the bottom of the vibrating frame, in its progress, passes over the friction pulley of the break lever, and relieves the break; and at the same time the spinner lever, which is attached by its rod 26, to the bottom of the vibrating frame, turns round its fulcrum, and shoves forward the sliding bar or poker, there by relieving in the first instance the under taller, which immediately rises and strips the coils, and the continued motion of the spinner lever and sliding bar forces up the folding leg into its vertical position, and consequently forces the building wire into its building position. When this movement is about to be completed, the pinion of the regulating wheel has arrived at that part when the motion of the wheel begins to be reversed, and the carriage begins gradually to move inwards. At this instant, the winding on motion, which is taken from the regulating wheel, begins to act, and the movement of the carriage and winding-on continue to operate, until the carriage has reached its in ward limit at the beam. The adjustable pin at the end of the poker then comes in contact with the bracket piece Y of the framework, and relieves the building taller; and a projecting finger 38, attached to the upper bearer of the guide-pulley of the carriage, comes in contact at 39, with the cross lever of the belt guide 35, and throws the belt again on the fast-pulley of the speed-shaft, and the[7:20:545] machine is again in order to commence another stretch or draw.

Of Smith’s selfacting woollen mule, several parts are the same as those of the machine already described. To these we merely refer, reserving for particular description such parts as are peculiar. Fig. 1 is a side elevation; fig. 2 bird’s eye view; the other figures represent detached portions of the mechanism A A A is the general framework of the head stock, B B B the general framework of the carriage, C the main driving pulley, C' the corresponding loose pulley, D the driving shaft, which in this case lies along the frame work, EE' bevel wheels, through which motion is communicated from the driving-shaft to the shaft E', called the flywheel shaft, on which the drum F, and the flywheel

G, are fixed. The drum F by a belt communicates motion to the driving-shaft H, 'through its fast pulley H 2 ; H' is the corresponding loose pulley; I is a pinion upon the near end of the driving-shaft, which communicates motion through the wheels I l and I 2 , to the stud wheel K, on the central shaft K', of the vibrating frame L. From the wheel K motion is communicated to the wheel M, of the vibrating shaft M'. Upon the opposite end of this shaft the mangle pinion N' is fixed. This pinion drives the mangle or regulating wheel N, as described in the former machine. The mangle wheel in this machine moves the carriage rack by the eccentric wheel O, fixed on the end of its shaft gearing into the other eccentric wheel O', whose shaft carries a spur-wheel P, which gears into the carriage rack P' P'. Round the periphery of the mangle wheel are external teeth, which, through the stud wheel Q, drive the pinion Q', fixed upon a small cross shaft R, called the roller shaft. Near the opposite extremity of this roller shaft there is fixed a disc R', working in the bosom of the toothed wheel S: this disc carries pauls, which work on a ratchet-wheel, fixed also in the bosom of the wheel S. The wheel S being loose upon the shaft, is allowed to remain at rest, when the disc moves in such a direction that the pauls slip over the teeth of the ratchet. The wheel S gears into the stud wheel T, which again gears into the wheel U, upon the end of the rollers U'. The stud-wheel T moves upon a stud carried by the radial lever T', whereby it is permitted to move out and in of gear with the wheel S. These movements are regulated by the disc lever V, which, resting with its outer end on a disc pulley on the end of the wiper pulley X, raises and depresses the point of the radial lever T', by the movement of the mangle wheel shaft. The place of the wiper on the face of the disc X, can be shifted to adjust the point of movement The roller shaft R carries another wheel a, which, through the intermediate wheel a ', drives the wheel h' fixed on the differential shaft ft. This shaft carries the differential box c, which is the same as in the former machine, and through which motion is communicated to the twist shaft d, by its wheel e, for winding-on: its pulley is restrained by a band and lever, as in the former machine. f is the break pulley on the shaft d, with its ratchet-wheel" f', acting as described in the former machine. The manner in which the break is press ed on the pulley in this case, is seen in the detached draw ing, fig. 3. Returning to the driving shaft H, there is a pulley g running loose upon the shaft for raising the driving belt. Its nave carries a series of small pullies of differ ent diameters, for communicating motion to the cross shaft A, which carries a corresponding inversed series of pullies h’, by which a considerable difference of speed can at any time be attained. The outer end of the shaft h carries a small pinion i , which, through the intermediate stud-wheel j, drives the wheel j', running loose upon the driving shaft

H, but which, by means of a disc k, with a set of catches and a ratchet-wheel, as in the case of the wheel S. can be made fast to the driving shaft. By this means, when the belt is thrown upon the loose pulley g, motion is communicated by the pulleys fixed on its nave to the pulleys h', and consequently to the shaft h, which, again, acting by its pin ion i on the wheels jj', communicates a very slow movement to the driving shaft, and through it to the vibrating frame pinion, which works in the mangle wheel, which is necessary for regulating the back movement of the car riage, while the twist is throwing into the yarn; and its speed can be easily and quickly modified to suit any grist of yarn, by shifting the band upon the grooved pullies g, k'. The amount of twist is regulated, as in the former machine, by the worm screw l, upon the main driving-shaft D, working into the crown wheel l'. The shaft of this wheel carries on its lower end the wheel m, which is called the change wheel, because its place may be substituted by wheels of various numbers of teeth, to suit the amount of twist due to the grist and hardness of the yarns to be spun. This wheel, through the intermediate wheel m', drives wheel n on the top of the cam shaft n, upon which are placed the cams or wipers for moving the levers. On the ower part of the cam shaft there is a bevel wheel o, working into a corresponding wheel on the cross shaft p, called the stripping shaft. This shaft carries a radial wiper p' , which, as the shaft revolves, comes at a particular point in its course to press upon the lever q, which, being suspend ed and acted upon by the spiral spring q ’ , is retracted to its former position, when the wiper p' has raised it. The point of this lever operates upon the horizontal plane r, which is made to extend to a Iength exceeding the great est distance that the carriage requires to be removed backwards during the throwing of the twist, so that the stripping wiper q may always press upon some part of the plane.

On the inner end of the twist shaft d there is fixed the pulley s, to drive the cylinder pulley of the carriage s'. The band having been wrapped nearly round the pulley s, has its one end passed over one of the stud pullies t, at the righthand side of the framing, and carried from it over the cylinder pulley s', while its other end is passed round the other pulley t , , and thence over the tightening pulley t 2 . The tightening pulley t 2 moves on a stud, which can be slid along the horizontal slit in the projecting part of the framework, so as to slacken or tighten the cylinder band. Having noticed the principal parts of the headstock, we proceed to the description of the carriage. The frame of the carriage is indicated by BBBB. 1, is the driving pulley, 2, the upper faller rod with its fingers and guide-wires. The apparatus for moving the building fallers is the same as that already described for the former machine. But the stripping faller apparatus is somewhat different. Two radial sockets 3, project from the under faller-rod 4, near each end; and in these are fitted a running-nut, which can be adjusted to any required extent of leverage, by turning round the screw; and at the lower side of each nut there is a hook, to which the spiral springs 5, are attached, their lower ends being attached to the framework of the carriage. The springs are so adjusted, that they tend to pull round the under faller-rod, which raises the faller-wire with a due force of tension. A radial lever 6, extends from the one end of the under faller-rod, and has an adjustable stud 7, to which a rod 8, is fixed. This rod terminates at its lower end in a socket with a friction-pulley, which, coming upon the inclined plane at the side of the race-road, shoves the under faller to its resting position, when the carriage goes up to the rollers. The end of the stud 9, projects beyond the socket of the upright rod, and rests upon a moveable tap pit or sector 10, which is thus turned upon its centre, by the movement of the radial lever 6, attached to the folding-leg, when the poker is moved to put down the upper faller. By this escapement, through the movement of the tappit, the spiral springs are permitted to pull up the under fahre wire with considerable force, by which the coils[7:20:546] of yam, which surround the stems of the spindles during the process of giving the twist, are stripped off or uncoiled, to permit the building-feller to press down the threads to the proper point for commencing the build at each successive stretch.

We now proceed to shew the manner in which the different parts of the machine come successively into action during one stretch or draw. The carriage being suppos ed at the beam, the flywheel shaft is put in motion; and the belts from the flywheel and drum of that shaft being upon the respective fast pullies of the shafts which they drive, the various gear work connected with those shafts is put in motion, and, consequently, twist is thrown in to the thread by the spindles, while the rollers slowly yield the slubbing or sliver, and the regulating wheel, with its eccentrics, moves back the carriage, with a motion equivalent at first to the out-give of the sliver by the rollers, but gradually increasing, so as to take up the ex tension of the sliver, which is caused by the throwing out of the twist. When a sufficient quantity of slubbing has been given out, the cam disc upon the outer end of the mangle wheel shaft allows the roller lever to drop towards its centre, which, disengaging the intermediate wheel that conveys motion to the rollers, instantly stops them; but the twist continues to be thrown uniformly in, and the outward motion of the carriage continues gradually extending the thread, and proportionally diminishing its grist, in the manner regulated by the eccentric wheels, that is, with a motion at first about equal to the delivery of the rollers, and gradually becoming slower and slower. When the carriage approaches its utmost limit outward, the cam piece 11 attached to it, comes in contact with the tail of the hanging lever 12, which, being connected by a wire with a stud in the opposite end of the driving-belt lever 13, shifts the belt from the fast pulley to the pulley 9, giving the slow motion to the vibrating shaft which we have already noticed, which, as its pinion has passed the returning point, moves the mangle wheel backwards, and, of course, the carriage towards the beam, with a very slow and steady motion, giving in to the tension of the threads as the twist is thrown in. As soon as the desired amount of twist has been given, the cam of the cam shaft will come in contact with the escapement lever 14, attached to the bracket 15, and allow the weight to pull the belt lever one notch, throwing the belt upon the loose pulley 9 2 , whereby the movements derived from this shaft cease. Simultaneous with this, one of the wipers of the cam shaft pulls the twist belt lever, so as to disengage the twist shaft; and another wiper acts upon the apparatus, which presses the break against the break pulley, and stops the motion of the spindles. The motion of the cam shaft now causes the wiper of the stripping shaft to press upon the stripping lever, the point of which, pressing upon the cross head or horizontal plane, strips the coils of yarn from the spindles, and puts down the upper faller-wire into a proper position for guiding the threads upon the copes. As soon as this has been performed, one of the wipers of the cam shaft will have arrived at a position to draw off the last notch of the escapement lever, whereby the driving belt is thrown upon the fast pulley of the driving shaft, which with its connections are again put in motion. The pinion of the mangle wheel, now passing along the teeth of the inner range, produces an accelerated motion of the carriage toward the beam; and the winding-on motion is at the same time communicated through the differential box to the twist shaft and spindles. When the carriage is nearly at its inward limit, a tappit lever, at the point of the vibrating frame, comes in contact with the crosstail of the twistbelt lever, and throws that belt upon the fast pulley, to put the spindles again in motion for twisting; and at the same instant the mangle pin ion has arrived at that point of its eccentric path, at which it takes in to the inverted teeth, and produces the outward motion of the carriage, and the whole train of motions consequent upon it. (b. s.)