THE WI8OQNS-I?1 FARNER.



were of this materil.  Some of these lately
examined in the British Museum surprised me
with their extreme  neness of thread and per-
fection of tissue.
  The first mills in England were erected in
the htter part of the last century. Linen
yarns are rated by the number of -leas" of
800 yards each to the pound. Two hundred
and forty leas to the pound is about as fine as
it can well be spun by machinery. But yarn
of this fineness is only it for the coarser lawns
and cambrics. The fner lawns and valenci-
ennes require handepun yarn.
  We likewise have here a splendid show of
WOOL PICKING, CARDING AND SPINNING. MA-
                  CUINKRtY
  All in active operation, and doing the work
of thousands of human hands. A detailed de-
scription will be unnecessary, since the card-
ing and spinning are processes so similar to
those employed in the manufacture Of cotton,
and are, moreover, familiar to almost every
one who has ever entered a woolen factory.
               SILK SPINNING
  is more simply accomplished than any of
the several processes just witnessed, because
of the great length and uniformity of the fi-
bre as it comes. from the cocoon. It is import-
ed from the countries where produced, in the
form of skeins of ,raw silk," being wound off
and skeined before going into the market.
  The first operation consists in winding the
skeins of raw silk on to bobbins by means of
an engine called the "throwing frame; " the
second consists of winding the threads of two
or three of the bobbins on to one reel; the
third in twisting these two or three threads in-
to one, by means of spindles, as in the case of
cotton, flax, and wool.
  Silk fabrics were formerly almost altogether
imported from France, Italy, and other foreign
countries. Now, the plainer and heavier kinds
are extensively manufactured in various parts
of the British kingdom.
       WEAVING MACRINSE AND LOOMS
  Of some sort have been in use from time im-
memorial. Homer speaks of one by means of



which a figure-woven pattern was wrought, in
which were gorgons and dragons. In modern
times the use of the loom was for a long while
confined to Italy and the Netherlands; then it
found its way into France and England. about
the time of Edward Ill.
  At first, it was a rude concern, carried about
by the weaver, and set up under any tree
where he chose to abide for a time.
  The fly shuttle was invented about 100 years
ago by John Kay, of England, and the Ast
successful power loom in 1785, by Rev. Edward
Cartwright. The best looms now in use are
here in the Exhibition. How wonderful is
their working! how various, and seemingly
impossible, the complicated and beautiful pat-
terns wrought as by magic before our eyes!
  Certain parts are essential to the construc-
tion of every loom. Mr. Hunt describes them
as fellows:
  1. The warp beam, a horizontal roller, on to
which the parallel horizontal threads to form
the warp are wound. 2. The reed, a narrow
grating of fine steel bars, mounted on a vibrat-
ing frame, for the purpose of drawing up the
weft; each warp thread passes through one of
the fine apertures between the dents. 8. The
shuttle, a small, boat-shaped instrument, car-
rying the weft thread, which is propelled back-
wards and forwards across the warp by a pair
of wooden arms, called "d picking sticks."
4. The healds, or heddles, a series of cords
provided for the purpose of lifting or dividing
the warp threads. 6. The taking-up roller,
placed in front of the loom, on to which the
finished cloth is wound.
  In weaving plain cloth or simple patterns,
the process is very easy, and but little prepa-
ration is necessary. But the weaving of pat-
terns involving the figures of flowers and ani-
mals, has always been very difficult, tedious
and expensive, since every heddle must be
worked by an independent lifter. Since 1801,
when Marie Joseph Jacquard, of Lyons, gave
to France the since world-famed method which
has borne his name and is still practised in all
countries, this kind of work has been done



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