fibre, and at the same time by moving a horizontal bar connected with a pair of cones acting upon the feed roller so regulate the supply of the cotton as to dispense with the necessity of weighing it, and make a more uniform lap. The SCUTCHER, which has also a lap machine combined with it (fig. 4), in many respects resembles the opener. In some cases it is fed with cotton in a loose fleece, and in others, instead of the loose cotton, three or four laps are placed upon the feeder, and the beater or beaters are used in place of the cylinder. The cotton is further cleaned | and carried forward in the same manner as in the opener, making laps for the second or finishing scutcher, which is of similar construction to the first, the laps going from this machine to the carding engine. The CARDING ENGINE (figs. 5 and 6) consists of one large or main cylinder covered with cards, a smaller one called the doffer, and a still smaller one called the taker in. The main cylinder is surmounted with small ones, called rollers, covered in like manner with cards, by whose revolu tions in opposite directions to those of the large cylinder, and with different velocities, the cotton is carded and put on the second cylinder or doffer. In some cases the main cylinder is furnished with what are technically termed "flats," a series of flat cards revolving to form an endless travelling lattice. The third cylinder, or taker in, which is really the first to act upon the cotton, is usually covered with a stronger wire; it receives the cotton from a pair of feed-rollers, striking out the heavier part of the dirt remaining from the scutching, and delivering the cotton to the main cylinder. The cotton is taken from the doffer in a very light fleece by means of a vibrating comb, and this fleece is drawn together into a funnel which forms it into a narrow web; then passing through two pairs of calender rollers, it is coiled into a can. The carding engines are often made with two main cylinders and a connecting cylinder called the tummer, but in all other respects they resemble those already described. The cans with the slivers are next taken to the FIG. 4.-Single Scutcher and Lap Machine. DRAWING FRAME (fig. 8), where the processes of elonga- | tion or attenuation are carried on through the successive pairs of rollers with which it is provided. The lower roller of each pair is furrowed, or fluted longitudinally, and the upper one is neatly covered with leather to give the two a proper hold of the cotton. There are generally four pairs or rows of rollers in each drawing frame, and three heads, each head containing five or six deliveries. Six ends or slivers are, as a rule, put up to each box, and drawn down into one by each line of rollers going at an accelerated speed, the front roller revolving about six times faster than the back roller. The first doubling being 6 into 1, the next will be 36, and the third 216. Fine spinners will sometimes have four heads of drawings and double 8 ends into 1 at the first head, and 8 into 1 afterwards, which makes the total number of doublings in the drawing frame 4096. SLUBBING FRAME (see fig. 9).-The operation which succeeds that of the drawing frame is slubbing, where the sliver has a certain amount of twist imparted to it, and is Wound on a bobbin. In this process the end or sliver from of three pairs of rollers, and this is twisted as it emerges the last head of the drawing frame is drawn out by means from the front line of rollers by the action of vertical spin dles and flyers, which at the same time wind the ends upon bobbins in successive layers. As the bobbins fill and in FIG. 5.-Self-stripping Flat Carding Machine. upon a bobbin; the first is done by the rollers, the second | sized bobbins. Instead of having cans put at the back it by the spindles, and the third by the flyers and pressers. Following this is The INTERMEDIATE FRAME, of similar construction, but having a larger number of spindles and sometimes smaller has what are termed creels, in which the slubbing bobbins are put so as to be drawn off through the rollers of the frame and doubled two into one. It is called intermediate because it comes between the slubbing and roving frames. jack frames. For the higher counts sometimes a fifth frame is used, called a second roving frame, reducing the finished roving to from 30 to 35 hanks. The first preparation goes to the throstle or to the self-acting mule, the second to the self-acting mule chiefly, and the third or higher numbers to the hand mule. The THROSTLE.-The spinning frame, or throstle (see figs. 11 and 12), is made with two sets of drawing rollers, one on each side. Between these the roving bobbins are placed, and the rove is drawn through them to the requisite fineness, and formed into thread by the action of the spindles and flyers, which are placed in front of each set of rollers, at such distances apart from one another as may be required for the different-sized bobbins and counts of yarn to be spun; the latter vary from 6's up to 60's. The number of spindles commonly put into the throstle is from 100 to 150 on each side, being a total of between 200 and 300 in a frame. The twist is put into the yarn by the revolutions of the spindles and flyer, and the yarn is wound on to the bobbin by the friction of a piece of woollen cloth extending along the rail upon which the bobbins rest; the amount of friction required for the varying counts of yarn is regulated by the differing weights and the shape of the bottom of the bobbins, and also by the fineness of coarseness of the cloth placed underneath. An improvement on the throstle, which was thought te be very promising, was made by Mr. Danforth, an Amer ican spinner of Scotch birth. His object was to obviate the vibration of the spindle (caused by the flyer being placed on the top of it, with nothing to keep it stealy), whereby it is prevented from being driven with advantage beyond a certain limited speed. To remedy this, Danforth introduced into his throstle a stationary spindle, on the top of which he fixed an inverted conical cup. In this improved throstle the bobbin revolves on the spindle with great rapidity, and by a transverse motion is raised and depressed so as to be, when at the highest point, entirely within the cup, and when at the lowest entirely below it The edge of the cup, passing thus along the whole length of the bobbin, builds the yarn equally on every part while it is receiving the necessary twist, and gives also the drag required to wind the yarn upon the bobbin. Danforth's improvement gives a great increase of quantity, but the waste it causes is such as to form, in the opinion of many spinners, an insuperable objection to its use, though as regards the stronger material of worsted it is still extensively used. The throstle frame is now exclusively used for the production of warps. In the most approved machines of this kind the spindles make 5500 revolutions a minute, each spindle producing twenty-seven hanks per week of 56 hours when spinning 32's. The Danforth frame is now entirely out of use except for worsted. The ring and traveller frame is also an American invention. It was introduced into England under the name of the "Niagara Throstle" by Sharp, Stewart, & Co., but found very little favor amongst English cotton spinners. In America, however, it is very extensively used, and owing to some important recent improvements it is beginning again to attract attention in England. Its peculiarities are that instead of a flyer on the top of the spindle there is a small steel traveller working in a ring placed in a third rail, commonly called the rind rail, and passing over the bobbin, which moves up and down the full length of the bobbin; the twist is given by the revolution of the spindle, the drag or winding of the thread on the bobbin (fixed to the spindle and carried round with it) being effected by the friction of the traveller in its revolutions round the ring. The travellers are of varying weights and sizes to suit the different counts of yarn. The spin dles generally make about 6000 to 7000 revolutions per minute. Messrs. John Elce & Co. claim to have introduced an improvement in the throstle, in which two tin cylinders are employed instead of one for driving the spindles, whereby a longer band is obtained, and a saving of friction and power is said to be effected. The MULE (fig. 13).-Probably no inventive contribution has been offered to the cotton trade more important than the mule. Samuel Crompton of Bolton completed in 1775 his invention of the "mule jenny," in contriving which he had been engaged for several years. But this machine, possessing great merit and advantages, did not come into general use, nor was its value known, until after the expiration of Arkwright's patent, the spinner till then being confined to the rove prepared for common jenny spinning, which was unsuitable to the mule jenny. After the spinner was allowed to make use of Arkwright's fine process of preparation, by his patent being can celled, the power of this machine became known; and its introduction forms an important era in the history of the cotton manufacture. Being fitted to supply those counts or "grists" and qualities of yarn which the other machines |