76 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



by two fluted iron rollers, the upper one of which is packed with thin stuff 

 or skirting, so as to press the rags the closer to the action of the teeth. 

 The cylinder runs upwards past these rollers, and any pieces of rao- 

 which are not completely torn into wool, are, by their natural gravity, 

 thrown back again upon the rags which are slowly creeping into the 

 machine. The rollers are fed by means of a creeper or slowly movino- 

 endless cloth on which a man, and in some instances a woman, lays the 

 rags in proper quantities. One of these machines is commonly driven 

 by a seven-inch strap, and requires at least five horse power. Half a 

 ton of rags can be pulled in 10 hours by one of these machines. The 

 dust produced, subjects the work people, who first commence this oc- 

 cupation, to what is there called the " rag fever." But after a time 

 the immediate effects are warded off, and although it no doubt shortens 

 life, the remuneration being considerable, (two English shillings for 

 every 240 Ibsof rags pulled,) there is never any difficulty in obtain- 

 ing work-people. 



The " Mungo " is the wool produced by subjecting the hards, or 

 superfine cloths to a similar operation as that above described. The 

 machine, however, for the mungo trade is made with a greater num- 

 ber of teeth, several thousand more in the same-sized cylinder, and the 

 cylinder runs about 700 revolutions in a minute. The rags, previous 

 to being pulled in this machine, are passed through a machine called 

 a " shaker." This is made of a coarsely-toothed cylinder, about two feet 

 and a half in diameter, which revolves about 300 times in a minute, in 

 a coarse wire cylinder. This takes away a large portion of the dust, 

 which is driven out at a chimney by means of a fan. The mungo pull- 

 ing is, therefore, a cleaner business than the shoddy making, and, as a 

 general rule, is more profitable. The power required for a muno-o 

 machine is that of about seven horses. 



Both the better kinds of shoddy and the mungo have for some years 

 been saturated with oil ; but when we were last in Yorkshire, we found 

 that milk had been applied to this purpose, and found to answer ex- 

 ceedingly well. The consequence was, that milk had risen 100 per 

 cent, in price, and even in that district, where cows are kept in large 

 numbers, it was feared there would be a great scarcity of milk for the 

 supply of the town. 



When well saturated with oil or milk, the shoddy or the mungo is 

 sold to the woolen manufacturer. There are scores of men who attend 

 the Huddersfield market every Tuesday to dispose of their mungo. It 

 is as much an article of marketable value there, as cloth is here. It is 

 not unusual for good mungo to realize as much as eight English pence 

 per pound, while the shoddy varies in price from one penny to six- 

 pence per pound according to quality. 



The common kinds of shoddy require, of course, to be subjected 

 to the scouring process, for which large wooden beaters, or " stocks," 

 are employed. The dung of hogs is largely employed in this purifyino- 

 process, as well as human urine, which is extensively used in the 

 blanket manufacture of Yorkshire. 



The white shoddy is capable of being used either for light-colored 



