48 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



hands backwards and forwards in opposite directions, allowing the flax 

 at the same time to slip through the thumbs and fingers under pres- 

 sure, breaking, and at the same time rubbing the fiber, so as to com- 

 pletely separate the woody from the fibrous portion of the plant, and 

 preserve each line of the fiber perfect throughout its entire length. 



Chichester's Flax Dresser. This machine, intended for dressing the 

 flax with greater efficacy and economy of material, consists of two 

 conical cylinders, formed on parallel shafts, driven by a pair of gear- 

 wheels fastened outside of the frame. These cylinders are each formed 

 of four spiral blades of wood, secured to flanges of iron, which are 

 keyed on to opposite ends of the shafts, and placed one over the other, 

 revolving towards each other, the blades of one cone being opposite 

 the spaces between the blades of the other. A slot is cut through the 

 front casing, along the bite of the cones through which the operator 

 first introduces the flax to the action of the dressing blades. These 

 blades draw in the mass, striking first on one side and then on the 

 other, nearly at right angles with the line of the fiber, beating out the 

 wood and impurities which pass oif through the opening behind. The 

 mass is then moved along the slot towards the other end of the blades, 

 to be finished. The conical and spiral form of the blades cause a 

 gradual change in the direction of the blows from the feed end, where 

 the blows fall at right angles to the mass, towards the finishing end of 

 the cones, where the direction of the blows is nearly lengthwise with 

 the line of the fiber. At the feed end, the blades are left very blunt 

 and rounded off'. This, also, changes gradually to a sharp edge at the 

 finishing end. The severity of the blows is also increased as the 

 radius of action increases, towards the larger end of the cones. With 

 this arrangement, also, a larger space is left at the feed end for the 

 mass when filled with shives, which gradually diminishes as the mass 

 is cleaned and diminished in bulk. 



The flax and hemp brake above described, is a durable machine, 

 and by its peculiar mechanical arrangement, takes but little power to 

 operate it (one horse power being more than sufficient). The move- 

 ments are all very slow, but continuous in their action the w r orking 

 parts being distributed over the surface of the large cylinders, which 

 make but three or four revolutions per minute to brake a ton of straw 

 in a day. 



Flax Pulling Machine. In addition to the flax brake and dresser, 

 Mr. Chichester has also invented a flax puller, designed to pull flax 

 and lay it on the ground as rapidly as grain is gathered with the 

 present reapers. 



A horse is harnessed into the machine, moving it before him, and 

 the flax is laid in such a manner on the ground as always to give him 

 a pathway, and also leave a track on each side for the wheels. 



Jn the forward movement of the machine, the flax is separated and 

 collected between long wedge-shaped projections, forming a breast or 

 front near the ground, and is pulled by means of vertical rollers, fur- 

 nished with arms, reaching forward underneath the branches or seed 

 tops of the flax, which is thus, at each revolution, be^it over nearly at 



