114 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



to have been raised, and allowed the shuttle to weave in the weft or pattern 

 between. 



This machine was an immense improvement on the old affair; yet, though 

 always continuing the best, it had its own peculiar drawbacks. Thus, a put- 

 tern for a damask curtain or tablecloth, of a rich or elaborate design, we will 

 say, required from twenty thousand to twenty-five thousand cards. To pro- 

 duce these occupied men from two to four, six, or even eight months, ac- 

 eording to the greater or less intricacy of the design, and cost from six hun- 

 dred to nine hundred dollars. As a matter of course, therefore, designs were 

 made as simple and plain as possible, were not often changed, and never 

 until the trade would no longer take them. 



M. Bonelli at once sets aside all this by the nse of electricity. The little 

 bobbins or bars which hold up the threads of the warp in the Jacquard loom 

 he makes into electro-magnets in the usual way. The design is painted on a 

 sheet of tinfoil, with the portions not used in the pattern covered with a non- 

 conducting varnish. The pattern passes slowly over a roller under an im- 

 mense number of brass teeth, communicating by fine insulated Avires with 

 the bobbins, the pattern of course being in connection with one pole of the 

 battery, and the bobbins, or magnets, with the other. Thus, as the tinfoil 

 slowly moves round, the parts which are not to be worked, being covered 

 with a non-conducting varnish, transmit no current through the brass teeth 

 to the bobbins. The pattern, or exposed portion of the tinfoil, on the con- 

 trary, does so, and transforms the bobbins into electro-magnets, which attract 

 and hold the bars opposite their points attached to the threads of the warp, 

 and these bars being thus held up for an instant, of course raise the 

 threads of the warp below, and allow the shuttle to weave in a particular 

 pattern. 



This is merely a very rough and general outline of the old and new plans. 

 The latter, however, is far too important to be thus disposed of in a few 

 words. What we have already said will, nevertheless, assist our readers to 

 comprehend the details of this most valuable improvement. The electric 

 loom, as it is termed, was invented in 18-54, by the Chevalier Bonelli, of 

 Milan, and director of the Sardinian telegraphs. The first machine, con- 

 structed at Turin, was afterwards modified by M. Hipp, at Berne; and though 

 it demonstrated the possibility of weaving by means of electro-magnetism, 

 it nevertheless left much to be desired with respect to the success of its prac- 

 tical application. It was not until 1859 that success in perfecting the ma- 

 chinery, and in rendering it available for either hand or power-loom weaving, 

 was attained. To fully appreciate all the advantages which this application 

 of electricity to the manufacture of woven material must produce, it is neces- 

 sary always to keep in mind the long and costly operations which, as we 

 have said, are now incurred before commencing weaving in one or two 

 colors. 



Firstly, then, in weaving by the old machine, we must remember the design 

 is drawn on paper divided into a multitude of little sqiiares, the horizontal 

 series representing the weft, or pattern ; the cross, or short series, the warp, 

 or substance of the material woven. Secondly, the design must be "read; " 

 that is, the punches of the stamping machine, which are equal in number to 

 the small squares of the pattern, must be arranged so as to perforate the 

 cards, which, as AVC have shown, form the basis of the present Jacquard 

 system. Each of these operations must be repeated as many times as there 

 are horizontal lines in the design, which merely represents one thread of 



