190 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



are the quality and characteristics of these wools, collected from 

 all countries and grown under all conditions ; so illy prepared is 

 much of it for manufacture, that the art of the manufacturer is 

 now largely shown in the skill and care with which he selects, 

 sorts, mixes, prepares, and treats his raw material, the processes 

 preliminary to its carding. Potash, carbonate of soda, silicate of 

 soda, ammonia, and soap are all more or less used in wool-scour- 

 ing. So delicate is the fiber that the ingredients employed must 

 be most carefully considered. The character of the water used 

 is often an element which affects the fiber throughout its manipu- 

 lation. Chemical science has done much to aid the manufacturer 

 in this branch of his work. Invention has also provided steeping 

 machines, to drive off the acid contained in the fibers, and dis- 

 solve the hard, dirty substances, without removing the yolk, 

 which is valuable as a detergent. A preliminary machine is 



sometimes used to elimi- 

 nate the troublesome 

 burr, often imbedded in 

 the fleece, and other 

 vegetable substances 

 which, unless wholly re- 

 moved, destroy the fine 

 finish of the goods. The 

 use of chemical agents 

 in the process of extract- 

 ing vegetable matter, 

 supplementing this ma- 

 chinery, is also a modern 

 discovery, requiring the 

 utmost skill and care in 

 application to leave the 

 fiber itself uninjured. 

 Wool being the only 

 substance which has ab- 

 solute need to be oiled 

 in order to be spun, this 



Fig. 7. Ladies Carding, Spinning, and Weaving. 

 (From a fifteenth-century MS.) 



step in the manufacture occurs at the blending that is, the mix- 

 ing of the different sorts, or the cotton and shoddy if either of 

 these adulterants is used prior to the carding. 



So long as spinning continued to be done on the one-thread 

 wheel, there was no need for expediting processes in the prelimi- 

 nary preparation of the wool. The carding of the fleece could be 

 done by hand, as fast as the spinners could dispose of it. Card- 

 ing was done at the time of Columbus by a pair of hand-cards, 

 which are shown in the illustration from a fifteenth-century 

 manuscript. These cards were simply rough brushes, armed with 



