AMERICAN INDUSTRIES SINCE COLUMBUS. i 9 i 



fine wire teeth set in leather, by which the fibers of the wool were 

 reduced from their matted condition into a form somewhat par- 

 allel, to facilitate the spinning. With two of these brushes the 

 operator, by repeatedly stroking one brush, laden with tufts of 

 wool, against the other, gradually untangled and straightened 

 them. The " cardings " were then taken carefully away from the 

 wire bristles, and condensed into a roll, by rolling them on the 

 back of the card, when they were ready for the spinner. Noth- 

 ing could have been more primitive than this original card oper- 

 ation. 



Some slight improvements of the hand-card preceded the in- 

 vention of the cylinder machine. A frame adjusted to an inclined 

 plane was equipped with coarse cards, on which the wool was 

 placed. Sitting in front of this frame, the workman held in his 

 hand a square board, also covered with cards, and carded the wool 

 with a seesaw motion over the inclined plane. Daniel Bourne 

 took out a patent for a carding machine in 1748, in which the 

 principle of cylinder carding was rudely hinted at. " The cards 

 are placed on cylinders or rollers," said his specifications, " and 

 these act against each other by a circular motion." 



Fig. 8. An American Carding Machine First Breaker. 



This was the main principle of carding as now practiced. Im- 

 provements upon Bourne's machine followed rapidly. William 

 Pennington and Robert Peel made modifications which led the 

 way to Arkwright's " doffer comb," patented in 1775. To Ark- 

 wright also belongs the credit of the invention of the workers and 

 strippers. 



The present carding engine was evolved by successive steps at 

 long intervals. The most important contribution to the card- 



