179 r 175 ] 



; 



from Westmoreland a few days ago, informed me he had a work mak* 

 ingon this plan, with 14,000 lashes; that he had been in Spitalfields, 

 and was surprised to see how far behind they were in damask weav- 

 ing: for that they had no improvement upon the old looms. There is 

 also a loom invented by Mr. Roberts, of Manchester, for which he 

 has taken out a patent, of which I have heard a great deal, but have 

 not seen it. 



Question. Are the shawls you have produced, made by the improved 

 machinery to which you have alluded? — They are; I never could 

 get them made on the old plan; owing to the immense weight, and the 

 quantity of lash, it never would work clear They are now made 

 with one treadle, and the facility witli which the weaver changes his 

 pattern is such, that he makes four, five, and six different patterns in 

 one week, be^des changing his figure at the border. 



Method of preventing the loatering of Silks without the use of a 



knee roll* 



There are two imperfections which silks, especially plain ones, are 

 liable to acquire in the loom. One called cocklin, is merely an un- 

 evenness of the surface, and arises usually from one longitudinal edge 

 or selvage of the piece being more stretched than the other, in conse- 

 quence of its not being wrapped evenl}^ round the roll or cylinder of 

 the loom. The other imperfection, called watering, is a wavy or 

 streaky appearance, produced by a play of light on the surface of the 

 silk, though that surface may be quite smooth. The cause of this 

 wavy appearance is not completely understood, but appears, in a great 

 measure, to depend on unequal pressure being given to the piece while 

 on the roll. It is well known that the highest polish and gloss is 

 given to silk in the hank by twisting it hard, and, at the same time, 

 giving it a kind of oscillating movement, so that each individual thread 

 may be rubbed repeatedly on those with which it is in contact, whereby 

 they mutually polish each other. Now, a piece of silk, in the pro- 

 cess of manufacture, may be conceived to be placed in circumstances 

 considerably favorable to the production of this partial polish, if, when 

 rolled tight, and rather unevenly on the roll, it is subject to the vibra- 

 tion occasioned by the stroke of the lay upon the weft, which takes 

 place after every throw of the shuttle. 



The contrivance which used to be resorted to, in order to prevent 

 the watering of silks, was by means of a knee roll. The five or six 

 yards, which constitute an average day's work, being first rolled on 

 the large or breast roller, during the weaving, were every evening 

 transferred to a smaller roll, called, from its position, a knee roll. In 

 doing this, great care was required to lay each fold precisely upon the 

 preceding one, a manipulation that occupied about half an hour; and 

 the silk, by frequent handling, was apt to become soft and less sale- 

 able. Of Tate years, attempts, more or less successful, have been mad*^ 



* Trans, Society of Arts, London, vol. 42. 



