﻿164 
  AGRICULTURE. 
  

  

  expired, 
  before 
  they 
  succeeded 
  in 
  obtaining 
  a 
  verdict 
  in 
  

   their 
  favor. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  mean 
  time, 
  they 
  were 
  subjected 
  to 
  a 
  series 
  of 
  

   the 
  most 
  disheartening 
  losses 
  and 
  embarrassments. 
  

  

  It 
  has 
  been 
  stated 
  that 
  Whitney 
  did 
  not 
  at 
  first 
  use 
  

   the 
  circular 
  saw 
  plates 
  in 
  his 
  machines, 
  although 
  subse- 
  

   quently 
  it 
  was 
  satisfactorily 
  proved 
  in 
  one 
  of 
  his 
  suits 
  

   that 
  the 
  idea 
  of 
  such 
  teeth 
  had 
  early 
  occurred 
  to 
  him. 
  

  

  The 
  application 
  of 
  this 
  form 
  or 
  description 
  of 
  the 
  gin 
  

   rag 
  was 
  first 
  made 
  by 
  Hodgin 
  Holmes, 
  of 
  Georgia, 
  who 
  

   obtained 
  a 
  patent 
  for 
  it 
  in 
  May, 
  1796. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  related 
  in 
  Georgia 
  that 
  this 
  form 
  of 
  tooth 
  was 
  

   first 
  accidentally 
  suggested 
  by 
  sawing 
  through 
  a 
  board 
  

   partition 
  with 
  a 
  common 
  handsaw 
  into 
  a 
  room 
  partially 
  

   filled 
  with 
  seed 
  cotton, 
  into 
  which 
  the 
  saw 
  penetrated, 
  

   and 
  was 
  observed 
  to 
  draw 
  a 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  fibre 
  through 
  

   attached 
  to 
  the 
  teeth. 
  

  

  A 
  gang 
  of 
  saws 
  working 
  vertically 
  through 
  grates 
  was 
  

   tried, 
  but 
  no 
  means 
  could 
  be 
  devised 
  for 
  detaching 
  the 
  

   lint 
  or 
  fibre. 
  The 
  saws 
  were 
  therefore 
  worthless 
  for 
  the 
  

   purpose 
  except 
  in 
  connection 
  with 
  the 
  cylinders 
  of 
  

   Whitney's 
  machine 
  ; 
  they 
  were 
  essentially 
  a 
  part 
  of 
  his 
  

   invention. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  celebrated 
  decision 
  made 
  by 
  Judge 
  Johnson, 
  in 
  

   December, 
  1807, 
  the 
  Judge 
  thus 
  disposes 
  of 
  Mr. 
  Holmes's 
  

   pretensions. 
  

  

  '^ 
  A 
  Mr. 
  Holmes 
  has 
  cut 
  teeth 
  in 
  plates 
  of 
  iron 
  and 
  

   passed 
  them 
  over 
  the 
  cylinder. 
  This 
  is 
  certainly 
  a 
  

   meritorious 
  improvement 
  in 
  the 
  mechanical 
  process 
  of 
  

   constructing 
  this 
  machine. 
  But 
  at 
  last, 
  what 
  does 
  it 
  

   amount 
  to, 
  except 
  a 
  more 
  convenient 
  mode 
  of 
  making 
  

   the 
  same 
  thing? 
  Every 
  characteristic 
  of 
  Mr. 
  Whitney's 
  

   machine 
  is 
  preserved. 
  The 
  cylinder, 
  the 
  iron 
  tooth, 
  the 
  

   rotary 
  motion 
  of 
  the 
  tooth, 
  the 
  breastwork 
  and 
  brush. 
  

  

  