434 



EXHIBITION, BRITISH INDUSTRIAL. 



variety of object in which Honiton, Ireland, 

 and Nottingham compete for supremacy. The 

 larger kinds of lacework, as curtains, &c., 

 came almost entirely from Nottingham : the 

 honors were carried off hy the exquisite de- 

 signs of Copestake and Moore. The Notting- 

 ham imitations included Spanish shawls and 

 mantillas, and black Chantilly, remarkably im- 

 proved. Reckless and Hickling, of Notting- 

 ham, exhibited laces, flounces, tunics, mantles, 

 shawls, coiffures, and barbes in one piece, all 

 made by the pusher machine, with the applica- 

 tion of the jacquard; all the fabric pattern 

 being made by the machine, and the outline 

 being entirely needlework. These goods nearly 

 rival the hand-made laces of Cambray, Chan- 

 tilly, and Bayeux. 



A case of Spanish blondes contained articles 

 richly embroidered in colors and gold thread ; 

 the real gem of the collection, however, was a 

 white mantilla the pattern, wreaths of flowers 

 supported by flying cupids, of solid texture ; 

 the ground light guipure. Saxony is remark- 

 able rather for the low price than the quality 

 of its laces ; but Berlin added to the attractions 

 of the Exhibition a very creditable suit of Brus- 

 sels point on real ground. 



Furs, Feathers, and Hair. The finest speci- 

 mens of this class were grouped or displayed in 

 trophies. Messrs. George Smith & Son, "Wat- 

 ling street, displayed, in this form, various de- 

 scriptions of sable, and eight varieties of fox ; 

 and beneath these, magnificent paletots, with 

 smaller articles intermixed. The most striking 

 feature of the group was a mantle of pure 

 white ermine, without the usual intermixture 

 of tails, but trimmed with a broad border ot 

 delicately-marked chinchilla. The handsome 

 trophy of Mr. Nicholay, the court furrier, 

 formed one of the most attractive ornaments of 

 the nave. Here the Russian sable was to be 

 seen in perfection : a complete set of it, includ- 

 ing trimmed velvet mantle, is valued at 500. 

 Among the treasures of the collection was a 

 sea-otter skin, worth 50. 



De Costa, Andrade, & Co. displayed an 

 ostrich feather trophy, in which as many as 

 ten different colors of tints were presented in 

 one single feather. The white plumes were 

 examples of purity of color and excellence of 

 finish ; they were selected from 5,000. 



Among other curiosities exhibited was a 

 case containing specimens of human hair of 

 great length, shorn from the heads of English, 

 German, French, and Italian ladies hair of 

 every hue, from pale auburn to jet black, and 

 of every degree of fineness and silky gloss. 

 The honors in this class, however, were carried 

 off by some fair unknown of Great Britain, 

 from whose head had been severed a lock of 

 jet-black hair, no less than 74 inches in length ! 



India Rubier Manufactures. There were 

 upward of twenty exhibitors of various manu- 

 factures in this material, besides those of gutta- 

 percha, and other analogous substances. 



Prominent amongst these were the original 



patentees in England, C. Mackintosh & Co., of 

 Manchester, who exhibited beautiful specimens 

 of the raw material, showing the process of 

 manufacture, from the masticated lump to the 

 finished sheet. In soft vulcanized India rubber 

 was shown a door mat, produced by making 

 incisions with a sharp knife at regular intervals, 

 which being kept open, during vulcanization, a 

 mat is produced, firm to the foot. 



"Warne & Co. showed their novel junction 

 rubber for piston rings and pump buckets, 

 made of soft and hard rubber combined ; and 

 their screw-shaft water-stop for ocean steamers, 

 which prevents the necessity of stoppage for 

 repacking when at sea. This is effected by the 

 inflation of two rings so arranged as to answer 

 the end required whilst the stuffing box is being 

 repacked. They also showed an elastic bath 

 towel, having a rubber warp alternate with 

 cotton, 



The North British Company, of Edinburgh, 

 excelled particularly in their overshoes. They 

 showed, let into the floor, the largest valve 

 which has ever been made, being six feet by four 

 inches in diameter, and one and a half inches 

 thick, made of pure rubber, in the manufacture 

 of which no solvent had been used. 



"Walton & Co., of Chiswick, showed samples 

 of their " campticon, or India-rubber substi- 

 tute," made from oxidized oil, freed of unctuous 

 matter, and formed into semielastic resin, 

 which, for steam packing, driving bands, and 

 hose, answers as well as India rubber, and at a 

 considerably less cost. 



Perreaux's method of constructing pump 

 valves, is copied from the valves contained in 

 the human heart. The valves are made of 

 India rubber vulcanized for the purpose ; they 

 are of the form of a tube flattened at one ex- 

 tremity, similar to the mouthpiece of a haut- 

 boy. The thickness of the sides of the 

 upper part diminishes gradually to the top, 

 where the two sides meet and form two lips, 

 which, when the valve is in a state of rest, are 

 in close contact, and prevent the downward 

 passage of the fluid. "With any upward pres- 

 sure the lips freely separate, and allow of the 

 upward passage of the fluid ; the gradual di- 

 minution in the thickness or tapering of the 

 sides forming the lips of the passage enables 

 the valve to open and close with the slightest 

 variation of pressure. The passage for the fluid 

 through these valves is larger than in any 

 others of the same dimensions ; they also pos- 

 sess the advantage of having a " clearway," 

 there being nothing whatever to retard the flow 

 of water; and, owing to the self-acting princi- 

 ple imparted by the elasticity of the material, 

 they close perfectly and instantaneously the 

 moment the pressure from below ceases. The 

 lips of the valves being flexible and elastic, any 

 foreign substance which may enter the suction 

 pipe, such as sand, gravel, coal dust, cinders, 

 grain, cotton, tow, rags, chips of wood, &c., 

 passes freely through, without in the least in- ' 

 terfering with or deranging the action of the 



