I I: KNCI I KX1I1HITION. 



MUM, l!:iilaid exhibits :i hay- 

 making machine, which tosses and turns tin; 

 similar to hand-work. Among ^ ankco 

 notions is a self-registering hoe, which 

 account of the number of strokes of the laborer. 

 The improvements made 

 in the manufacture of sewing-machines MUCH 



tlir London Kxhibiti if IMii! appear to have 



been almo-t cxclusi\el\ confined to Franco and 

 America. In tin' Knglish department there is 

 'ittle of novelty, sini|ilieity in the working 

 having apparently been the only improve- 

 ment aimed at. Amongst the French machines 

 was one by M. Ramn, having an over-stitch 

 arrangement adapted for glove manufacture, in 

 which reels or spools of cotton are not used, 

 the needle being threaded with a needleful of 

 thread. One end of a length of thread is tied 

 into the needle's eye, and it is then placed in 

 a needle-holder; as the needle is passed through 

 the work, another holder from beneath ft 

 its point, and at the same time the upper holder 

 releases its grasp, the needle is then drawn 

 down, and a metallic finger, projecting from a 



mak.-s a long stitch on tho surface of tho ma- 

 terial. A screw -feed gives motion ;.. 



\vhieh, Whell it is completed to the hill 



of the button-hole, is turned by hand, mid it 

 then works down on the bui- 



ton-holo is cut after the work is done. Jn the 

 machine exhibited by Howe the working 

 are all beneath the table; the slit is first made 

 of the required length, and a lever adjusts the 

 machine accordingly. To make the b 

 stitch two needles arc employe<l, one working 

 downward from an upright, over which tie 

 ton-hole is passed; and the other working up- 

 ward with a curvilineal motion. The ma- 

 chine runs down one side of the hole, and then 

 turns round and works up the < thcr. This 

 machine gives the same kind of stitch on 

 both sides. The " American Button-hole Sew- 

 ing-machine Company" exhibits a machine 

 which is capable of doing any kind of work, 

 and is adjustable for any purpose by merely 

 turning a few set screws and levers; and in tin- 

 case of button-hole work, a separate table-plate 

 is required. It will work button-holes with 



revoking wheel one foot in diameter, draws two threads, or put in a cord when employed 



t 1 . . i + Ik t, . .u 1 + ifvlt f nnsl 4-V/\r WAlAaajM it T^j"* i ft-\iri i t~\t* tnilrvt'ci /M1r 



the thread tight and then releases it. Before 

 the needle is passed up again, a cam gives an 

 equal lateral movement to the two holders, so 

 that whereas the needle in its downward stroke 

 is pa-sed through the material, in its upward 

 movement it comes clear of it. On coming up, 

 the upper holder descends and again seizes the 

 needle, and a- it pulls up, a small lever with a 

 circular and backward motion draws the thread 

 much in the manner of a woman's little 

 linger in sewing. In the embroidering-ma- 

 chine, the Couso-Broudeur, the cotton or silk 

 is carried below the table, and a hook like a 

 crochet-needle is fixed in the needle-bar above. 

 When the hook descends through the material 

 to be worked upon it, it draws up a loop of 

 thread from below, and works a crochet chain- 

 stitch upon it. Among the American sewing- 

 machines the novelties are, the application of 

 the sewing-machine to button-hole making. 

 The Union Button-hole and Embroidery Ma- 

 chine Company exhibits a machine exclusively 

 tor making button-holes. In this, the work is 

 held down to the table of the machine by a 

 spring clamp, having an opening in its centre 

 the shape of a button-hole, only much longer 

 and wider than any work that would be done 

 by the machine. The needle alternately pa->es 

 through the cloth and then through the slit, 

 receiving for that purpose a backward and 

 forward motion by means of a cam and lever. 

 There is a double looper underneath, which 

 takes loops alternately on its two ends from the 

 needle as it descends, and, passing them over 

 one another, makes the knot, tho work turned 

 out being precisely similar in appearance to hand- 

 work. The button-hole attachment for the 

 Wheeler and Wilson machine consists of a top 

 plate fating on the table of tho ordinary ma- 

 chine, and which receives from the feed motion 

 cam a to-and-fro movement, so that the needle 

 VOL. vn. 22 



for tailor's work. 



Two methods are in work for applying mo- 

 tive power to sewing-machines the one by 

 the aid of electricity, and the other by water. 

 The water motor consists of a small brass cylin- 

 der placed behind the machine, the piston-rod 

 of which is attached by a hinge to the piston at 

 one end, and to a crank on the driving-shaft of 

 the other. The water is only admitted below 

 the piston, and tho impetus thus imparted to 

 the machine by the up stroke is considered 

 sufficient to carry it round the other half of the 

 revolution. The usual pressure employed is 

 about thirty pounds per square inch, and a small 

 household machine would require about 900 

 gallons of water for ten hours' work. The 

 application of electricity as a motive power ap- 

 pears to offer better prospects of success. At 

 the end of the driving-shaft is a wheel, with 

 several projections on its edge and a deep 

 groove in its centre ; in this groove is wound a 

 coil, and on tho shaft is placed a commutator, 

 so that, on revolving, the several projections of 

 the wheel are converted into electro-magnets. 

 This wheel revolves within a framework with 

 projecting plates of soft iron, to which, as 

 soon as the circuit is completed, the electro- 

 magnets are attracted, and so cause a circular 

 motion to the wheel. The power produced by 

 a Hun.-en battery of four elements is amply suf- 

 ficient for all purposes to which an ordinary 

 sewing-machii.e may be applied ; but the chief 

 objection is the smell of the Bunsen battery. 



Military Appliances and Models. Be 

 the exhibitions of guns by the several war de- 

 partments, some of the collections illustrate 

 in minute detail tho various appliances called 

 into requisition by an army in the field, includ- 

 ing tents, cooking arrangements, temporary- 

 bridge construction, conveyance of invalids and 

 wounded, and tho accommodation provided for 



