COMB 905 



now blended together, and, however much this may be regretted, yet it does not seem 

 easy to keep distinctness in the general usages of oil, for the Customs returns class all 

 under one head, Eape Oil. 



A number of British and colonial seed-bearing plants appear to be now employed 

 for the sake of their oils, although on account of the mucilaginous matter contained 

 in many of the oils, they are far inferior to the colza which they are employed to 

 adulterate. T. J. P. 



Of the importance of the trade some estimate may be formed by the following 

 entry. The Importations of seed-oils were as follow : 



Tons 



In 1870 13,429 valued at 594,933 



1871 10,461 406,426 



1872 19,931 788,419 



COMB. The name of an instrument which is employed to disentangle, and lay 

 parallel and smooth the hairs of man, horses, and other animals. They are made of 

 thin plates, either plane or curved, of wood, horn, tortoise-shell, ivory, bone, or metal, 

 cut upon one or both sides or edges with a series of somewhat long teeth, not far 

 apart. 



Two saws mounted on the same spindle are used in cutting the teeth of combs, 

 which may be considered as a species of grooving process ; one saw is in this case 

 larger in diameter than the other, and Cuts one tooth to its full depth, whilst the smaller 

 saw, separated by a washer as thick as the required teeth, cuts the succeeding tooth 

 part of the way down. 



A few years back Messrs. Pow and Lyne invented an ingenious machine for sawing 

 boxwood or ivory combs. The plate of ivory or boxwood is fixed in a clamp sus- 

 pended on two pivots parallel with the saw spindle, which has only one saw. By the 

 Tevolution of the handle a cam first depresses the ivory on the revolving saw, cuts one 

 notch, and quickly raises it again ; the handle, in completing its circuit, shifts the 

 slide that carries the suspended clamp to the right, by means of a screw and ratchet 

 movement. The teeth are cut with great exactness, and as quickly as the handle can 

 be turned ; they vary from about thirty to eighty teeth in one inch, and such is the 

 delicacy of some of the saws, that even 100 teeth may be cut in one inch of ivory. 

 The saw runs through a cleft in a small piece of ivory, fixed vertically or radially to 

 the saw, to act as the ordinary stops, and prevent its flexure or displacement side- 

 ways. Two combs are usually laid one over the other and cut at once ; occasionally 

 the machine has two saws, and cuts four combs at once. 



In the manufacture of tortoise-shell combs, very much ingenuity is displayed in 

 soldering the back of a large comb to that piece which is formed into teeth. The two 

 parts are filed to correspond ; they are surrounded by pieces of linen, and inserted 

 between metal moulds, connected at their extremities by metal screws and nuts ; the 

 interval between the halves of the moulds being occasionally curved to the sweep 

 required in the comb ; sometimes also the outer faces of the mould are curved to the 

 particular form of those combs in which the back is curled round, so as to form an 

 angle with the teeth. Thus arranged it is placed in boiling water. The joints when 

 properly made cannot be detected, either by the want of transparency or polish. Much 

 skill is employed in turning to economical account the flexibility of tortoise-shell in 

 its heated state : for example, the teeth of the larger descriptions of comb are parted, 

 or cut one out of the other with a thin frame saw ; then the shell, equal in size to two 

 combs with their teeth interlaced, is bent like an arch in the direction of the length of 

 the teeth. The shell is then flattened, the points are separated with a narrow chisel 

 or pricker, and the two combs are finished whilst flat, with coarse single cut files, and 

 triangular scrapers ; and lastly, they are warmed, and bent on the knee over a wooden 

 mould by means of a strap passed round the foot, in the manner a shoemaker fixes a 

 shoe last. Smaller combs of horn and tortoise-shell are parted whilst flat, by an 

 ingenious machine with two chisel-formed cutters, placed obliquely, so that every cut 

 produces one tooth, the repetition of which completes the formation of the comb. 



Mr. Kogers's comb-cutting machine is described in the 'Transactions of the Society 

 of Arts,' vol. xlix., part 2, page 150. It has been since remodelled and improved by 

 Mr. Kelly. This is an example of slender chisel-like punches. The punch or chisel 

 is in two parts, slightly inclined and curved at the ends to agree in form with the out- 

 line of one tooth of the comb, the cutter is attached to the end of a jointed arm, 

 moved up and down by a crank, so as to penetrate almost through the material, and 

 the uncut portion is so very thin that it splits through at each stroke and 1 . ;ives the 

 two combs detached. 



The comb-makers' double saw is called a ' stadda,' and has two blades contrived so 

 as to .give with great facility and exactness the intervals between the teeth of combs, 



