689 



CLOTH MANUFACTURE. 



On the fa- 

 brie of 

 cloth. 



va, in 15t>7, and the subsequent persecutions attendant 

 on the revocation of the edict of Slant/ by J.ouis XIV. 

 are assigned, by hiitoriani, as the causes which gave to 

 Britain the knowledge ami ingenuity of foreign arn/ins, 

 and permanently founded the woollen and linen manu- 

 factures, the former of which ha-i become the acknow- 

 ledged staple of England, and the latter of Ireland. 

 The much more reciv.: invention of Sir Richard Ark- 

 wripht, lui introduced the very extensive manufacture 

 of cotton, aud added a lucrative and elegant branch 

 <:f traffic, the lighter and fanciful department of which 

 ha become, in some measure, the staple manufacture 

 of Scotland, whilst the more substantial and durable 

 fabrics have added to England a manufacture, inferior, 

 10 importance and extent, only to the woollen. 



The process of manufacture of all these descriptions 

 of cloth, from the raw to the fininhed or marketable 

 state, may be divided into three great stages of manu- 

 facture. 



lit, The preparatory processes which the raw mate- 

 rial undergoes to bring it into that state in which it is 

 fit to assume the appearance of cloth, or what is ge- 

 nerally understood by the term yarn. For the account 

 which we have to lay before our readers of these ope- 

 rations, we must refer them to the respective articles 

 COTTON, FLAX, SPINNING. WOOL, SILK, &c. 



2d, The operations by which the materials are brought 

 from the state of yarn into that of cloth, which is pro- 

 perly the subject of this article, but which we can here 

 only treat in a general way ; for the different kinds are 

 so numerous and varied, that we must refer much of 

 the peculiarities to the articles which will be found un- 

 der the respective titles or names, by which various 

 kinds of cloths or stuffs are known. 



3d, The processes which cloth undergoes, after coming 

 out of the weavers hands, to lit it for the market ; and 

 which we must also refer to the various articles BLEACH- 

 ING, DYEING, PRINTING, CALENDER, GLAZING, and 

 many others. 



In general, we may remark, that the great requisites 

 in every species of cloth, from the heaviest to the light- 

 est fabrics, are durability, warmth, and beauty. For 

 those kinds which compose the household furniture and 

 dress of the generality of mankind, the first and second 

 are the most essential j and for the ornamental kinds, 

 which furnish show and splendour to the drapery of 

 the opulent and luxurious, the latter is almost the on- 

 ly quality ever required. 



Previous to entering into any detail of other particu- 

 lars, we shall lay before our readers such general re- 

 marks as occur upon what is termed the fabric of cloth ; 

 a matter which we conceive to be not only of the most 

 essential importance, but which has been most unac- 

 countably neglected, even by those who practise the 

 manufacture, and who, with very few exceptions, regu- 

 late their operations in this respect by no fixed or de- 

 terminate rule, but generally are contented merely to 

 copy what they are taught, without any other guide to 

 detect error, than actual experience, which very fre- 

 quu.ily is dearly purchased. Yet we conceive it pos- 

 sible, that this important point may be reduced to such 

 a degree of mathematical precision, as might render it 

 capable of conclusive demonstration, or at least that 

 the approximation may be so near, as to guard the per- 

 son who will be at pains to adopt it, from almost the 

 slightest danger of great error, even in regulating the 

 fabric of any species of cloth to which he has not been 

 previouily accustomed. For the better understanding 

 f this method, it may be necessary to consider, very 



briefly, that quality of yarn, which is called it* grist or 

 fineness. 



If a thread of yarn be considered as a cylinder, its 

 weight must be in the compound ratio of its magnitude 

 and density. Now, yarn being made up in hanks of a 

 determinate length, this length may be considered as the 

 altitude of the cylinder, and consequently it jjri.i/ or 

 fineness is the area of the base ; and then as the areas of 

 cylinders are in proportion to their circumscribing squares, 

 the square root of the square will be equal to the diame- 

 ter of the base. When yarn of any kind is warped, and 

 stretched in a loom, to undergo the subsequent operation 

 of being woven into cloih, the threads which compose 

 the warp are parallel to each other, and their parallel si- 

 tuation is preserved by the utensil called the reed, through 

 the intervals between the divisions of which a certain 

 number of threads pass. The number of divisions in this 

 reed, therefore, ascertains the number of threads of warp 

 which are to be woven into cloth of any determinate 

 breadth. Now the breadth of every thread or cylinder 

 being the diameter of its babe, and the reed being the 

 scale which regulates the number of these threads in a 

 given measure, the ratio which the one bears to the 

 other ascertains the number of threads, and their conti- 

 guity to each other in the cloth. Let then the square 

 root of the mass in any determinate length of yarn be ta- 

 ken as the measure of the diameter of the base of a thread, 

 and let the number of the reed which will form a proper 

 fabric be known, and any other will be found to form a 

 similar fabric. From this arises a very simple analogy 

 or proportion, which may be thus stated : Let the weight 

 of one kind of yarn be expressed by a, and that of ano- 

 ther by b. Let a be properly woven in a reed or scale, 

 which contains 1200 intervals or divisions in 37 inches, 

 which is the common measure of the linen reed. Then 

 to ascertain the proper reed for b, the proportion will be 

 as V^aT is to 120O so is A/ZT to the reed required. 

 Hence as a is to 144, so is b to the square of the reed 

 required. Suppose now that a represents cotton yarn 

 No. GO, and b represents No. 100, then 

 As 60 : 144 : : 100 : 14,400, the root being 15.49 nearly, 

 which is the answer. From this the following simple 

 arithmetical proportion will arise for practical use. 



1st, If the yarn is known, and the number of the reed 

 wanted, 



As the name or designation of the first yarn given 



To the Fquare of the given reed, 



So is the name or designation of the second yarn 



To the square of the reed required. 



2d, If, as before, the yarn and reed are known, and 

 the yarn wanted to fit any other reed, 



As the square of the given reed 



To the yarn, 



So is the square of the other reed 



To the yarn required. 



In actual practice, the following objection, which is 

 very plausible, will readily occur to practical manufac- 

 turers, and, at first sight, will probably induce almost 

 'the whole of them to reject these rules as erroneous and 

 inconclusive. They will assert, and with truth, that a 

 manufacturer who would implicitly adopt and follow 

 these rules, would either make all his fine goods so dense 

 and heavy in the fabric as to disgust his customers, or 

 that his course goods would be so flimsy in the texture, 

 as to be totally useless. To this it is only necessary to 

 reply, that it arises from no error in the calculation, nor 

 want of truth in the general principle, but in what was 

 premised as a general requisite in cloth at the outset ; 



