144 RISEN B V PERSE VERANCE. 



was sent to the manufactory of Messrs. Rouse & Co., where he 

 acquired a knowledge of wool-sorting and the other processes 

 preparatory to weaving. Two brothers in the employment 

 of this firm, named John and James Hammond, were of great 

 service to him in teaching him the art of sorting wool. 



His biographer, the Rev. R. Balgarnie, has thus described 

 Titus Salt's daily work in the factory : — ' He is a tall young 

 man, with a " brat," or loose blouse, worn over his clothes to 

 keep them clean ; the fleece of wool is unrolled and spread out 

 on the board. Being impregnated with natural grease, it 

 holds entangled in its fibre a variety of substances with which 

 the sheep while living had come into contact ; these must be 

 carefully removed. All the wool of the fleece is not of the 

 same quality, but varies in length, fineness, and softness oi 

 fibre. It is the business of the sorter to separate these dif- 

 ferent qualities, and to put each into a basket. It is evident 

 such occupation requires long and careful education, both of 

 the eye and the hand. Had Titus Salt confined his attention 

 exclusively to this one department of the business, and then at 

 once joined his father, he might, perhaps, have been a success- 

 ful woolstapler, but not a manufacturer ; but, as we have said, 

 he resolved to know every process, from the fleece to the 

 fabric, and into each he put his heart. The next process was 

 washing with alkali, or soap and water, and his knowledge of 

 this served him in after years when his first experiments in 

 alpaca began, and which he performed with his own hands. 

 The next process was combing. It is necessary in the pro- 

 duction of yarn that all the fibres should be drawn out and 

 laid down smooth and distinct, and that all extraneous matters 

 should be extracted. When Titus Salt was with the Rouses, 

 this operation was done by hand ; now, the combing machine, 



