9 



or grooves; so thateach hair may pass through the quill, 

 and by the side of the cork, with some little resistance. 



The knot, which will thus be on the outside, beyond 

 the cork, should be turned round between the finger and 

 thumb j by which means the hairs, coming like so many 

 rays from the edges of the cork, will begin to twist in the 

 most regular even manner, and will be gradually drawn 

 through, 



The person twisting the hairs should be careful to ob- 

 serve when the further ends of the hairs are about to come 

 through the grooves, which he may easily perceive, and 

 should then grasp what he has twisted close to the cork j 

 then drawing out the residue, tie the ends, as in the first 

 instance : but, in order to keep the twists correct, .he 

 should, as he proceeds, pass tlie line round his hand, so 

 as to coil it up in a small ring. 



This being done, he should lay every length, so soon as 

 made into a coil, in a cup of water, to let it soak ; after 

 about half an hour, some of the hairs will probably snarl, 

 or appear to gather, or shrink, in the twists. The lengths 

 in which such snarls appear must be untied, and be twisted 

 a second time, ' after the hair has been dried. 



This process will all be seen in Plate I. where, in 

 Pig. 3, A, is the quill, B, the cork plug, c, the knot, and 

 d, d, d, d the several hairs which form the length, or link, 

 passing through the quill ; being pressed thereto, at equal 

 distances, by the cork. 



Any number of hairs may be thus twisted far better than 

 in the common way, and as regularly as by any machine : 

 though seme on a good plan, are sold at the tackle- shops* 

 As the grooves may be made so as to alloxv twists of two, 

 three, or four hairs each, to pass, links may be made of 

 B 5 any 



