116 



TEXTILE FIBEES. 



it is often irregularly damaged, and cannot be made into a decent yarn, 

 excepting for the lower counts. 



Good round laps of cotton should be level at the ends, and the margins 

 of the lap sheet entire, without any ragged selvedges. 



The fibres of the lap sheet are combed or struck off by the taker-in, 

 and carded or combed as they pass through the carding engine. When 

 the fibres have been carded, they are combed from the doffer in a 

 thin gauze-like web, and adhere to one another with a gossamer-like 

 attachment, which holds the fibres together for the drawing processes. 







Fig. 75. Cottony droppings (fatty). 



Combed Fibres. In the treatment of long-stapled cottons, such as 

 Brown Egyptian and Sea Islands, that are intended to be spun into the 

 finest of yarns, the Combing machine is brought into use. The object of 

 combing the fibres is to eliminate the shorter fibres. The latter are not 

 wasted, but are used for spinning coarser yarns of weft counts. 



Fig. 76 is an example of combed sliver taken from the combing 

 machine. The intermittent, shady, transverse markings are due to the 

 reattachment of the long fibres after having undergone the combing 

 treatment. 



Fig. 77 shows a staple of long fibres drawn out from the combed 

 sliver ; there are no impurities present, and the fibres are of nearly uni- 



