ARKWRIGHT'S ORIGINAL DRAWING FRAME. 



This is Sir Richard Arkwright's first drawing frame and was 

 made by him about 1780. It was commonly known as the "lan- 

 tern" frame, owing to the fact that the sliver-can employed has 

 an opening in the side closed by a door through which the sliver 

 was removed, and so somewhat resembles a lantern. The process 

 of drawing is accomplished by passing the wisp of cotton fibres 

 through two pairs of rollers that nip it, the second pair revolving 

 more quickly than the first. The distance between the two pairs 

 of rollers is rather more than the length of the fibres, so that the 

 drawing only slides the fibres upon one another without stretching 

 or breaking. 



