SEVERAL MECHANICAL INVENTIONS. 147 



volving cutters arranged spirally, to act against a fixed 

 straight edge in the way of shears. In the year 1810 the 

 model of a fur-cutting machine was forwarded to me in 

 London by a Company in Boston, which had a patent for 

 it in America, with instructions for me to obtain the 

 English patent, and introduce it to the notice of the hat- 

 manufacturers of this country, by whom it was supposed 

 the machine would be largely used, as it had been by the 

 same trade in America. In transmitting the model to me 

 it was stated to have been the invention of a Mr. Bellows, 

 a shopkeeper of Boston, of whom I had never before 

 heard ; and not having then or since received any direct 

 communication from or concerning him as the inventor, 

 I have no means of forming any opinion as to his being 

 entitled to the honour of originating this curious and im- 

 portant invention. I accordingly obtained the English 

 patent; and for the construction of the machine and 

 the principle of its action I refer to my specification, 

 wherein they are fully set forth and explained — ^the pur- 

 pose of this notice being rather to avoid the mechanical 

 details, and speak of the principle of shearing by means 

 of a series of spiral cutters so fixed as to revolve round 

 a common axis, their cutting edges moving in the line 

 of a cylinder, so that one cutter shall come into con- 

 tact with the fixed straight cutter, just as the preceding 

 spiral cutter shall pass the other end of the former : thus 

 the revolving cutters will come into successive action with 

 the fixed straight edge ; and it will be obvious that any 

 fibrous or other yielding substance, being brought into 

 contact with the straight edge, will be taken hold of between 

 it and the revolving cutters, and thus cut or sheared ofi" 

 from the surfaces to which the fibres were before attached, 

 such as furs from pelts, and many others to be noticed 

 further on. 



When the patent was obtained I had a machine built, 



l2 



