COTTON-SPINNING MACHINERY. 311 



and doffing these in the form of loose ropes or rovings. 

 (4) The drawing-frames for doubling and elongating the 

 rovings to equalize them for the roving-frames. Each of 

 these should be .traced from its former rude to its present 

 efficient and beautiful state as practically realized. The 

 subject also of a good paper might be to trace the several 

 forms and methods of using the throstle and spindle and 

 flyers which have been invented since the adoption of this 

 form of spindle by Arkwrightj but was taken by him from 

 the very ancient " wheel-and-distaff machine/' in which the 

 single spindle and flyers with bobbins were used for spin- 

 ning flax by hand, — also that the pointed or mule spindle 

 was adopted from the equally ancient '' wheel- and-band ma- 

 chine/' with single spindle, used for spinning wool by hand. 



Since Arkwright's patent throstle came into use_, there 

 have been some dozen or more patents taken out for sub- 

 stitutes for the throstle and flyers. Some of them at first 

 appeared likely to supersede the original form of the 

 throstle spindle ; but we find in this a curious exception 

 to the general results of improvements by successive 

 artists, who devise new modes of action in mechanics; 

 for the throstle-frame, as now constructed by our leading 

 machinists, is substantially the same in principle and 

 action as that of Arkwright. The greater speed and 

 efficiency of modern frames is owing to the advanced 

 skill and knowledge of the builders of them, compared 

 with the former. By this judicious construction they are 

 much stronger, more durable, and less subject to derange- 

 ments than formerly; but nothing really new has been 

 added by way of invention. 



Besides the intricate and scientific character of the ma- 

 chinery described in these notes, there are many others in 

 the cotton-mills which should be explained in the like simple 

 way in which I have aimed to do in this case. After 

 the process of spinning, in order to prepare the finer sorts 



