670 



DERBY. 



Derby. 



Silk mill. 



Cotton 

 mills. 



Porcelain 

 manufac- 

 tory. 



.T.pro/e- 

 mtBt-j. 



from the water-wheel. The spinning mills are eight in 

 number, and give motion to upwards of 25,000 reel 

 bobbins, and nearly 3000 star-wheels belonging to the 

 reels. Each of the four twist mills, contains four 

 rounds of spindles, about 389 of which are connected 

 with each mill, as well as numerous reels, bobbins, star- 

 wheels, &c. The whole of this elaborate machine, 

 though distributed through so many apartments, is put 

 in motion by a single water-wheel, twenty-three feet in 

 diameter, situated on the west side of the building. 



All the operations, from winding the raw silk to or- 

 ganizing or preparing it for the weavers, are performed 

 here. The raw silk is chiefly brought in skains or 

 hanks from China and Piedmont. The skain is first 

 placed on a hexagonal wheel or swift, and the filaments 

 which compose it are regularly wound off upon a small 

 cylindrical block of wood, or bobbin. To wind a single 

 skain, is the work of five or six days, though the ma- 

 chine be kept in motion for ten hours daily ; so astonish- 

 ingly fine are the filaments of which it is formed. The 

 silk thus wound upon the bobbins, is afterwards twisted 

 by other parts of the machinery, and is then sent to the 

 doublers. Here four, seven, or ten threads are united 

 into one, according to the uses for which it is designed: 

 the fine kind going to the stocking- weavers ; the others 

 to different manufactures. 



Besides this mill, there are several other works of a 

 similar nature, now established in Derby ; but of very 

 superior machinery. Indeed, the old mill proves, at 

 how low an ebb mechanical knowledge was in England 

 as well as Italy, when that was constructed. The situa- 

 tion of Derby on the banks of the Derwent, renders it 

 favourable for carrying on manufactures which require 

 the aid of water. The mills established by the Messrs 

 Strutts, for the manufacture of silk and cotton, are par- 

 ticularly ingenious in their machinery; and the facility 

 attained by them in working the several articles of ma- 

 nufacture, has contributed to the extension of these 

 branches of business, in a very eminent degree. 



The porcelain manufactory was established about 

 the year 1 750, by a gentleman of the name of Duesbury. 

 Since his decease, very great improvements have been 

 made, in the preparation of the materials, and in the 

 appearance of the ware. It is thought to equal, in fine- 

 ness of texture, the French and Saxon, while it far sur- 

 passes them in workmanship and elegance. The paint- 

 ings are, in general, rich and well executed ; and the 

 gilding and burnishing very beautiful. The manufac- 

 tory employs about 200 hands. 



Another considerable manufactory carried on in this 

 town, is that of gypsum, fluor-spar, and marble. These 

 are formed into a great variety of very beautiful orna- 

 ments ; and the Derbyshire marble is well known in 

 almost every part of the kingdom, and much admired. 

 The machinery which Messrs Brown and Son have in- 

 vented for sawing and polishing this marble is exceed- 

 ingly ingenious, and worthy of notice. The manufacture 

 •f stockings is carried on to a very great extent in 

 Derby : it was here the rib-stocking frame was invented, 

 and first worked. The business of the lapidary and 

 jeweller is also of some magnitude here ; and articles 

 of the paste kind are executed with great elegance and 

 ingenuity. The other manufactures, are bleaching, slit- 

 ting and rolling iron, tin-plate, lead pipes, red and 

 white lead works, and a shot tower. 



Derby has rapidly increased within the last few years, 

 in size and population ; and is still increasing in wealth 

 and commerce. Fresh ground is continually brokea 



Philosophic 

 cal socie- 



up, and houses are erected in every direction. Among Derby, 

 the modern improvements in the place, may be men- TV"** 

 tioned, the lighting and paving the streets, the erec- 

 tion of several new bridges over the brook that runs 

 through the town; and an elegant bridge of three 

 arches, thrown over the Derwent, on the north-east 

 side of the town. 



Dr Darwin, though not born, yet spent the last one 

 and-twenty years of his life at Derby ; and by his resi- 

 dence there, diffused a taste for literature and science, ties, 

 which still continues to be one of the principal charac- 

 teristics of the place. He was the patron and founder 

 of an establishment known by the name of the Derby 

 Philosophical Society, the objects of which were the 

 promotion of scientific knowledge by the occasional 

 meetings and convocation of its members, and by the 

 circulation of books. The date of the formation of this 

 institution was the year 1788, the first meeting being 

 held at Dr Darwin's own house, when he was chosen 

 president, and read to his associates a most appropriate 

 and excellent introductory essay on the progress of hu- 

 man knowledge, which, it is to be regretted, has never 

 met the public eye. He retained the chair of this so- 

 ciety till his decease, since which time it has been ably 

 occupied by his intimate friend, and disciple, Mr Strutt, 

 of whose merits some mention will be found in another 

 part of this article, and in some other parts of our 

 work. The Philosophical Society still boasts a con- 

 siderable number of members, and is in possession of 

 an extensive and valuable library ; but its utility, as a 

 scientific body, has of late years, in a certain degree, 

 declined. The want of some compulsory law, by which 

 questions for conversation should be regularly furnish- 

 ed, has robbed the meetings of part of the interest 

 which they originally possessed ; and as a few of the 

 more active members were anxious to enjoy all the ad- 

 vantages which such an association was capable of sup-, 

 plying, the idea of a new establishment was thence ex- 

 cited, in which subjects for discussion might be more 

 strictly and constantly furnished. To have accomplish- 

 ed this under the auspices of the parent society was 

 impossible, from the known unwillingness on the part 

 of the majority of the members then composing it to 

 consent to such a restraint. This gave rise to the foun- 

 dation of a new and very flourishing institution, which 

 made its appearance in the year 1 808, under the title of 

 the Derby Literary and Philosophical Society. The ob- 

 jects of this association, as stated in its printed rules, 

 are " the pursuit of literary and scientific inquiries, 

 and the improvement of its members in the power of 

 gaining, and of communicating, knowledge." The 

 means by which these objects are attempted to be ac- 

 complished, is by the production and discussion of pa- 

 pers, or essays, which may be written on any subject 

 connected with literature or science, excluding only 

 the practical departments of medicine and surgery, 

 party politics and religion. It is a fundamental law of 

 this society, that each member shall furnish an essay in 

 his turn, and no instance has hitherto occurred in which 

 this rule has been violated. The meetings are held 

 monthly from September to April inclusively, one pa- 

 per being read, and another discussed, on each evening. 

 In addition to the above, the society had also adopted 

 the plan of delivering annually a public course of lec- 

 tures, the profits of which are applied to the purchase 

 of philosophical apparatus. These have been attended 

 with the most complete success, and the members who 

 have employed their talents in this way have acquitted 



