SPINNING. 



kinds, and adapted to the materials to be operated upon ; 

 but they have all a fpindle, revolving with a rapid motion, to 

 twiil the fibres which are attached to the end of it, and are 

 fupplied in a regular quantity, as faft as the twifting motion 

 of the fpindle will form them into a thread ; and there is alfo 

 fome provifion of a bobbin upon the fpindle, to take up and 

 retain the thread when made. 



The mod ancient mode of fpinning is by the fpindle and 

 diftaff, and this method is the fimpleil of all others. The 

 fpindle is nothing more than a piece of hard wood, made 

 round, and fharp-pointed at one end, fo that it can be made 

 to fpin upon its point, in the fame manner as a child'- top : 

 the upper part is reduced to a pin or peg, and it is this 

 part which has the fibres united to it, the lower or enlarged 

 part being only to give fufficient weight to mrike it ipin. 

 The fpinner muit be feated upon the ground, and after 

 having put the dillaff in motion upon its point, by twirling 

 it between the hands, get it up to a rapid motion, by 

 Itriking it occafionally with the hand, with a motion very 

 fimilar to that by which a child keeps up the motion of his 

 whipping-top, when he draws the lalh of a whip round it. 



The flax, or material which is to be ffiun, after being 

 properly prepared, is lapped round the end of the dif- 

 taff, which is nothing more than a flick that the fpinner 

 holds in the left hand, fo as to be conveniently fituated to 

 draw off from it a few fibres at a time, with the finger and 

 thumb of the right hand, to form the thread. The upper 

 part of the fpindle, which is made fmaller, like a pin, has 

 the ends of the fibres which are to form the thread attached 

 to it before it is put in motion. Thefe fibres are drawn out 

 of the bunch which is wound upon the diftaff, and held be- 

 tween the finger and thumb, fo as to be in the diredion of 

 the length of the fpindle ; therefore, when the fpindle is 

 once made to revolve, it twills thefe fibres together, to form 

 a thread, and as faft as the thread forms, the fpinner draws 

 off more flax from the ditlaff, and guides the fibres between 

 the finger and thumb, fo that they fhall be regularly deli- 

 vered out, and make an even thread. The motion of the 

 Jpindle is conftantly kept up, by ftriking it as often as the 

 hand can be fpared from the operation of guiding the 

 thread. When by thefe means as great a length of thread 

 is formed as is convenient to reach from the end of it to the 

 fpindle, the thread is wound upon the outfide of the fmall 

 part or pin of the fpindle, for which purpofe the fpinner 

 applies the fore-finger againit the thread, clofe to the end of 

 the fpindle, and bends the thread at that part, fo that it 

 will be at right angles with the direftion of the fpindle, in- 

 ftead of being nearly in the direttion of its length ; and 

 alfo, that it will be guided oppofite to the middle of the 

 pin, or fmall part of the fpindle, inftead of being at the 

 extreme end thereof. In this fituation the motion of the 

 fpindle, which is continually kept up, occafions the thread 

 to wind up, or lap upon t'le pin of the fpindle, inftead of 

 twifting round upon itfelf, as in the former cafe ; but 

 when nearly all the length of thread is thus difpofed of, the 

 finger is removed from the thread, and it immediately afliimes 

 its original direction, by flipping to the extreme end of the 

 fpindle, fo a! to be twifted round itfelf by the motion of the 

 fpindle, and more fibres are now fupplied to it from the 

 bunch upon the diftaff, to form a frefti length of thread. 

 In this manner the fpinning proceeds, until as much thread 

 is fpun and wound upon the pin of the fpindle as will make 

 a moderate fized ball. 



This fimple and inconvenient method of fpinning becomes 

 very efficient, when the fpindle, inftead of being fpun upon the 

 ground, is mounted in a proper frame, and turned by a wheel 



and band ; this forms a inacliine which is called the one- 

 thread wheel, and is flill uftd in the country for fpinning 

 wool : the fpindle is made of iron, and placed horizontally, 

 fo that it can revolve freely ; and the extremity of the 

 fpindle, to which the thread is applied, projefts beyond the 

 fupport. 



The wheel which turns it is placed at one fide, the pivots 

 of both being fupported in upright pieces, rifing up from a 

 fort of ftool. The fpinner puts the wheel in rapid motion by 

 its handle, and its weight is fufficient to continue the motion 

 for fome feconds ; then walking backwards from the fpindle, 

 in the dircftion of its length, flie fupplies the fibres regularly, 

 and the motion twills them into a thread ; but when a con- 

 venient length is fpun, the fpinner fteps on one fide, and 

 reaches out that arm which holds the end of the thread, fo 

 as to alter the direftion of the thread, and bring it nearly 

 perpendicular to the length of the fpindle, which motion 

 gathers or winds up the thread upun the middle of the 

 projecting part of the fpindle. This being done, Ihe holds 

 the thread in the direffion of the fpindle, lo that it will 

 receive twill, and retreats again to fpin a frefh length of 

 thread. For fpinning wool, it is not wound round the diftaff 

 the lame as flax, but the fpinner holds a lock of it, doubled 

 over the fore-finger, and draws away the fibres from the 

 middle part of the lock, to do which with regularity is the 

 great art of fpinning by hand. 



A fpinning-machint- more perfect than this is the one- 

 thread flax-wheel, with fpindle and flyer ; it has the pro- 

 perty of conftantly drawing up the thread as faft as it is 

 fpun, inftead of fpinning a length, and then winding it upon 

 the fpindie. For this purpofe the fpindle is made longer 

 than the other, and is turned by a band and wheel ; but the 

 wheel receives m.otion from the foot by a fn.all treadle, be- 

 caufe the fpinner fits before the wheel to work the fpindle, 

 whicli is fupported upon its two extreme ends, and near one 

 end the flyer is fixed ; this is a piece of wood curved to an 

 arc, the vertex of which is fixed on the fpindle, and from the 

 extremities of the arc two arms proceed, fo as to be pa- 

 rallel to the fpindle, and at fuch a dilfance from it as to ad- 

 mit a v.'ooden bobbin to be fitted loofely upon the fpindle ; 

 and at the fame time the arms of the flyer can revolve round 

 the bobbin without touching it. The end of the thread is 

 faltened to the bobbin, and conducted through a hook fixed 

 in the flyer, fo tliat it proceeds from the circumference of 

 the bobbin to this hook, in a direifion perpendicular to lh« 

 bobbin, but turns round the hook fo as to come into the 

 diredion of the fpindle. The thread is then cor.dufted 

 through a perforation made in the centre of the end of the 

 fpindle or pivot, upon which it revolves, and to this end of 

 the thread the fibres are fupplied. The twifting motion 

 given by the revolution of the fpindle forms them into a 

 continuation of the thread, which is gathered up upon the 

 bobbin as faft as the fpinner lets it go through her fingers, 

 by a tendency which the bobbin has to turn flowly, at the 

 fame time that the flyer to which the thread is hooked 

 is revolving rapidly round the bobbin. For this purpofe a 

 ftring is palled round a fmall neck upon the bobbin, and one 

 end of the ftring being fattened to the frame, the other has a 

 fmall weight to draw it tight round the neck of the bobbin, 

 and occafion friction. In other fpinning-wheels, a fecoad 

 band from the great wheel is made to turn the bobbin 

 more flowly than the fpindle. The thread which paffes 

 over the hook of the flyer is rapidly carried round the 

 circumference of the bobbin ; but as the bobbin follows 

 the motion of the flyer, it only winds up as much thread 

 upon the bobbin as the difference of the two motions; 



»nd 



