WEAVING. 



onee, by a machine. The yarns were wound off from the bob- 

 bins or cops of the fpinning machines upon beams or rollers. 

 Several of thefe rollers were placed parallel to each other, in 

 an horizontal direftion, at theoppofite ends of the machine, 

 frojn three to fix at each end ; and the yarns from them were 

 all combined together in one web, which was received and 

 rolled up on the yarn-beam of the loom placed in the middle 

 of the machine, and raifed up confiderably above the other 

 rollers, io that the yarns proceeded from both ends of the 

 imachuic towards the middle. In their padage they paffed 

 through feveral reeds to keep them feparate, and were fup- 

 plied with the pafte by pafTing over two cylinders revolving 

 in a trough of fluid palle. This pafte was dreffed or worked 

 into the yarn by means of two brufhes, of a length equal to 

 the breadth of the web ; one of the brufhes afted upon the 

 upper fide of the yarns, and the other on the lower fide. A 

 ifimilar pair of brufhes were apphed at both ends ; each 

 brufh had a motion given to it by means of cranks, exaftly 

 fimilar to the movement with which the weaver brufiies the 

 yarn in the loom. Near the yarn-roller a fan was placed, 

 ilike that ufed in a winnowing machine, which blew a current 

 bf air through the yarns of the warp to dry them before 

 they were rolled up by the beam. To preferve the leafe, the 

 yarns were conducted through a pair of heddles, fimilar to 

 thofe of the loom, but they remained flack to avoid fridtion. 

 The machine was moved by the mill with a confl;ant and 

 "egular niovement. 



When a warp is thus warped, beamed, and drelTed, the 

 yarn-beam is carried to a loom, on which the yarn is jufl 

 'jxhaufted, and is made to replace the empty yarn-roll. The 

 ;nds of the yarn are joined to the old yarns by twilling, and 

 lire thus drawn through the heddles and reed, fo that the 

 jweaving can be refumed with very little lofs of time, and 

 iihe weaver can proceed with his work without any interrup- 

 -ion for dreiling. The principal objtdtioii to the above 

 inachine is the fridlion which the yarns muft undergo in 

 jrufhing, and in paffing through fo many reeds : it was, 

 iiowever, praftifed in a large work at Stockport ; but the 

 Iveaving was performed by hand. 



I Another dreffing machine was invented by Mr. M'Adam, 

 Imd he obtained a patent in 1806: it is praftifed by Mr. 

 lVIonteith,at PoUockfliaws nearGlafgow. This machine is very 

 uuchlike the former in its manner of aftiou. Inftead of ufing 

 hree, four, or fix beams at each end of the machine, there 

 lire only two beams, each containing one half the number of 

 irarns for the intended warp. The fl;arch is fupplied in the 

 .ame manner as the former, or fometimcs by making the two 

 yarn-beams themfelves turn in a trough of ftarch without 

 i.'mploying a feparate cylinder. The brufhiiig is performed 

 In a more fimple and efFeftual manner by ufing cylindrical 

 'jrulhes, which revolve with a regular motion, two of them 

 \re applied on the upper fide of the warp, and two on the 

 lower fide ; alfo four fanners arc applied to dry the warp 

 Inftead of one. The yarns were conduftcd between reeds and 

 |hrough heddles, like the firft machine ; and hence the fame 

 libjeftion of fridlion applies to botli. 



Mr. Duncan, in his Effays on Weaving, defcribes another 

 method of drcfTing warps, which is pradtifed by Mr. Dunlop 

 'it Barrowfield. In this the yarn is warped and beamed in 

 die ufual manner, upon a yarn-roll : from this the yarn is 

 ,jnwound, and taken up upon another beam ; and in its paf- 

 Tage from one to the other it is extended, fo that the pick- 

 jbg and clearing can be performed in the ufual way by hand 

 With a comb and fciflbrs, and the dreffing is apphed with 

 oruftics in the ufual way : beneath the warp a fan is placed, 

 to blow a current of air up through the yarns and (!ry them. 

 |[n this machine all the operations, except the fanning, are 

 12 



performed by hand ; the advantage, therefore, confifts only 

 in the d.vifion of labour, by making the dreffing and weaviog 

 diftmft operations. ° ° 



Po'wer.Lomns.-ln the article Cotton we have men- 

 tioned Mr. Dohgnon's claim to the invention of weaving bv 

 mechanical power. ° ' 



The origmal projeft, we believe, was by M. De Gennes, 

 and IS pubhflied in the Philofophical Tranfaftions for 1768, 

 N^ 140. See alfo Lowthorp's Abridgment, vol. i. p. 499. 

 This IS a very ingenious invention. The flv-ftiuttlc was 

 not then invented, and he fupplied the want of it by a con- 

 trivance which held the fliuttle as it were in a hand by fingers • 

 this carried it half way through the cloth, and then it was' 

 transferred to another fimilar hand, which drew it through 

 the remainder. By this means there was a greater certainty 

 than m throwing the fliuttle from one fide to the other, be- 

 caufe the fliuttle always continued engaged with the me- 

 chanifm : the whole machine is ingenious and worthy of 



notice. 



M. Vaucanfon, the celebrated French mechanift, made a 

 machine for weaving ten ribbands at a time, which was 

 worked by a circular motion given by the workman ; and it 

 might, therefore, have been worked by mechanical power. 

 This IS defcribed in the Encyclopede Methodique in 

 great_ detail, with ten folding plates, and is an ingenious 

 machine. 



We believe both thefe inventions were prior to that of 

 Mr. Dolignon ; and alfo that the merit of inventing the ma- 

 chine, and firft reducing it to praftice, is due to Mr. Auftin, 

 of Glafgow. In this gentleman's memoir to the Society of 

 Arts, he ftates, that his firft attempt was made in the year 

 1789, when he entered a caveat for a patent, but did not 

 apply for it further ; fince that time he made many improve- 

 ments upon the original plan. In 1796 a report in its fa- 

 vour was made by the Chamber of Commerce and Manu- 

 faftures at Glafgow ; and in 1798, a loom was fet at work 

 at Mr. J. Monteith's fpinning works, at PoUockfliaws near 

 Glafgow, which anfwered the purpofe fo well, that a build- 

 ing was erefted by Mr. Monteith for containing thirty looms, 

 and afterwards another to hold about two hundred. 



Mr. AuJViti's Piiiver-Loom. — The model from which our 

 drawing {Plate I. Wen-vhig'] was made, is depofited in the 

 Society of Arts : it is an improvement upon the looms con- 

 ftrufted for Mr. Monteith. 



The drawing Plate I. is a perfpeftive view, exhibiting the 

 whole loom at one glance : it is viewed from the back rather 

 than from the front. 



A is a fquare iron axis extending through the whole 

 length of the machine ; to this the power of the firft mover 

 is applied by a cog-wheel B, of thirty-fix teeth, turned by a 

 pinion of twelve leaves fixed to the axis of the fly-wheel D. 

 A handle is fixed to one of the arms of the wheel to give mo- 

 tion to the model ; but in tlie large machine a live and dead 

 pulley are adapted to the axis of the fly-wheel ; and by means 

 of an endlefs ft rap, the power is communicated from any 

 convenient part of the mill in which a great number of looms 

 are placed together. 



The axis A has feveral eccentric wheels or camms fixed 

 upon it ; as thefe revolve they give motion to a number of 

 levers or treadles, by which all the ufual operations of the 

 loom are performed at the proper intervals : thefe are, 



Firft, To feparate the two parts of tlie yarns of the warp, 

 as fliewn at G, and admit of the pafTage of the fliutde. 



Secondly, To throw the fliuttle, in order to lay the weft 

 or crofs-threads of the cloth. 



Thirdly, To move the lay 7.8, and return it; fo that 

 the reed g will beat up the weft clofc to the fell, or pre- 



ceding 



