W O R 



W O R 



The fpiiidle is fupported on ita point, and fullained by a 

 collar at the middle of its length. Upon the top of the 

 fpindle, the flyer e is fcrewed ; it has two branches, which 

 tiifn downward, and one of them has an eye at the lower 

 end, through which the rovin;; is condudled, in order to 

 lay it upon the bobbin a. This bobbin is fitted loofely 

 upon the upper part of the fpindle, and rails with its weight 

 upon a piece of wood projefting from the bobbin-rail /. 

 The rail is made to rife and fall continually with a (low 

 motion, fo as to prefent every part of the bobbin in fuc- 

 ceffion to the eye of the flyer, and thereby wind the 

 roving upon every part of the length of the bobbin. 

 The bobbin is not fixed upon the fpindle, but is fitted 

 loofely thereupon ; and by relting upon the piece of wood 

 ivhich is fixed to the bobbin-rail, there is fo much friftion 

 and refiftance to the motion of the bobbin, that it gathers 

 up the roving by winding it round itfelf as faft as the rollers 

 give it out. The twift given to the roving is juft enough to 

 malie it hang together, and one turn in each inch is ulually 

 enough. Some roving-frames are made with four pairs of 

 rollers, and draw ten or twelve times ; and in this way, it is 

 not nacefTary for the fliver to pafs fo frequently through the 

 drawing-frame. 



Spinning-Frame. — This is fo much like the roving-frame, 

 that a Ihort defcription will be fufficient. The fpindles are 

 more dehcate, and there are three pairs of rollers inftead of 

 two ; the bobbins which are taken off from the fpindles of 

 the roving-frame, when they are quite full, are ftuck upon 

 wires at L [Jig. 7.), and the roving which proceeds from 

 thera is condufted between the rollers. The back pair A 

 turns round ilowly ; the middle pair turns about twice for 

 once of the back rollers ; and the front pair B makes from 

 twelve to feventeen turns for one turn of the back rollers B, 

 according to the pinions which are employed, and thefe can 

 be changed according to the degree of extenfion which is 

 required. 



The fpindles muit revolve very quickly in the fpinning- 

 frame, in order to give the requiiite degree of twiil to the 

 worited. The hardefl: twifted worfted is called tammy- 

 warp, and when the fize of this worfted is fuch as to be 

 twenty or twenty -four hanks to the pound weight, the twiil 

 is about ten turns in each inch of length. The leaft twift 

 is given to the worited for fine hofiery, which is from 

 eighteen to twenty-four hanks to the pound. The twift is 

 from five to fix turns per inch. The degree of twift is regu- 

 lated by the fize of the whirls or pulleys upon the fpindle, and 

 by the wheel- work, which communicates the motion to the 

 front rollers from the band- wheel, which turns the fpindles. 

 It is needlefs to enter more minutely into the defcription 

 of the fpinning machinery for worfted, becaufe the con- 

 ftruftion is very fimilar to the water-frame for fpinning 

 cotton, invented by fir Richard Arkwright, and which is 

 fully defcribed in our article ManufaRure of Cotton. 

 The differences between the two are chiefly in the diftance 

 between the rollers, which in the worfted-frame is capable 

 of being increafed or diminiflied at pleafure, according to 

 the length of the fibres of the wool, and the dra\ight or ex- 

 tenfion of the roving is far greater than in the cotton. 



Reeling — The bobbins of the fpinning- frame are placed in 

 a row upon wires before a long horizontal reel, and the 

 threads from 20 bobbins are wound off together. The 

 reel is exaftly a yard in circumference, and when it has 

 wound off 80 turns, it rings a bell ; the motion of the reel 

 is then ftopped, and a thread is pafl"ed round the 80 turns or 

 folds which each thread has made : the reeling is, then con- 

 tinued till another 80 yards is wound off, whith is alfo 

 feparated by interweaving the fame thread ; each of thefe 



feparate parcels is called a ley, and when feveu fuch leys 

 are reeled, it is called a hank, which contains 560 yards. 

 When this quantity is reeled off, the ends of the binding 

 thread are tied together, to bind each hank faft, and one of 

 the rails of the reel is ftruck to loofen the hanks, and they 

 are drawn off at the end of the reel. Thefe hanks are next 

 hung upon a hook, and twifted up hard by a ftick, then 

 doubled, and the two parts twifted together, to make a firm 

 bundle. In this ftate, the hanks are weighed by a fmall 

 index-machine, which denotes what number of the hanks 

 will weigh a pound, and they are forted accordingly into 

 different parcels. It is by this means that the number of 

 the worfted is afcertained as the denomination for its fine- 

 nefs : thus No. 24. means that 24 hanks, each containing 

 560 yards, will weigh a pound, and fo on. 



This denomination is different from that ufed for cotton, 

 becaufe the hank of cotton Gontains 840 yards inftead of 

 560 ; but in fome places, the worfted hank is made of the 

 fame length as the cotton. 



To pack up the worfted for market, the proper number 

 of hanks are coUefted to make a pound, according to the 

 number which has been afcertained ; thefe are weighed as a 

 proof of the correftnefs of the forting, then tied up in 

 bundles of one pound each, and four of thefe bundles are 

 agaiii tied together. Then 60 fuch bundles are packed up 

 in a fneet, msking a bale of 240 pounds, ready for 

 market. 



From this account of the proceffes of worfted fpinning, 

 it will be feen that they are very fimilar to thofe of cotton- 

 fpinning, after the firil preparation of the wool by combing 

 inftead of carding. 



WoRSTED-CorJ, in Sheep- Farming, is a fort of cord 

 which, is fometimes ufed for tying round the necks 

 of flieep afFetfted with the fcab, after it has been well 

 fmeared over with the common mercurial ointment of the 

 fhops, in order to cure them of that difeafe. See 

 Scab. 



WORT, in the Materia Medica, is the fweet infufion of 

 malt ; firft propofed by Dr. Macbride as a dietetic article 

 to fcorbutic perfons, from an apprehenfion that it would 

 ferment in their bowels, and give out its fixed air, by the 

 antifeptic powers of which the ftrong tendency to putre- 

 faftion in this difeafe might be correfted. It was feme 

 time before a fair trial of this propofed remedy could be 

 obtained, and different reports were made concerning it. 

 In 1762, the lords of the admiralty gave orders to have 

 the wort tried in the naval hofpitals at Portfmouth and 

 Plymouth ; but the murmurs of the patients, on account 

 of reftri£lions that were neceflary for determining its ef- 

 ficacy, put a ftop to the farther exhibition of it ; and in- 

 deed Dr. Huxham, in 1764, informed tlie ingenious and 

 benevolent propofer of this remedy, that it had been tried 

 with very bad effefts. But Dr. Macbride afTures us, 

 on theteftimony of a gentleman who made ufe of the 

 wort, that it may be taken for a length of time, to the 

 quantity of a quart in the day, without producing any 

 ill effeft whatever ; and he refers to Van Swieten's Com- 

 mentary, vol. iv. p. 673. where we learn, that the ba- 

 ron's lady, when a nurle, ufed regularly to drink a pint 

 of it every night going to bed, in order to increafe her 

 milk. 



After the failure of fuccefs in the naval hofpitals, orders 

 were iffued to have the wort adminiftered on fhip-board, 

 where no temptations of freih vegetables would offer to. 

 make the men uneafy. But a confiderable time elapfed, 

 before any reports were made either of its good or bad 

 effedls. Dr. Macbride, however, perfifted in recommend- 

 ing 



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