THE TECHNOLOGIST. [May 1, 1865. 



478 THE COMB MANUFACTURE. 



. The fretwork in the back combs is all done by hand, the patterns 

 being marked on the products and cut out by a very fine saw, a steady 

 hand, and keen eye. The grooving and indentations on the comb-back 

 are produced by the revolution of edged, grooved, serrated, and 

 feathered wheels, against which the product is pressed to any required 

 depth, exactly as the glasscutter deals with his product. So out come 

 flowers and fruit, leaves put forth their sweet and varied outlines ; 

 there are the signs of nobility and loyalty, the Anchor of Hope, the 

 Birds of Paradise, the Scroll of Fame, the Crown of Empire, for lovely 

 women ! Thus also are the comb-backs of our dressing products 

 channelled, grooved, roached, and otherwise adorned — the warmed and 

 plastic horn being most obedient to every " good word and work." 



There seems scarcely an end to the rasping, planing, smoothing, 

 and polishing, till, in the case of " stained " goods, the products are 

 placed in a solution of weak aquafortis (as it appears, but the practice 

 is a secret), and they are dotted with a red paint-like composition, to 

 be subsequently chemicalised and washed off, when the stains will 

 remain a la Tortoiseshell ! And so our horn and shell products are 

 introduced to a competitive, struggling world. 



Horns, horn-tips, and pieces of horn are extensively used in the 

 manufacture of handles for knives, of spoons, combs, buttons, toys, &c. 

 The value of those imported in 1863 was about 100,000/. The buffalo 

 and deer horns come chiefly from India and Ceylon ; the ox and other 

 horns from the River Plate, South Africa, Australia, and the Continent. 

 The tortoiseshell imported comes from a great variety of quarters. In 

 1853, 34,000 lbs. were imported, valued at 14s. to 15s. the pound. 



Colonial Gold Fields. — The quantity of gold exported from New 

 Zealand from 1861 to the end of 1864 was 1,814,026 ounces troy, of the 

 value of 6,250,000/., of which the province of Auckland produced 



10.000 ounces ; Nelson, 80,000 ; Marlborough, 30,000 ; Canterbury, 

 2,500 ; Otago, 1,691,526— total, 1,814,026 ounces, or 103 cubic feet of 

 solid gold, which was represented at the New Zealand Exhibition this 

 year by an obelisk of that size. The total yield of the Nova Scotia 

 gold-fields for the year 1S64 was 20,022 oz. 13 dwts. 13 gr., against 



14.001 oz. 14 dwt. 17 gr. for 1863. A gilded pyramid at the Dublin 

 Exhibition is to show the quantity of gold obtained in Nova Scotia in 

 the last three years— 161,000/. 



