INTRODUCTION. 



The writer has been impelled to issue this publication from 

 numerous considerations. The novelty of the subject, the 

 extraordinary properties of the substance, the numerous inven- 

 tions and appliances growing out of it, the absolute necessity of 

 imparting instruction and explanations to the great number who 

 are constantly engaging in some branches of a manufacture 

 with which they have previously had no knowledge, together 

 with the inquiries which are constantly made by those who, 

 from motives of curiosity or interest, are desirous of obtaining 

 information on the subject ; all these, and many other causes 

 combined, have imposed upon the inventor an amount of labor 

 to which his physical powers, being in feeble health, are wholly 

 inadequate. Of a portion of this labor he hopes, in a great 

 measure, to relieve himself by this publication. 



It is believed that almost every pei'son, in whatever situation 

 in life, will find in this work something useful for him indi- 

 vidually to know, a description of some article which would be 

 of service in his occupation, or beneficial for the preservation of 

 his life, health, or property ; or else such a description of the 

 properties and use of the various fabrics treated of, as may aid 

 him in determining whether any particular fabric is adapted for 

 any use or application he desires to make of it. While it will 

 be discovered that the inventor is enthusiastic and sanguine on 

 the subject of these inventions, he would not have attributed to 



