29° 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [October i, 1889. 
latter receives additional twist, to enable it to bear 
the slight strain necessary to draw it from the spool 
or bobbin without the formation of uneven places. 
Thirteenth: — " Spinning," which is the concluding 
process of the series. The sliver is here attenuated 
to the required fineness, and is given the twist by 
which the thread is completely formed, fourteenth: 
— " Doubling " is sometimes a separate business 
but more often an adjunct to the preceding and 
is a method of combining two or more threads to 
form a single cord and is adopted in the production 
of many varieties of yarn which are used for 
widely different purposes. The processes which 
we have thus briefly reoommended, constitute the 
operation of cotton spinning. In the paper already 
referred to by Mr. John Piatt of Oldham (and few 
men were better qualified to speak upon the subject, 
his firm and family are largely identified with cotton 
machinery now and their connection with the 
cotton industry historic), he divided cotton 
spinning into three distinct operations namely, 
First: — " Drawing," in which the fibres of the raw 
materials are drawn out longitudinally so as to lay 
them all parallel with one another and overlapping at 
the ends, as was done by the fingers of the hand 
spinner for forming a continuous silver out of the 
short fibres lying irregularly in the bundle that is 
tied upon the distaff. Second: — " Twisting." in 
which the silver previously formed is twisted into 
a roving or thread, for giving it longitudinal 
tenaoity by increasing the lateral friction between 
the fibres, as was done by the hand-spinner by 
twisting the bobbin on which the portion of the 
thread already twisted has been wound. Third: — 
" Winding," in which each portion of the thread, 
after it has been sufficiently twisted, is wound upon 
the bobbin. In the application of machinery to 
the performance of these three operations, the great 
difficulties e Xparienced have arisen from the irregular 
oharacter ot the cotton fibre on the one hand, and 
on the other from the unyielding potion of the 
machinery, which has had to take the place of the 
delicate feeling of the fingers in hand-spinning, 
whereby the spinner was enabled to accommodate 
the action continually to the variations in the 
material. It is a point of special mechanical in- 
terest, however, to note at how early a period in 
the application of maohinery correct ideas were 
developed as to the principle in the important suc- 
cessive steps, so correct, indeed, that they have 
remained unaltered in principle up to the time 
Mr. Piatt was speaking in 1866, and his statement 
will, probably, be equally true now in 1889, al- 
though many highly ingenious improvemants, in 
detail have subsequently been effected. 
The floor space for a mule containing 1,000 
spindles will be 116 feet by 10 feet. The cost of 
a modern cotton mill for spinning No- 32 yarn, 
including building machinery, and accessories, steam 
engine and shafting, with fire-proof floors in the 
scutching and carding rooms, and timber floors in 
the spinning rooms, was put at 18 shillings a spindle. 
The amount of thread which a self- acting mule could 
spin was as much at could be produced by 3,000 
hand-spinners. 
Now just a word or two about the processes 
which follow spinning, which may or may not be 
carried on at the same establishment, namely, 
weaving, under which the yarn which has been spun 
is converted into cloth, and which further processes 
represent weaving. Unlike the spinning, which 
is oarried on in a building several storeys 
high, weaving takes plaoe in a shed, as muoh of 
the work as is possible being carried on on the 
ground floor. The weft yarn, or that which is laid 
transverserly in the cloth, leaves the mule in the 
condition in whioh it is required at the weavers' 
loom, but the twist or warp yarn passes through 
several preparatory processes to fit it for the oper- 
ation in the weaving. First: —Winding to take 
the yarn from the top and place it at the warpers' 
bobbin. Second: — Warping or beaming t o wind the 
yarn from 400 to 500 bobins to one large beam. Third: 
— Sizing, which is covering the warp with an adhesive 
preparation to fit for standing the strains in weaving. 
No process is more important in the weaving mil, and 
on it depends the quality and quantity of the work 
turned off, and, probably, the success of the con- 
cern. In sizing the objects are to press into the 
thread a mixture of suitable ingredients, so as to 
strengthen the yarn, smoothen it, and lay the fibres 
which project from the surface of the thread, thus 
increasing the strength, and, at the same time, re- 
ducing the amount of fluff at weaving ; and to give 
the yarn and cloth the requisite appearance of tough- 
ness, strength in body, known technically as the 
" feel." It is in the sizing that the " boardy," 
" leathery," " clothy" feels or grips are, produced. 
The percentage of size put on cotton goods is cal- 
culated according to the increase of weight in the 
warp only. Thus, if the warp in a piece of cloth 
be composed of ten pounds of cotton covered with 
four pounds of size, the warp will have been sized 
to the extent of 40 per cent. The amount of size 
on cotton warps varies from 3 to 200 per cent. 
Fourth: — Attaching the healds and reeds to the 
warp, called looming or drawing in. Fifth: — 
Weaving, and about this we will only say that it 
is the last process in the manufacture of cotton goods 
and the one in which all the previous ones culminate. 
It has for its object the combination of the warp and 
weft yarns interlacing one with the other in such 
manner as to produce a firm texture, fitted for the 
varying uses to which cotton cloth is adapted for 
warmth, for ornament, for trade purposes, for sale. 
— Indian Engineer, Aug. 21st. 
THE BED ANT. 
From the proceedings of the Natural History Asso- 
ciation of Bombay as given in the Times of India, we 
quote a graphic and most amusing account, by Mr. E. 
H. Aitken, of a species of ant well, but not favour- 
ably, known in Ceylon. The red ant, which is so 
ready to sacrifice its life when enraged, is really 
very tenacious of life. Seeing a stream of these 
active, angry and virulent creatures going along 
the top of a fence, we divided the body of one at 
the waist, which is exceedingly minute. For an 
appreciable period the moieties did not seem to be 
aware they had been parted. A recent letter from 
Stanley stated that in Africa red ants are a chief in- 
gredient in poison for arrows. Mr. Aitken's paper 
is as follows : — 
The ways of this remarkable insect are not so well 
known as they deserve to be. Most of us have made 
its acquaintance at times in the jungles, but these 
casual introductions have left no desire for closer in- 
timacy. I think, therefore, that a short account of 
the red ant at home, unillustrated by live specimens, 
may be interesting. The insect I mean is about half 
an inch long, and of a light red or orange. brown tint. 
Its scientific name is Camponotus smaragdinus, or " the 
emerald ant," and Kirby says it is remarkable for its 
green colour. The explanation of this is probably 
that the first specimen which found its way to Europe 
was a queen, for she is green, and is a handsome and 
striking insect. We are more concerned with the 
worker, and may stick to our familiar name. The red 
ant, then, is not a house ant. It does not enter our 
dwellings and plunder our stores. Neither is it a 
ground ant. It makes neither burrows nor hills. It 
is entirely arboreal, making its nest among green 
leaves, which it draws together with a material 
like silk, or cobweb. As to its food, it seems, like 
most ill-tempered people, to need very little. I have 
