THE EXHIBITION OP 1862. 
149 
The Machinery for the Manufacture of Textile Fabrics com- 
prises tlie largest class of ingenious machinery and clever 
contrivances ever submitted to public inspection ; and these 
may be divided into machinery for the manufacture of cotton, 
for flax, and for wool, including stranding and rope machinery 
of every description. The length of this article, and our limited 
space, will prevent us from noticing in detail the numerous 
machines now in use in the different processes of manufacture, 
from the raw material to the finished article ready for the 
market. In cotton alone we have no less than from twelve to 
fifteen preparatory machines, in as many distinct processes, 
before the article is converted from the cotton into cloth ; and 
these are distinguished as machines for opening', blowing, 
carding, drawing, slubbing’, roving, spinning, winding', woop- 
ing, dressing, and weaving, exclusive of other subordinate 
processes. In all these operations may be seen an automaton 
system of movements, regulated with the same precision and 
nicety as a timepiece. It appears almost fabulous, the amount 
of work done and of power expended in this department of 
manufacture alone, and the number of hands employed, not as 
prime movers, but as “tenters” feeding the machines, un- 
happily no longer in daily use, for the production of this colossal 
manufacture. Many of our readers may not be acquainted with 
the magnitude of this important branch of national industry; 
but we may venture roughly to state, that the annual value of 
this manufacture is upwards of £70,000,000 per annum, and 
gives employment to nearly one million of persons, or, with 
its dependencies, upwards of two millions. 
The cotton machinery is well represented in this year’s 
Exhibition, by Messrs. Platt, Hetherington, Dobson, and 
others; and the adaptation, style, and character of the ma- 
chinery are of the first order, and do the mechanical genius of 
this country great credit. All the minutiie of construction 
appear to be attended to, and the utmost care observed, so 
that all the preparatory processes are performed by the ma- 
chines, with a degree of exactitude far exceeding that of the 
human hand. Of late years a most ingenious machine has been 
introduced from Alsace, in France, as a substitute for carding. 
It is a combing machine, and its operations are so exact, and 
its work so perfect, as to enable the spinner to produce a finer 
description of yarn from an inferior quality of cotton. This 
machine is available for the finer numbers of yarn, and is one 
of the most important inventions since the days of Arkwright 
and Crompton. It has undergone great improvements since 
its introduction into this country, and is now extensively em- 
ployed in the preparatory processes for flax and wool, as well 
as cotton. 
