INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION AT SOUTH KENSINGTON. 287 
of Mr. Martin, of Verviers ; and it will be well also to 
understand some of the distinctions between the English 
machines and those of that active iron-working country, Bel- 
gium. We see in the Belgian machinery less finish, less 
admirable workmanship, but useful good engines nevertheless. 
We see in the carding-engines that the cards are felted, and 
consequently less of the card-wires are exposed, the cards being 
consequently stiffer. Mr. Martin’s condenser is a novelty, and 
has excellent qualities ; the web is parted by figure-of-eight 
straps running over two sets of cylinder-rings, the intersection 
of these straps acting like scissors in dividing off the threads. 
No space is thus lost in dividing the web into threads. The 
wool for these engines should be well cleaned — a process in 
which the Belgians surpass the English. 
The combing-machines of Mr. Walmsley demand special at- 
tention for the novelty of their principle — the circular rotating 
comb. There is nothing more thoroughly novel in principle in 
the entire court, and in every way they appear to do their work 
well. The combing process is of course allied to carding, the 
object being to get the wool perfectly cleared and disentangled, 
and the long fibres separated from the short. This is admirably 
done in these machines by rollers, which draw the long fibres 
from the comb and leave the short ones in it, to be taken off by 
another set of rollers. In this way continuous slivers of long 
wool, and of short wool and waste, are simultaneously delivered 
into separate cans. 
The spinning of the yarn into thread is only shown by Mr. 
Smith’s spinning machine : there are, however, other processes, 
such as drawing and roving, which are not exhibited. We 
have traced the wool now up to the state of preparation re- 
quired for the final production of textile fabrics, and have 
arrived at the stage when it passes to the loom to be woven 
into cloth, tweed, and such like goods. The looms are of dif- 
ferent kinds, according to the purpose for which they are to be 
employed. The plain loom has one shuttle on each side, and 
works with ordinary pickers, and a common tappet-heald 
motion ; the fancy Looms have shuttles up to four in number, 
and work with the Jacquard and chain-picking motions. After 
this we have — so far as the fine wools passed through the card- 
ing engines which we have been noticing are concerned — 
finally to take a glance at the u cloth-finishing machines,” or 
those employed to surface the goods with a fine pile or nap. 
Mr. Ferrabee illustrates this process in a- very practical 
manner. 
The coarser kinds of wool, and the fibres of old fabrics, are 
also used for making felts and carpets, and other of the less 
fine goods ; and looms for carpet-weaving are well represented. 
