The Trials of Sheep Shearing Machines al Chester. 549 
guarded by means of leather covers. By this means the shears 
are detached with the greatest ease, and without any loss of 
time, when they have to be cleaned or when the cutters require 
to be changed. 
Messrs. Newall’s driving gear consists of a light spur wheel 
sliding on a countershaft, and gearing into a vulcanised fibre 
pinion, which is secured to a light shaft, the opposite end of 
which is connected to the flexible shaft in the manner already 
described. The motion of the shaft is stopped or started by 
sliding the spur wheel out of, or into, gear by means of an 
ordinary forked lever engaging into a collar groove on the base 
of the wheel, and retained in its place by an automatic catch, 
which, however, did not work in a satisfactory manner. 
Messrs. Burgon’s gear, on the other hand, has a bevel pulley 
keyed on the countershaft, and drives a conical friction pinion, 
covered with a special elastic composition, fixed on a vertical 
spindle which works at the extremity of an upright rocking 
frame some six inches long, by means of which it can be moved 
to, and from, contact with the cone pulley by the agency of a 
starting lever furnished with two hand lines, on the boss of 
which is formed an inclined plane, which, through a short sliding 
connecting rod, communicates the rocking motion to the frame, 
and so presses the pinion against the bevel pulley, and by that 
means starts or stops the shaft. 
The lower and upper horizontal members of the rocking 
frame cariy, in line with the vertical member of the flexible 
shaft, fixed sockets, the lower one of which is bored taper and 
is fitted with a taper mandril, on to which the friction cone 
pulley is secured between the upper and lower members of the 
frame. The upper end of the internal flexible shaft is connected 
to this mandril by a bayonet joint, followed a little lower down 
by a Boyle universal joint. The outer portion of the flexible 
shaft is connected to the outside of the fixed socket of the 
frame by means of a brass shield, which is partially split and is 
clamped on by means of a binding screw, while in the same 
plane, horizontally with the internal universal joint, is a ball- 
and-socket joint which enables the vertical shaft to have a con- 
siderable lateral movement in all directions, but provision is 
made to limit this motion and to tend to bring the shaft to the 
vertical state by means of a ^-inch steel wire spring, the upper 
end of which is secured to the fixed brass sheath above, while 
the lower end is twisted round the middle of the vertical shaft. 
The speeds of the two machines, i.e. of the internal driving 
shafts, are as follows : — 
VOL. IV. T. S. — 15 0 O 
