6 
was, that there was no arrangement by which the “ traverse” 
of the bobbin, as it is now termed, could be performed. The 
manner in which the yarn was distributed over the bobbin 
was peculiar. The flyer was tubular , and only reached 
downwards to just within the head of the bobbin, and the 
latter was of conical form, the lower end being the smallest. 
The yarn was thus wound constantly at the top of the bobbin 
by the flyer, but as it accumulated there, the conical form of 
the bobbin caused the coils of yarn to slip downwards, and 
thus a kind of distribution of yarn over the bobbin was 
effected. This part of the arrangement was evidently very 
defective, and it is highly probable that the want of some more 
efficient method of distributing the yarn over the bobbin was 
one if not the sole cause of the want of success which 
undoubtedly attended the efforts of Paul to bring his machine 
into general use. The addition to the machine of the 
“ traverse motion,” as it is called, or the arrangement by 
which the bobbin is made to ascend and descend on the 
spindle, was unquestionably a vast improvement, and of this 
Arkwright may fairly have the credit. But even here Ark- 
wright had been partly anticipated,* for in the specification of 
a patent granted to Comah Wood, in 1772, No. 1018, there is 
the description of a mode of causing the bobbin to be moved 
on the spindle for the purpose of winding the thread upon all 
parts of it in succession, this being done by a movable rail, 
capable of being shifted from time to time by hand. This, 
however, was only a slight approximation to what was 
required, and Arkwright, in applying the “ heart motion, ”f 
as it is now termed, may be said to have brought the throstle 
well nigh to the condition in which it is used at the present 
day. 
* Arkwright’s specification of 1769 does not describe any arrangement for 
this purpose. 
t The date of this application appears to be uncertain. 
