V* * -• <» 1 . 
MILL. 
the shoe, .Q, by two lines fastened to the 
hinder part of it, fixed upon hooks in tlie 
hopper, and by one end of the string, R, 
fastened to the fore-part of it ; the other 
end being twisted round a pin, in a conve- 
nient place, within the reach of the miller ; 
as the pin is turned one way the string 
draws up the shoe closer to the hopper, and 
so lessens the aperture between them ; and 
as the pin is turned the other way it lets 
down the shoe and enlarges the aperture. 
If the shoe is drawn up quite to the hop- 
per no corn can fall from the hopper into 
the mill, if it is let down a little some will 
fall, aud the quantity will be more or less 
according as the shoe is more or less let 
down ; for the hopper is open at bottom, 
and there is a hole in the bottom of the 
shoe, not directly under the bottom of the 
hopper, but nearer to the lower end of the 
shoe, over the middle eye of the mill-stone. 
There is a square on the top of the spindle 
on which is put the feeder,/'; this feeder, 
as the spindle turns round, jogs the shoe 
three times in every revolution, and so 
causes the corn to run constantly down 
from the hopper, throiigh the shoe, into the 
eye of the mill-sfone, where it falls upon the 
top of the rynd, and is, by the motion of the 
rynd and the leather under it, thrown be- 
low the upper stone, and ground between 
it and the lower one. The violent motion 
of the stone creates a centrifugal force in 
the corn going round with it, by which 
means it gets further and further from the 
centre, as in a spiral, in every revolution 
until it is quite thrown out, and being then 
ground it falls through a spout, called the 
mill-eye, into a trough placed to receive it. 
When the mill is fed too fast the corn 
bears up the stone and is ground too fast, 
and besides, it clogs the mill so as to make 
it go too slow ; when the mill is too slowly 
fed it goes too fast ; and the stones, by their 
attrition, are apt to strike fire: both these 
inconveniences are avoided by turning the 
pin backward or forward, which draws up 
or lets down the shoe, and thus regulates 
the feeding as the miller sees convenient. 
It affords us pleasure in being able to lay 
before the reader reduced copies of two 
designs for water-wheels, by the late Mr. 
John Smeaton, and which we have obtained 
from Sir Joseph Banks, K. B. who has per- 
mitted our draughtsmen to make copies of 
Mr. Smeaton’s original drawings, which are 
in his possession. The first is an undershot 
water-wheel. See fig. 1 . Plate II. Mill- 
work. 
A is the main shaft, or axis, upon which 
the wheel turns, and which communicates 
its power to the interior mechanism of the 
mill : aaaa are six arms morticed into this 
shaft, and supporting the rim, hb, of the 
wheel ; into this rim the starts, ee, are mor-^ 
ticed ; these are short pieces of wood, to 
which the float boards, ff, are nailed ; it is 
by the action of the water upon these that 
the wheel is turned: gg are boards fixed 
obliquely, and extending from one float to 
the next; they are to prevent the water 
passing through the wheel without acting 
upon it. B B is a circular breasting, or 
sweep, which is made to fit to the wheel as 
close as possible witlrout touching, so that 
very little water may escape; the ends of 
the boards also fit the sides of the wheel- 
race, or trough, in the same manner. D D 
is the crown of the breasting, which is a 
segment of a circle. And, d is tlie shuttle 
by which the quantity of w'ater going to the 
wheel is regulated, and consequently its 
power. There are two of the rims, bb, 
(though only one is seen, the other being 
behind it) with separate sets of arms and 
starts to support the float-boards at each 
end ; and in some very broad wheels three 
rings are employed. 
Figure 2. is an over-shot water-wheel, 
as designed by Mr. Smeaton, and generally 
recommended by him in the latter years of 
his business. 
A is the main shaft, with two sets of clasp 
arms embracing it, and supporting two 
rings (one only of which, a a, is seen, the 
other being behind it) parallel to each 
other, aud at the distance apart of the 
breadth of the wheel : 6 6 are a number of 
boards nailed down to the rings, at their 
ends, in the same manner as flooring-boards 
are nailed upon the joists, and forming, upon 
the wheel, a complete cylinder; on each of 
the ends of tliese boards a circular ring, dd, 
is fixed, and between these the boards' 
forming the buckets are fastened, by having 
their ends let into grooves made in the in- 
side of the rings, dd -, the bucket-boards are 
each composed of tw’o pieces, as is, suffi- 
ciently explained in the figure. The pen- 
trough, which brings the water to the wheel, 
is next to be described j it is a long square 
trough, B B, with a hole in its bottom at 
one end, through which it delivers its water 
upon the wheel : e is a board called the 
shuttle, covering this hole, and made to fit 
water-tight upon the bottom of the trough 
by leather ; it is drawn backwards or for- 
wards by a rod connecting it with a lever 
1 i 2 
