COT 
spinning, used formerly to be performed by 
the hand, with a single pair of cards, upon 
the knee, ; but this being a tedious method, 
ill suited to the i-apid operations of the new 
spinning machines, other methods were con- 
trived for atfording a quicker and more 
adequate supply. The first improvement 
for this purpose waS likewise made by Mr. 
Hargrave, and consisted in applying two 
or three cards to the same board, and fixing 
them to a stool or stock; whence they ob- 
tained the name of stock-cards. With these 
one woman could perform two or three 
times as much work as she could do before 
in the common way. A still more expedi- 
tious method of carding, however, by vi'hat 
are commonly called cylinder cards, was 
soon afterwards invented, and is that which 
is now most commonly practised. 
Cotton spinning, the art or process of 
reducing cotton-wool into yarn or thread. 
The most simple method for this purpose, 
and the only one in use for a long tune in 
this country, was by the hand upon the 
well-known domestic machine called a one- 
thread wheel. But as tlie demand for cot- 
ton goods began to increase, other inven- 
tions were thought of for expediting this 
part of the manufacture. About 60 years 
ago an engine was contrived for a more 
easy and expeditious method of spinning 
cotton, and a patent was obtained; but the 
undertaking did not prove successful. Some 
years after, various machines were con- 
structed by different persons for facilitating 
the spinning of cotton; but without pro- 
ducing any very material or lasting advan- 
tage. At length, about 1767, Mr. James 
Hargrave, a weaver in the neighbourhood 
of Biackburne, in Lancashire, constructed 
a machine by which a great number of 
threads (from 20 to 80) might be spun at 
once, and for which he obtained his Majesty’s 
iatters patent. Tliis machine is called a 
jenny, and is the best contrivance for spin- 
ning woof, or shute, that has hitherto ap- 
peared. It is now commonly constructed 
for 84 threads ; and with it one person can 
spin 100 English hanks in the day, each 
bank containing 840 yards. 
The next and most capital improvements 
which this branch of manufacture received 
were from Mr. Arkwright, afterward Sir 
Richard Arkw'righf, of Cromford, in Derby- 
shire. He first brought forward his new 
metliod of spinning cotton in 1768, for 
which he obtained a patent in 1769. In 
1775 he obtained another patent for engines 
tvhich he had .constructed to prepare tite 
COT 
materials for spinning ; though one of thhse 
patents, being challenged at law, was set 
aside some years before it expired. The 
result of Mr. Arkwright’s ditferent inven- 
tions and improvements is a combination of 
machinery, by which cotton is carded, rov- 
ed, and spun, with the utmost exactness 
and equality ; and such a degree of perfec- 
tion attained in spinning warp as is not to 
be equalled in any other part of the world. 
To these improvements this country is en- 
tirely indebted for the great extent of its 
cotton manufactures ; large buildings having 
been erected for that branch both in Eng- 
land and Scotland, many of which contain 
several thousands of spindles, each driven 
by one or more large water wheels; and 
some of such extent as to spin at tlie rate 
ot one thousand yards of twist or warp 
yarn in the minute. Other machines have 
been invented at different times, and a va- 
riety of improvements made by different 
mechanics and manufacturers, one of which 
in particular we must not omit to mention. 
It is called a mule, being a kind of mixture 
of machinery between tiie warp-machine of 
Mr. Arkwright and the woof-machine, or 
hand jenny, of Mr. Hargrave, and was also 
invented in Lancashire. 
Cotton mills are large buildings, with 
peculiar machinery for carding, roving, and 
spinning cotton. These were entirely un- 
known in this country before the different 
inventions and improvements of Messrs. 
Arkwright and Hargrave ; since which time 
great numbers have been erected in Eng- 
land, many in Scotland, and some in Ire- 
land. See Manufacture of cotton. 
COTTUS, the hull-head, in natural his- 
toi-y, a genus of fishes of the order Thora- 
cici. Generic character : head broader 
than the body, spiny; eyes vertical and 
supplied with a nictitating membrane ; gill 
membrane, of six rays ; body round, without 
scales, tapering towards the tail; dorsal 
fins generally two. There are ten species, 
of which the principal is C. gobio, the river 
bull-head. This is about five inches long 
w’hen full grown, is found in almost eveiy 
part of Europe in clear streams, and con- 
ceals itself under a stone, or in the gravel. 
Its food consists of worms, aquatic insects, 
and extremely young fish. It is reported 
to deposit its spawn in a hole in the gravel 
formed by it for the purpose, and which 
nothing but necessity will induce it to leave. 
It is capable of swimming very vigorously 
and rapidly, but is far more stationary than 
active in its habit. It is used as food, but 
