S3 4 
New Patents and Mechanical Inventions. [Jan. 1 7 
which they are to he immersed, as 
hereafter described. The sooner this 
is done after the hops are gathered (lie 
better, as the difficulty of afterwards 
separating the fibrous part is increased 
if the hop-binds be suffered to dry before 
the process commences. 
Second , The said bundles, without 
suffering them to dry, are to he im¬ 
mersed in hot or boiling water in ves- 
sets of sufficient capacity, and kept in 
hot or boiling water till, on the trial, 
the fibrous or flaxy part is found to se¬ 
parate easily from the pith or core; or, 
which is a more economical method 
than that which we usually follow, the 
said bundles of hop-binds, cut into 
lengths as aforesaid, are immersed in 
running or in standing water, the 
softer the water is the better it answers, 
and are kept under the same by stones 
or weights laid upon them till, on trial, 
it was found that the fibrous or flaxy 
part can be easily stripped from the 
pith or core. Tills is seldom effected 
in less thau eight days, and sometimes 
it requires two or three weeks, accord¬ 
ing as the hops have been suffered to 
remain ungathered for a longer or 
shorter time by favourable or unfa¬ 
vourable weather, and depending also 
on the quality of the water in which 
the bundles are kept immersed. 
Third , When the steeped hop-binds 
are found ready for the process, the 
fibrous or flaxy substance is, along 
with the outer bark or rind, separated 
from the pith or core in the following 
manner: posts or benches, of heights 
convenient for the men, Avomen, and 
children employed, are provided ; into 
these are driven iron nails in pairs, or 
pieces of iron in pairs, presenting angu¬ 
lar edges in such a manner, that the 
tops of the said nails or pieces of iron 
shall stand a few inches al>OA r e the posts 
or benches in which they are fastened, 
and be close at the bottom, and a little 
open at the top of each pair. To these 
pairs of nails, or of pieces of iron, we 
give the name of strippers, and they 
are used as follows: the work people 
take the pieces of hop-bind by one end, 
one or two pieces at a time, and, plac¬ 
ing them in the strippers, which they 
enter to a greater or less depth, accord¬ 
ing to their respectwe sizes or diame¬ 
ters, the work-people draw them 
through the strippers more or less ofteh, 
till the fibre and bark is stripped from 
the pith or core, draAvn up in balls or 
lumps at the back of the strippers. 
Fourth , The said balls or lumps of 
fibre and bark are taken off from the 
back of the strippers as quickly as they 
are produced, by women or children, 
whose business it is to draw them out 
again into length with their fingers, and 
to lay them down, in order that they 
may, \A T hen dried as hereafter directed, 
be in a fit state for the subsequent 
manipulations. 
Fifth, When the fibre and bark have 
been disentangled from the lumpy state 
in which they are found at the back of 
the strippers, and brought into longi¬ 
tudinal arrangement, they should be 
taken up in convenient handfuls and 
rinced in water, to separate, as much 
as can in this Avay be separated, of the 
vegetable gluten or mucilage Avhich ad¬ 
heres to the fibre. 
Sixth, The fibious or flaxy material 
thus separated from the pith or core, 
and rinced or washed as has been di¬ 
rected, is to be spread out to dry in the 
sun and air, or, if the weather be unfa- 
Aourable, on hurdles or any kind of 
shelves made under sheds, or it may 
be dried by stories or on kilns. The 
sooner this is done tjie better. 
Seventh, When thoroughly dry, the 
fibrous material is beaten by the hand 
with mallets, batons, or rods, or any 
other means, for the purpose of break¬ 
ing and reducing the bark or rind that 
still adheres to it, to a state.pf powder; 
a great part of which may then be 
shaken from the flaxy fibre, which is 
then to be dressed by hackling, or all 
or any of the usual means employed to 
dress and prepare hemp or flax, for 
the different purposes of manufacture. 
Eighth, When A\ T e Avish to obtain the 
fibrous substance in its longest state, 
Avhich is more useful for some purposes 
of manufacture; then, instead of draw¬ 
ing the steeped hop-binds through the 
strippers as before directed, Ave cause 
the Avork-people to peel off by hand the 
fibrous substance with its rind, which 
is then to be dried, and afterwards 
beaten and dressed as before directed. 
To William Annesly, of Belfast , 
for Improvements in the construction 
of Ships' Boats and other Vessels .— 
June, 1821. 
The improvement in constructing 
ships’ boats and other vessels consists 
in making the hull of the same of three 
or more layers of planks, the direction 
of the grain of the alternate layers pro¬ 
ceed ing from boA\ r to stern, and that of 
the intermediate layer passing from one 
gunwale around and under the vessel 
to the other gumvale without being cut 
or 
