MANUFACTURE  OF  VEGETABLE  OILS. 
499 
in  Cable  Street,  St.  George's-in-the-East.  The  oils  they  manu- 
facture are  rape  and  linseed  only,  but  their  refining  operations 
extend  to  the  animal  as  well  as  the  vegetable  oils.  The  Albert 
Works  have  a  river  frontage  of  about  200  feet,  and  recede  from 
the  bank  about  the  same  distance,  thus  covering  an  area  of  more 
than  three-quarters  of  an  acre.  The  building  consists  of  four 
stories  ;  the  manufacture  is  carried  on  in  the  lowest,  the  others 
being  used  as  storage  for  the  grain,  which  is  hoisted  from  the 
barges  by  means  of  cranes  worked  by  steam-power.  The  first 
object  which  arrests  the  visitor's  attention  is  the  engine,  which 
is  a  small  but  beautiful  piece  of  machinery  of  forty-five  horse 
power.  With  the  exception  of  the  workmen's  meal-times  and 
Sundays,  it  is  always- at  work  night  and  day.  From  the  engine- 
room  the  visitor  is  conducted  to  the  manufactory,  where,  as  soon 
as  he  can  recover  from  the  irritation  in  the  eyes  produced  by 
the  volatile  oil  escaping  from  the  heated  and  bruised  seed,  the 
whole  process  presents  itself  before  him. 
The  grain  is  received  from  the  upper  floor  into  a  hopper,  in 
which  is  a  screen,  the  agitating  of  which  removes  all  foreign 
substances,  and  suffers  the  seed  alone  to  pass  through  its 
meshes.  This  falls  between  two  faced,  hollow,  iron  cylindrical 
rollers,  which  are  heated  by  steam,  and  which,  as  they  revolve, 
crush,  or,  as  it  is  termed,  open  the  grain.  Thus  opened,  it  is 
thrown  on  to  a  steel  plate  calf,  fixed  on  a  bed  of  solid  masonry, 
which  is  constantly  traversed  by  a  pair  of  edge-runners,  weigh- 
ing from  eight  to  nine  tons,  and  travelling  at  the  rate  of  sixteen 
revolutions  per  minute.  They  revolve  in  a  strong  framework 
attached  to  a  vertical  axis,  which  also,  by  means  of  a  large  cog- 
wheel at  the  top,  which  engages  a  wheel  upon  the  main  shaft,  re- 
volves slowly.  A  double  motion  is  thus  given  to  the  grinders  or 
edge-runners,  one  on  their  own  axis  and  one  on  the  iron  plate, 
which  we  may  consider  the  nether  mill-stonc.  A  raised  border 
or  rim  prevents  the  seed  from  escaping  from  the  plate,  and  the 
paste  is  brought  regularly  under  the  stones  by  means  of  rakes 
or  sweeps  attached  to  the  vertical  framework,  and  revolving 
with  the  runners  on  the  surface  of  the  plate.  When  the  grain 
has  been  sufficiently  ground,  the  pasge  is  brought  to  an  open 
portion  of  the  rim,  and  falls  over  into  perforated  troughs  placed 
to  receive  it.    Through  the  perforations  a  considerable  quan- 
