But if we were to sanction the use of capacious shuttles, ten inches of thread must undergo this chafing and seesaw treatment, and under the above conditions every part of the ten inches must pass up and down two hundred times--treatment that might reasonably be expected to leave little "life" in the thread. But in spite of this tremendous drawback, there are machines offered for sale made with such shuttles. For reasons that I have now pointed out, it is quite clear that a large shuttle or bobbin is by no means an unmixed advantage. Indeed, the very best makers of sewing machines have always striven to keep down the bulk of the shuttle, and in those splendid machines shown here to-night the use of the small shuttles is conspicuous. It may be contended that small bobbins frequently require refilling, which is quite true, but the saving of the thread effected thereby, not to mention that of the machine itself, amply compensates for the use of small shuttles. Apart from this, however, it is no longer necessary to wind bobbins at all. Dewhurst & Sons, of Skipton, and Clark & Co., of Paisley, have produced ready wound "cops" or bobbins of thread for placing direct into shuttles. Thus no winding of bobbins is necessary, and indeed the bobbins themselves are dispensed with. I believe that the slightly increased cost of the thread thus wound is the only present bar to the extensive introduction of ready wound "cops." _Of Thread Controllers_.--One of the earliest difficulties encountered by the maker of a sewing machine was that of effectually controlling the loose thread after it had been cast off the shuttle. In some machines this slack thread amounts to six, in others to one or two inches. Howe got over the difficulty by passing his thread, on its way to the needle, over the upper extremity of the needle bar--the ascent of the bar, then, sufficed to pull up the slack. Singer improved upon this by furnishing his machine with a spring take-up lever, partially controlled by the needle bar. [Illustration: FIG. 4.]