quite uniform in its structure, and drawn out by these stretchings very fine, it is then called a “sliver.” When it is drawn as fine as the kind of cotton admits, the first twist is given to it by the “roving” machine, which twists it into a soft card, delivers it wound on “bobbins,” and it is finally twisted into yarn by the “winding machine.” Illustration: BOBBIN FRAME. Illustration: WINDING MACHINE. These processes are carried on with great precision and rapidity, and, by the aid of these machines, one man is able in a day to produce as much yarn as the most expert spinner by hand could furnish in a year! Cotton, until about 1760, was all spun by hand. A little later, James Hargreaves invented the “spinning-jenny,” and Arkwright afterwards improved the “carding machine;” the “mule-jenny” (see Heading), invented by Crompton, was a still further improvement. The cotton, when spun, is called yarn, which is used for weaving into calicoes and other cotton goods. Cotton thread is made by twisting (by machinery) two or more yarns into one, which are afterwards dressed with starch, and wound on reels or into balls. WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. Wool is almost exclusively derived from the fleece of the sheep, goats’ wool being only occasionally used. Wool differs from hair in possessing a notched surface, giving it the very useful quality of “felting,” and enabling the fibres to adhere into a mass when pressed and beaten together, the notches catching into each other. Woollen articles are chiefly of two kinds, “woollens,” or those partly felted and made from “short” or “clothing” wools, called “cloths,” and those made without felting from “combing” or “long” wools, as “merinos,” “stuffs,” &c. Wool undergoes a numerous succession of processes before it is complete in its manufacture. It is first sorted according to the quality required, next scoured and washed in a warm solution of soap, and then rinsed in cold water, to get rid of the “yelk” or grease with which the wool is naturally coated. It is then passed between rollers to dry it, next dyed, and then “willowed” (this last process is to disentangle the fibres and at the same time get rid of any dust which may have been mixed with it); afterwards it is spread out and sprinkled with a small quantity of olive oil being thoroughly beaten with rods, to spread the oil over the surface of every fibre. It next undergoes a process called “scribbling,” which is effected by a machine which combs out the fibres and lays them in layers, in a parallel direction; the wheels which effect this are armed on their surfaces with wires and the wool passes from one set to another, finer and finer, till at last it passes out in threads or “cards” and these are spun by the “slubbing machine” into “yarns” for weaving. After being woven, the oil is again washed out with warm soap and water, and the fabric is then stretched by means of