regulating marks adjusted. The men having spun down and fastened their threads to the low hook, hang on to the low wheel, and spin up in company with the regulating mark in the same manner as they spun down, Having arrived at the top, their threads are taken off the lower wheel, and knotted to the ends of the threads spun down, and the bight of the yarn is left over the bottom hook; they are drawn tight at the top and loosely fastened as before; the boy with his rod removes the threads into the large hooks, which for conveniency of receiving the threads spun down and up should be double; the threads of the hank spun down are placed in the left side, and those spun up in the right side of the double hook. The men in this manner spinning alternately down and up, and knotting their threads to each other as they are spun, will keep adding to the hank suspended in the walk; the spinners going down pass on the left, and those coming up pass on the right hand side of it; and for the conveniency of catching the threads as they are spun up, the thread hooks on the right of the hank must be placed in a contrary way to those on the left. The belt travelling on both the minor wheels, it is necessary for the turners at each of the spinning wheels to keep pace together; the hank when full is treated as before described.

By taking the regulating belt from off the wheels, I spin common yarn in the same way down, or down and up, knotting the ends together to form the hank, and placing it in the large hooks; or hang it to the sides in any convenient situation, by which method I save in time and labour. The low wheel being moveable can be placed at any distance down the walk the yarn is wanted to be in length. The operation of tarring I perform in the

the usual way (if the rope is to be white, the tarring is omitted); after which the yarn is extended upon the slots and made into rope. The sledge or laying wheel being placed at the distance required, I hang on to three separate pinions or hooks as many yarns as wanted, first entering the ends through a fair leader which is mounted upon wheels; the yarns being clear all the way, the upper ends are put through another fair leader at the top, drawn tight from the sledge and placed upon reels. To give the yarns a proper tension, a spring is fixed upon the reels, which prevents them yielding the threads faster than required in laying the strands. The men at the sledge are then to turn, and the fair leader is moved forward as fast as the strands are twisted to the top, which done they are cut off and closed in the usual way. Care must be taken that the men turn the wheels with a regular motion during the operation.

In the following manner I make double-thread strand cordage. The bottom wheel being placed at any distance down the walk I require the yarn to be in length, and the regulating belt fixed upon the minor wheels of each spinning wheel; the hemp being dressed, I calculate the quantity required to make the yarn intended to be spun, and weigh it out to each spinner, that my threads may be alike. My companies consist of two or three men in each, as I want a double or a treble-thread; set on to the upper wheel, and spin down with the guide mark, place their threads upon bearers or stake heads; having arrived at the bottom, the ends are knotted together, and hung upon a looper fixed to a small drag; the wheel still turning, a boy puts in a top, walks up with it and closes the threads together; it is then hung upon a spindle

a spindle at the top, taken off the looper and hung upon the drag at the bottom, and hardened into a cord; when finished, it is placed to a side, or hung in the large hooks suspended in the walk; the spinners having finished their threads down and knotted the ends together, leave the boy to close them, set on to the low wheel, and spin up again in company with the guide mark; the threads spun up are closed in the same manner by the boy as those spun down, and the ends are fastened together to form a hank as before. The men proceed in this manner until I obtain a quantity of those double threads or cords, which I tar in the usual way, and make them into strands, by first laying the heart of a small number of the double threads or of yarns, and placing the cords around the heart similar to the making a four-strand rope: The cords previous to laying are put through the fair leader and upon the reels, so as to have a proper tension during the time of forming the strands, which strands I make into three or four-strand shroud or warp-laid ropes, and I combine them together by sowing them, in which case they will be found serviceable for mines or pits; every other one of the combined double-thread strands must have a contrary twist in it, to prevent it from turning when loaded with heavy weights. In combining these strands I make use of two needles which penetrate through the centre of each, and the threads cross each other and form a diamond. Whale lines I make by combining in the same manner a plural number of these strands together; of whatever number of strands the line is to consist, the whole I make upon the same wheel at one time, regularity being required in forming them. And to prevent the lines from intangling when in use,

I coil them on reels in the fishing-boats; at one end of the reel I fix a gripe wheel with a brake to it: the fish being struck with the harpoon, one of the crew takes hoid of the brake and lets out the line at pleasure. The round lines I coil in the same manner upon reels, by which method they cannot foul and endanger the lives of those men in the boats.

In making of warp-laid ropes, I claim as my invention a wheel containing nine spindles, whereby I make the whole of the strands at once, which method puts a regular turn in them equally alike. The wheel may be of any size according to the power required to make a large or a small rope. To prevent the yarns from getting foul of each other by making nine strands at the same time, I use three bearers or slots, which are placed one above the other, by which means each strand is kept separately by itself. When the strands are sufficiently hard, I hang each three strands upon three separate pinions, and close them by three tops fixed upon a carriage which moves forward as they are laid. The strands thus formed are hung upon the spindle of the wheel which is constructed for that purpose, and made into a cable or warp.

Fig. 1, (Plate XI.) shews a front view of the spinning wheel, with the minor wheels and regulating belt fixed upon it.

Fig. 2, side view of the same, a a in both figures is the regulating belt, b the guide mark fastened to the belt, cc the spinning wheel, D the minor wheel with the belt upon it, ee the belt which turns the spindles, gg two sheeves placed above the minor wheel over which the belt travels down the walk.

Fig. 3,

Fig. 3, the minor wheel detached from the major; as various-sized minor wheels are wanted for spinning of different sized yarns, the minor must be made to ship and unship from the major wheel.

Fig. 4, two hooks, a double and a single one, to hang the threads or yarns in as they are spun; the double hook has a joint in it to turn up clear of the men's heads when not in use.

Fig. 5, the combined double-thread strands shewing the diamond stitching.

Fig. 6, inside view of a whale-boat with the reel fixed in her and the line upon it; n n the line as it runs off the reel m, and s the brake handle, o head of the boat, p her stern, r the bollard which the line may be taken to and used in the common way in case any accident happen to the reel.

Fig. 7, the reel and line detached from the boat; t t the spindle upon which it travels.

Fig. 8, end of the reel shewing the gripe wheel u.

Fig. 9, the gripe which is fixed upon the wheel u. The boats I most approve of are those built upon the plan of Messrs Harper and Wilson's patent, they being much more capacious, lighter, stronger, and less liable to leak or be bulged by the ice, than those made in the common way.

In witness whereof, &c.

Specification