upon moulds composed of interlaced wires (draw an outline upon the black-board); water and superfluous pulp drained off; sheets placed on soft felt-paper and felt alternately in piles; why? Pressed; paper removed; very porous; dipped in a kind of glue, called size (hence difference between writing and blotting papers sized and unsized); pressed-rendered smooth and glossy; made up into reams-how many quires? how many sheets to a quire? Sold by stationers. Mills spread over the country-first established, in the reign of Elizabeth, at Dartford; many mills now in the neighbourhood of High Wycombe and Great Marlow. IV. Results Many descriptions of paper; applied to a variety of useful purposes. -e. g., for books, newspapers, magazines; writing papers-note, letter, foolscap, draft, &c.; packing and wrapping up goods-brown, grey, whity-brown; covering walls -paper hangings. Papier-Maché.-Shreds of paper softened, pressed into moulds, dried, japanned, painted, gilded, and polished; produces light, tough, and durable ornaments-e. g., tables, work-boxes, trays, dressingcases, chairs, &c. Recapitulate the whole lesson, and give the following for dictation: The Paper-Makers' Song. ""Tis we that bring riches, 'tis we that bring fame, Make books for the learned, and letters for all ! So foul and so tattered, so worn and so rough, * The process differs slightly in machine-made paper. Could think of the changes our magic can teach, When we sort, and we dust, and we boil, and we bleach? ; LESSON XLV. — SILK MANUFACTURE. I. The Raw Material. RAW silk obtained from the cocoons; the chrysalis is previously destroyed by heat; "floss," the outer covering, removed; cocoons then placed in hot water; threads wound upon reels tied into skeins-packed in hanks. Imported chiefly from China, Italy, France, and India. Of a bright yellow colour : "As yellow as furze on a mountain-fell II. Process of Manufacture. The process of manufacture is called "silkthrowing; "-it includes (1) winding, (2) spinning and twisting, (3) cleaning, and (4) weaving. Work-people (men, women, and children), called "throwsters." 1. Winding.-Each reel extended on a sexagonal wheel called a "swift"—wound from it upon bobbins." 2. Spinning and twisting. Sorted according to fineness, and twisted in passing from horizontal reels to upright bobbins (illustrate this). 3. Cleaning.-Silk boiled for several hours in water with soap; gum removed; silk rendered soft and glossy. 4. Weaving.-Woven in the loom; threads of different names, the long, the "warp "-the cross, the "woof" or "weft." To prepare it for this last process, it is dyed or bleached; original colour, yellow-white produced by bleaching, coloured, by dyeing. The workmen are thus enabled to produce fabrics of great beauty. "Weave brothers, weave, weave and throw The shuttle athwart the loom ; Come, show us how quickly your flowers grow, Come, show us the rose with a hundred dyes, The lily that hath no spot, The violet blue as the lofty skies, And the little forget-me-not." III. Localities engaged in the Trade. Compare it with other manufactures; why less concentrated than that of cotton or woollen? Among the towns at home engaged in the general manufacture are:- -Macclesfield, Derby, Norwich, London (Spitalfields and Bethnal Green), Stockport, Manchester; Dublin; Glasgow. Abroad— Lyons, Florence, Leghorn, Genoa, Constantinople, Damascus, Aleppo, Shiraz, and Utrecht. Particular branches of the trade are pursued in different districts; e. g.: a. Ribbons.-Coventry, Congleton, Macclesfield, Spitalfields. Coventry is especially noted for the beauty and elegance of its ribbons. 66 Long live the men of Coventry! His eyes are hard to please Who will not own, that out and out, they beat the Lyonnese." b. Crape.Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Somersetshire. c. Handkerchiefs. — Paisley, Manchester, Macclesfield, Glasgow. d. Poplins. Ireland, Manchester, Derby. e. Gloves and Stockings.-Derby, Northampton, Nottingham, Leicester. f. Shawls.-Paisley, Norwich, Edinburgh. g. Velvet.-Spitalfields; Genoa and Utrecht. English silk goods are exported most extensively to the New World-British America and the United States. LESSON XLVI.—SOAP. I. Description of Appearance, &c. ELICIT from the children some such particulars as the following that it is white, brown, yellow, or mottled; hard or soft; greasy; solid; an artificial substance; soluble. II. Composition. A combination of tallow, oil, and alkali (soda or potash). Alkali possesses great cleansing power; requires careful using; mixed with grease to prevent injury. Earliest made was soft-soapcomposed of fish-oil, tallow, and potash; hard, made of fatty matter (animal or vegetable) and soda. Proportion of each substance-fatty matter sixty-three parts, alkali six and a half, water thirty and a half. III. Raw Materials and Countries supplying them. Notice next the sources whence we obtain these articles : 1. Tallow.-From Russia (nineteen twentieths of our supply derived from that country), Australia, Brazil, and Buenos Ayres. Large home supply also. 2. Palm-oil.-Chiefly from Africa, between five degrees north and three south latitude; Brazil; and India. Forty thousand tons imported annually, valued at a million sterling. Extracted from nuts of the shape and size of pullets' eggs; grow in clusters of five or six hundred; smooth; yellow or red; contain a thick oily fungus, with a small stone in the centre; exposed, after gathering, to the sun for several days; bruised; crushed into a paste; placed in boiling water; a large quantity of orangecoloured oil gathers on the top; nearly tasteless; powerful odour; hardens in cooling to the consistence of butter. Notice the effect this trade has had on slavery in Africa- the labour of the negro is found more profitable than his sale. |