has been very fashionable of late. This is purely mechanical work. The muslin is printed with a pattern made lip of holes of different dimensions; these are cut or punched out, and their edges sown with a "button-hole stitch." This kind of work is much used as trimming for ladies' clothing, for collars, and children's clothes. • Machine-embroidery has been practiced with considerable success during the last quarter century. A machine was exhibited in the French industrial exhibition of 1854, by M. Hellmann of MifiliaiNemby whiclroneperson could guide from 80 to 140 needles, all working at the same time, and producing so many repetitions of the same design. Although the details of the construction of this machine are rather complex, the prince ple of its action may be easily understood. The needles have their eyes in the middle, and are pointed at each end, so that they may pass through from one side of the work to the other without being turned. Each needle is worked by two pair of artificial fingers or pincers, one on each side of the work; they grasp and push the needle through from one side to the other. A carriage or frame connected with each series of fingers does the work of the arm, by carrying thefingers to a distance corresponding to the whole length of the thread, as soon as the needle has passed completely through the work. The frame then returns to exactly its original place, and the needles are again passed through to the opposite set of fingers, which act in like manner. If the work were to remain stationary, the needles would thus pass merely backwards and forwards through the same hole, and make no stitch; but by moving the work as this action proceeds, stitches will be made, their length and direction varying with the veloc ity and the direction in which the work moves. If 140 needles were working, and the
fabric were moved in a straight line, 140 rows of stitching would be made; if the work made a circular movement, 140 circles would be embroidered; and so on. In order, then, to produce repetitions of any given design, it is only necessary to move the fabric in directions corresponding to the lines of the design. This is done by connecting the frame on which the work is fixed to an apparatus similar to a common, pantagraph, or instrument so constructed that one end repeats on a smaller scale exactly the move ments which are given to the other., See PANTAGRAPII. The free end of this is moved over an enlarged copy of the design, the movement being a succession of steps, made after each set of needles has passed through; and thus the work is moved into the posi tion required to receive the next stitch of the pattern.
This machine was subsequently patented in England, and many improvements have been made upon its details, but the principle of its construction remains the same.
Although it is possible to embroider any design with such machines, there are only certain designs that can be worked economically; for to do this, the patterns must be so designed as to consume each needleful of silk without waste. The length of silk required for each color can be calculated with extreme accuracy, and the designer is usually limited by this requirement. A greater range is, however, obtainable by dyeing the same thread of silk in different colors, the length of each color corresponding to what is required for producing the pattern; but a large demand for each pattern is required to render' this profitable.