In Plate CIV. Fig. 4, is given the plan used for the japan or paper spot, which is more brilliant in appear ance, but vastly more expensive in apparatus, and more tedious to work than the common spot. The difference of the japan from the common spot consists in the lat ter being as completely interwoven with the cloth as any part of the fabric, whereas the former is only raised or flushed on one side. In the common spot, therefore, each alternate thread is drawn into the same leaf, and consequently one half of the whole warp is wrought ex actly as a plain piece of cloth, whilst the other half only is reserved for the fanciful or decorative part. In the insertion of the two kinds of woof, the finer sort, which forms the ground or body of the texture, is passed twice between the warp for every time that the coarse or spot ting woof is used. But in the japan spot, every thread of that part which forms the figure is drawn independ ently, and consequently twice the number of leaves be come necessary, and as, in this case, one thread of each kind of woof is alternately used, the spotting woof is as completely incorporated into the fabric as any other part of it. In the figure, the plain leaves A and B are only used for the intervals between the spots or figures ; and were the pattern a complete allover spot, they would only be used for a few threads or splitfuls of warp at each side, in order to form a plain selvage or list. The marks for the order of drawing the warp through the fanciful part of the mounting, being placed upon exact ly the same plan as lormerly described, a mere inspec tion of the figure will be sufficient for those who have studied the former plans, or who are previously ac quainted with this mode of elucidation, which is univer sal among the best informed operative weavers of fanci ful cloth, without almost any further explanation. The whole, it will be evident, may be reduced to four com partments, two being allotted for each flower; and were the flowers in regular succession, without being placed so as to form the appearance of a diamond or diagonal row, only one half of the apparatus would be necessary.
The Japan spot, although less tedious, and conse quently less expensive than the brocade, is still suffi ciently so to preclude it from ever becoming an article of general use, excepting with the opulent ; and, conse quently, it never can be an article of extensive manufac ture, more especially as it is rivalled, even in point of show, by many cheaper substitutes. Abstracted, how ever, from the original expence, it will perhaps he found, eventually, a more desirable article, even in point of economy, than many of the more flimsy substitutes which have superseded it. To those, therefore, who can afford the original purchase, and who are not too prone to be carried away by novelty, it will be always de sirable ; for, in point of neatness, strength, and durabili ty, if carefully used, it is decidedly superior to most of the light ornamental goods which are manufactured, either in India or in Britain.
Sonic attempts have been made to save time, and su persede the necessity of employing a boy or girl to assist the operator in ,fingering brocades, which is the term applied to the interweaving of the coarse woof by the hand. These have been chiefly confined to opera tive tradesmen, who, being neither intimately acquaint ed with those minutiae of mechanical science, which are so peculiarly necessary to guard an inventor from great error, nor of the ability to expend either much time or money in maturing their plans, were not very likely to prove eminently successful.
The competition of cheaper articles may be assigned as a sufficient reason why more opulent manulacturers could have little inducement to embark capital in the promotion of such schemes ; and consequently both, after a few, perhaps insufficient, experiments, were abandoned. If a demand, however, really existed for the article, either of them seems sufficiently capable of ef fecting its purpose, and even of producing a very con siderable saving. In Plate CIV. Fig. 5, a small addi tional lay, containing a number of boxes, each of which is to work a small independent shuttle, is represented. This lay has two motions. The first serves to raise or sink it at pleasure ; and the second from right to left, and vice versa, by a sudden jerk, throws the shuttles from each box to that next it. Tnis lay being suspend ed immediately in front of the large one whicb contains the reed, and which is in every respect the same as the common lay for weaving plain cloth, is sunk between the intervals of the warp, when the small shuttles are to be used, and by a sudden jerk all the small shuttles are thrown across. The front lay being then raised, the woof is struck home by the other lay; the fine woof for the ground of the texture is th.n inserted, as in plain weaving, and the op ration of the small lay repeated as often as the particular form or size of the flower renders it requisite. The places for the small shuttles are dis tinguished by the letters AA, BB, &c. each letter being. supposed to show the place of one shuttle in each of its alternate positions. As this apparatus is very similar in the general principle to that of the incle loom, there is no reason to despair of rendering it effective, when ever a sufficient stimulus for the exertion of talent and industry is held out, by a want of the article which it is intended to produce. In its present state, it can only be considered in the light of a rude and impel lcct attempt at improvement.
The other invention, which was made by Mr Austin of Glasgow, many years ago, like the former, was ne glected alter a partial and imperfect trial. In this, the effect, for which the small boxes in the formeilare de signed, is produced by the revolution of segments of a circle, Plate CIV. Fig. 6. each containing a small bobbin of woof. These segments, which were composed of brass, had an aperture left sufficient to allow the warp, forming the extreme breadth of each flower, to rise without obstruction, and each segment was so construct ed as to revolve freely in a groove. The circumference of each was cut like a wheel, and motion given to the whole by a rack moved alternately from side to side. Thus the bobbin intersected the open warp at every re volution, and the aperture in the segment allowed a free passage to the warp. In this, like the former, there ap pears rather a rude and not impracticable plan, than a maturely digested and practically efficient improve ment. Both seem to require much farther amelioration ; and they are inserted, rather to chew what has been done, than as complete and effective models of mechani cal efficiency. (J. D )