Fig. 14. exhibits a small hook, very much used by hosiers of every description, for picking up loops, which may be lost by the breaking of a needle ; the depression of a barb, which has lost its elasticity ; or any other ac cident which may occur. It is also used in constructing the breadth of the stocking at the node, forming the gushets, and all the minutia of shaping, which c...11 only be acquired by practical experience, and of which. theta fore, we have not attempted any description.
Princifilcs and Construction of a newly invented ..T?c;:tt.: lator, or Machine for Ireavin,g Fishing .Vets.
A machine of this kind has long been for the extension and improvement of the fisheries, in order to supersede the expellee and inconvenience of procuring nets in sufficient quantity, and at low prices. which mint ever be felt, whilst they are only to be obtained by the tedious mode of knotting them mesh by mesh. It may inch ed be said, that the chief part of the labour devolves upon the fishermen and their families, who des ote to this employment those seasons which are not employed in the actual prosecution of the fishery. However much this may be the case, it is sufficiently °by ious, that in every part of the country many other useful and produc tive employments may be found, for those who can be spared from the net manufacture : wl.i:st at the same time it must be of the utmost importance to estaLli.,11 a mean, by which nets may be cheaply and extensively sup plied at all times, and at short notices. This would enable the fishers to derive every advantage from sea sons of uncommon plenty, by increasing their stock of tackle whenever they found it beneficial, and would effectually guard them against those casualties and ac cidents which must often happen to nets immersed in the sea, and unavoidably exposed to all the dangers of high latitudes, foul bottoms, currents, and other con tingencies. Two different scales of construction have foccurred to the author of this article, each of which possesses some advantages, and is liable to some objec tions, wgich it may be proper to state previously to enter ing into detail.
The first of these plans has for its object the construc tion of nets upon a limited scale, so that the machine required for weaving them may be neither bulky nor expensive in the construction. Machines of this kind, it may be presumed, would in some respects be preferable to those of a more extensive kind, even although the saving of labour will not be in the same ratio. Most of the districts of Scotland contiguous to the stations where the herrings are found in the greatest abundance, are hitherto little engaged in other branches of manufacture, and consequently the relative prices both of provisions and labour are proportionally much lower than in the more populous seats of manufacture. It seems how ever rational to infer, that although this circumstance may be expected to furnish a plentiful supply of workers at low rates, the same assiduity, dexterity, and applica tion, can hardly be expected, which will be found in places where habit has inured people to both the indus try and regularity which conduce so much to the exten sion and prosperity of all manufactures. It seems also rational to conclude, that the introduction of any manu facture into places so situated, ought, in all cases, to be attempted upon a limited scale, and its subsequent ex tension proportioned to its success, and the dexterity acquired by practical application. In order as far as possible to adapt the projected machine to such a state of society as this, it ought to be constructed not only of limited dimensions, so as easily to find room in an ordi nary cottage, but also with every possible attention to simplicity, so as neither to involve great expence in its original price, nor to he liable to frequent repairs, where it might be difficult, if not impracticable, to find proper mechanics. In order to effect a machine of this kind, it
is proposed to limit the extent of net to be wrought to the measure of 36 inches in breadth, or one English yard. For a machine upon such a scale, a space not exceeding 5 feet square will be found amply sufficient, so that it may be accessible in every part ; and this, it is presumed, might be spared even in a house of small dimensions, for an object of such material importance to all interested in the prosecution of any of the bran ches of the fishery, especially those which are carried on to the greatest extent, and which consequently require the most abundant supply of tackling. In order also to avoid all the expellees attendant on the application of mechanical power, it would be proper that one person should be enabled, with facility and dispatch, to com municate to the machine all the motions of which it is susceptible, as in the common weaving loom, the stock ing frame, and many other engines. Without actual experience, every calculation of quantity to be produced by any machine must ever be vague, and liable to great uncertainty and possible error, because neither the velo city at which the machine may be made advantageously to move, nor the dexterity of the operator, can be hypo thetically calculated, without possessing more accurate data than can be safely assumed. A calculation upon assumed and specified data may however be made ; and this, if moderately taken, may afford an approximation to the truth, and at the same time warrant a well-ground ed hope, that when the machine has been brought to a proper state of accuracy in all its motions, and the opera tor has acquired a sufficient degree of practical dexterity, the actual result will rather exceed than fall short of the premised estimate. Upon this ground alone the fol lowing assumptions and calculations resulting from them are founded : Let the breadth of net to be wrought at the same time be 36 inches, and the diagonal of every mesh from the opposite points of the diamond be 2 inches. Of course there will be 18 meshes wrought at the same time ; and were it possible to work tile machine at the same ratio of velocity with which a mesh may be for med by the common manual process, the ratio of increment of quantity, or diminution of labour, would be as 18 to 1. But as this is not to be expected, let us suppose that the machine, at a moderate velocity of action, would com plete one row of 18 messes even in the space of one minute, which is very slow indeed, and probably much underrated ; the space of 36 minutes would then be required for every square yard of netting, and 12 work ing hours for each day's labour, the total result would be 18 yards per diem. Thus the labour of three boys or girls would be sufficient, annually, to equip a vessel of 70 or 80 tons burthen with her whole supply of net ting. How far any part of the data, upon which this calculation is founded, may prove practically erroneous, it is impossible in the present state of the invention to ascertain ; but as a very low rate of velocity is assumed, it may perhaps not be overcharged, and the actual result may be ascertained at a trivial expence, by the construc tion of a single machine.