Clock-makers' cord must be very thin, strong, and durable, on which account it is made from very small intestines, or from larger ones slit up in the direction of their length, by a couple of razor blades fitted into a ball of wood, which serves as a guide. The wet gut, being drawn over the ball, is divided, and the two sections, if properly directed by the workman, fall into a basin beneath. This operation is one of considerable delicacy ; but when well performed, the gut is divided, with great rapidity, into strips of perfect regttlarity. A number of these strips are twisted together, and treated as already described.
In France, a very strong cord is prepared from the intestines of the horse, ass, and mule. The gut, having been scraped, is divided into four equal parts, by skilfully drawing it over a fixed knob containing four sharp edges, or two semicircular blades arranged at right angles. Four, six, or eight of these strips are tied at the end with pack-thread, then twisted together, and polished with dog skin. The cord thus made is employed, as a substitute for leather belting, on light machinery.
The eords intended for the strings of musical instruments—violin, harp, guitar, &c.—require the greatest care in their preparation. The first scraping must be performed with great skill. A little alum is added to the alkaline solutions, which are made progressively stronger each day for four or five days till the membranes are well bleached and swollen. They are then passed several times through the thimble, spun, sulphured, polished by friction between horse-hair cords, and dried in the hot room. The best violin strings come from Naples and Milan, and are known as " Roman strings " ; other Italian towns, where the industry is carried on, being Venice, Gubbio, Foligno, Bologna, Vicenza, Padua, Verona, and Bassano. Italy once enjoyed a monopoly of the manufac ture, and, though strings are also made at Neu Kirsch, inVoigtland, in Bohemia, in the Tyrol, in Lyons, &c., the Italian strings still retain a superiority over all others. They are as clear and
transparent as glass ; but their chief distinctive features are combined elasticity and strength.
2 R This is due to the leanness of the sheep, so that probably the Welsh, Highland, and South DOW11 breeds of this country would give better strings than the Lincoln sheep. Emaciated carcases would also probably yield good strings.
About three-fourths of the whole quantity of catgut consumed in Europe is said to be derived from Italy. The best and largest bass-viol stringa, and a very considerable proportion of the guitar strings, are made in Germany, The manufacture ef cord from the intestines of animals, for use in bows, and other weapona of war or the chase, has been practised from the earliest times; and its emplOyment in musical instru ments also dates from remote antiquity.
Until recently, no industry was more disgusting than that of gut-making, on account of the putrefactive odours generated by the steeping of the intestines; but the use of carbolic acid, and other deodorizers, in the liquora now prevents all smell, without in any way affecting the value of t he product.
Silkworm-gut," so-called, is the fine, strong fibre universally employed by anglers for attaching their hooks. It is obtained fi cm silkworms, by taking them before they begin to spin, and very carefully pulling them asunder ; the glutinous silk, contained in the sericteria or silk-glands, is then drawn into a single thread of variable length, from 1/ to 3 ft.; it is then gently dried. We annually import small quantities of it, chiefly from Italy. Hitherto, silkworms only have been employed for the purpose; but a plan has been set on foot to utilize the caterpillars which infest food plants. It is to be hoped that it will prove a practical success, as if the gut can be produced in loug pieees, and at a moderate price, it will find numerous applications.