machinery; in making pens by a mechanical process, by which several nibs resembling steel pens were cut out of one quill and fixed in a holder for use; and in the construction of carriages. In 1806 he contrived an exceedingly ingenious mode of printing, which was shortly afterward applied to the consecutive numbering of bank-notes, and by the introduction of which, during the issue of one pound notes by the Bank of England, the labor of 100 clerks out of 120 was dispensed with.

In 1812 Mr. Bramah patented an elaborate scheme for laying mains or large water-pipes through the principal streets of London, of sufficient strength to withstand great pressure applied by force-pumps. The object was to provide the means of extinguishing fires by throwing water without the aid of a fire-engine, and also to supply a lifting power applicable to the raising of great weights, by forcing water or air into an apparatus consisting of a series of tubes, sliding into one another like the tubes of a telescope, and capable of being projected when necessary. He declared that he was able to make a series of five hundred such tubes, each five feet long, capable of sliding within each other, and of being extended in a few seconds by the pressure of air to the length of 2500 feet. With this apparatus he proposed to raise wrecks, and regulate the descent of weights. The last patent secured by Mr. Bramah was for a mode of preventing dry-rot in timber by covering it with a thin coat of Roman cement.

Mr. Bramah died on the 9th of December, 1814. He was superintending the uprooting of trees in Holt forest by his hydraulic press at the time, and contracted a severe cold, from which he never recovered. Mr. Bramah was a sincere Christian and an excellent man; in his disposition he was cheerful, benevolent, and affectionate; in his habits, staid, soberly, and tidy; in his relations with his fellow-man, liberal and upright. He never forgot his humble origin, and always treated the mechanics who were employed in his workshops with kindness and consideration-so much so, indeed, that, during times of commercial stagnation, he would carry on his works, although without a market for the goods that were produced. Mr. Bramah was not an author, but two articles from his pen were published, "A Dissertation on the Construction of Locks,” and a "Letter to the Right Honorable Sir James Eyre, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, on the subject of the cause of Boulton & Watt versus Hornblower & Maberley."

THE spinning-jenny, one of the most important items in the improved machinery now used for weaving, was the invention of James Hargreaves, a poor weaver of Stand Hill, near Blackburn, England. The machine is said to have received its name from a fair damsel, probably the sweetheart of the inventor. Its object is to spin the loose threads (called a roving or slubbin) into yarn. This operation was performed by hand up to Hargreaves's time, and was slowly and imperfectly done. Being a weaver himself, he was aware of the importance of the machine he invented, but nevertheless he owed its invention to accident. It is said that he received the original idea from seeing a one-thread wheel overturned on the floor (an accident that had occurred hundreds of times before, and passed unnoticed), and observing that the wheel and spindle continued to revolve. The spindle was thrown from a horirzontal into an upright position; and the thought immediately struck him that, if a number of spindles were placed upright, and side by side, several threads might be spun at once. Acting on this suggestion, he constructed a frame, in which he placed eight rovings and eight spindles. The rovings, when extended to the spindles, passed between two horizontal bars of wood, forming a clasp, which opened and shut somewhat like a parallel ruler ; when pressed together, the clasp held the threads fast. A certain portion of roving being extended from the spindles to the wooden clasp, the latter was closed, and then drawn along the horizontal frame to a considerable distance from the spindles, thus lengthening the threads and reducing them to their proper thinness. The spinner's left hand performed this operation; with his right he turned a wheel which caused the spindles to revolve rapidly, and thus the roving was spun into yarn. By returning the clasp to its first position, and letting down a presser wire, the yarn was wound upon the spindle.

This machine was rudely constructed, but it was practicable, and Hargreaves put it into operation for the benefit of himself and family. He endeavored to keep it a secret, and spun weft merely for his own weaving; but such an important piece of machinery was not likely to remain unknown for a great length of

time. First his intimate friends became acquainted with its rapid operations, and then they spread the rumor among their fellowworkmen. An excitement was the consequence. The weavers began to complain, in the usual way, that the bread was being taken from their mouths, and that, if the machines came into use, multitudes would be thrown out of employment and reduced to a state of starvation. So virulent did these complaints become at length, that a mob broke into Hargreaves's house and destroyed his jenny-imagining, possibly, that it was not within the compass of human ingenuity to construct another. Not alone did he thus suffer in his property; his person was exposed to the greatest danger, and he was compelled to flee to Nottingham (1768), where he hoped to be safe. Here he entered into partnership with Mr. Thomas James, a joiner, who raised sufficient capital to start a small mill, and to secure a patent for the invention (1770). The specification describes "a method of making a wheel or an engine of an entire new construction, and never before made use of, in order for spinning, drawing, and twisting of cotton, and to be managed by one person only; and that the wheel or engine will spin, draw, and twist sixteen or more threads at one time, by a turn or motion of one hand and a draw of the other." The operations of the machine are thus described by Hargreaves: "One person with his or her right hand turns the wheel, and with the left hand takes hold of the clasps, and therewith draws out the cotton from the slubbin box; and being twisted by the turn of the wheel in the drawing out, then a piece of wood is lifted by the toe, which lets down a presser wire, so as to press the threads so drawn out and twisted, in order to wind or put the same regularly upon bobbins which are placed on the spindles.”

The advantages of the invention were soon recognized by the manufacturers, and some few machines of Hargreaves's manufacture found a ready market in Blackburn; but the opposition of the mob was still an alarming contingency. A desperate effort was made in 1779-when the machines had obtained a decided footing in that town-to put a stop to their operations. A series of disgraceful riots ensued; a mob scoured the country for miles and miles round, and every manufacturer or weaver who was suspected of possessing one of the obnoxious machines had his premises searched, and, if evidence of the fact were found, destroyed. It was a war of extermination against machinery in general, and an immense deal of valuable property was destroyed.

It is said that the rioters spared the jennies that had only twenty spindles (in the present day they are constructed with as many as one hundred and fifty), and only destroyed those with a greater number. The lamentable ignorance which provoked this futile hostility did not belong merely to the lower classes. There were thousands of others who viewed the introduction of machinery with alarm. The idea that an increased and consequently cheaper supply would occasion an increased demand never entered their minds. All they thought about were the poor's rates.

The effect of these riots on the thriving town of Blackburn was immediate. Many of the most wealthy and influential weavers removed to Manchester and other large places, where the municipal authorities guaranteed them more security. It was many years before cotton-spinning was resumed in Blackburn with the old energy.

At Nottingham, Mr. Hargreaves and his partner carried on the spinning business with moderate success. Their means were too limited to enable them to go into it in a manner calculated to secure a large return. From his patent Hargreaves received little or nothing. A number of Lancashire manufacturers used his jenny without paying any thing for the privilege. He gave notice of action against them, and they sent a delegation to Nottingham to treat with him on the subject. Hargreaves demanded the sum of seven thousand pounds for the exclusive privileges they required. Subsequently he came down to four thousand pounds; but the delegation refused to pay more than three thousand. Here the negotiation was broken off, very unfortunately for Hargreaves. The actions went on, but were relinquished before the day of trial, Hargreaves's attorney having discovered that his client, compelled by necessity, before leaving Lancashire had sold some jennies to obtain clothing for his children, of whom he had six or seven. The lawyer despaired of getting a verdict in

the face of such evidence.

In April, 1778, Mr. Hargreaves departed this life, leaving a widow and a large family. He had succeeded in obtaining a comfortable living from the fruits of his ingenuity and industry, but for his invention he got nothing beyond what it produced him as a labor-saving machine for his own use. His widow received four hundred pounds from Mr. James for her husband's share in the business. The profits must have been rather small to leave such a poor residue.

ALEXANDER WILSON.

ALEXANDER WILSON, the world-known ornithologist, was a native of Scotland, born at Paisley on the 6th of July, 1766. His father, although in humble circumstances, was ambitious to see his son in the ministry, but inability to afford the necessary education for such a position rendered it impossible for this ambition to be gratified. Beyond the plain rudiments of an English education, Wilson had no advantage over the other boys of his native town. Like them, he had to contribute to the income of the household, and at the age of thirteen was bound apprentice to his brother-in-law, Mr. William Duncan, to learn the business of a weaver. The employment was not acceptable to him, but he prosecuted it industriously for three years, amusing himself in the intervals of labor with the composition of verses. During the subsequent four years he worked as a journeyman weaver, and labored hard as a poet. He was particularly anxious to excel in the latter character, and believed in his own mind that he was destined to excel the poet Burns, the lustre of whose genius was then suffusing the bleak mountains of Scotland. He pro