machine are hard to master, when once its action is understood it will be
found to be really simple. The object of combing is to remove the short
staples and the dirt left in after the carding of the cotton, such as is
used in the spinning of fine and even coarse numbers. The operation is an
extremely delicate one, and its successful realization is a good
illustration of what is possible with machinery. Combing machines are
usually made with six heads, and sometimes with eight. As the working of
each head is identical, we only speak of one of them. By means of a pair
of fluted feeding rollers a narrow lap, about 7½ in. wide, is passed into
the head, in which the following action takes place: Assuming that the
stroke is finished, the lap is seized near its end by a pair of nippers,
so as to leave about half the length of the staple projecting. These
projecting fibers are combed by a revolving cylinder, partially covered
with comb teeth. When the front or projecting ends of the fibers are thus
combed, a straight comb in front of the nippers drops into them, the
nippers open, and the fibers are drawn through the straight comb. This
combs the tail ends, and at the same time the fibers, now completely
combed, are placed on or pieced to the fibers that had been combed in the
previous stroke, producing in this way a continuous fleece of combed
cotton. In short, in this most striking operation, the fiber during the
combing is completely detached from the ribbon lap, carried over, and
pieced to the tail end of the combed fleece, for a moment having no
connection with either. Since the expiry of the patent, Messrs. Bobson and
Barlow, of Bolton, have constructed a great many of these machines, and
have found that, as compared with the original make, it was possible to
greatly increase their efficiency. They accordingly devoted much attention
to this object, and have patents for several improvements. To describe
these so as to be understood by everybody would be a most difficult task,
and would take more space than we can afford. We simply wish to record
what these improvements are, and will suppose we are writing for those