power of the press to bring the material to the determined degree of
consolidation. Consequently, if a hydraulic press is to be worked so
as to waste no time, it requires to be provided with means by which
its table may be made to rise rapidly during the portion of the stroke
when the resistance is small, and afterward more slowly when the
entire power of the pumps is being expended upon the final squeeze.
Many methods of obtaining this end have been devised, and are in
common use both here and abroad. It is, however, more particularly in
the packing of raw material that such appliances are useful, since the
goods pressed into bales in this country are not usually of a very
yielding nature, and consequently do not require a long stroke to
bring them to a high state of compression. In India and Egypt, from
whence cotton is sent in bales, presses must have a long stroke; and
unless they can be worked rapidly, a very considerable amount of plant
is required to get through a moderate quantity of work. To meet the
necessities of these countries, Mr. Watson has devised several forms
of press in which not only is the table made to rise rapidly through
the greater part of its stroke, but the rams are kept almost
constantly in motion, so that the time occupied in filling the box
with raw cotton and in placing the ties round the bales is not lost.

[Illustration: COMPOUND HYDRAULIC PRESS. FIGS. 1 and 2.]

We illustrate four forms of Mr. Watson's presses, Fig. 1 being an
earlier construction, which, although very rapid at the date at which
it was brought out, has been far surpassed in celerity by the
arrangements shown in Figs. 3 to 8. It was introduced in 1873, and
forty-three presses according to this design were sent to India by the
makers, Messrs. Fawcett, Preston & Co., of Phoenix Foundry,
Liverpool, between that year and 1880. Four presses of this kind are