clean hands in a pure atmosphere, will not do when hundreds of
thousands of collars are to be made, at the lowest rate, by poor
children, in smoky hovels. In order to understand the matter clearly,
it may be as well to transport ourselves to one of the large
establishments in Glasgow, in whose extensive, well-lighted lofts the
whole mechanism of the manufacture may be seen at work.

In the highest room, where the best light is obtained, we find a
number of men, seated at small tables at the windows, engaged in
drawing patterns. These are the designers, whose business it is to
produce a constant and rapid succession of new patterns, either
original or adapted from the French designs, which lie scattered on
their tables. They are a very intelligent class, possessing
considerable originality, and, what is even more important, thoroughly
understanding the art of practical adaptation of costly designs to
the necessities of the manufacture, without which the ingenious
sketches of the French would be valueless. It is proper to add, that
their powers of invention are steadily increasing year after year, and
that the time is probably not remote when they will be independent of
the Parisian designers.

The patterns sketched by them are transferred by the ordinary process
to lithographic stones; and on entering the adjoining room, we find a
large number of lithographic presses at work, some of great size. The
unbleached muslin here receives the impression of the outline pattern,
as paper is printed in the ordinary press; and the substitution of
stones for the wooden blocks formerly used, has greatly cheapened and
facilitated this process. The carved blocks were expensive to cut, and
useless when the pattern was finished: the pattern is now put on the
stone with great economy, and, the requisite number being struck off,