of them at the same time. He stands between them; one is always advancing while the other is retreating, and he turns from one to the other at regular intervals. The one which is advancing draws out the cotton (roving) from the back, and moves slowly towards the spinner, spinning the thread the while. The greater the number of spindles, the greater is the number of threads, and the higher the productive power of the machine. The mules vary in the number of spindles they carry from 200 to 800 each; or for the pair, from 400 to 1,600. The spinner has from one to six juvenile assistants, according to the magnitude of his spinning-machine, whom he engages and pays himself, without reference to his masters.

The number of spindles measures the productive power of the machine, and the masters and men agree upon a scale of prices for labour varying accordingly. These scales are printed.

The following is one of them. It is that at present in force in Manchester.

The first line will explain all the others. It signifies that a spinner, spinning yarn of the fineness of eighty hanks to the pound, on a mule the productive power of which is represented by 336 spindles, is to be paid at the rate of 44d. the pound of yarn; that if he spins on one of a productive power represented by 348 to 384 spindles, he is to be paid 41d. per pound; and if on one of the productive power of 396, at the rate of 4d. per pound, and so on, the rate of pay for work done diminishing in proportion as (though not in the same proportion as) the productive power of the machine increases.

I give two of these documents, the one actually in force at Manchester dated 5th March, 1831, and the one which it superseded. This latter is dated 20th March, 1829, and is more in detail.

No. signifies" number of hanks of yarn to the pound." The figures 336, 348, 396, signify mules carrying respectively those numbers of spindles, and consequently yielding by each effort (technically called the "stretch"), 336, 348, or 396 threads of a given length.

(Here follow the scales alluded to.)

If these documents be inspected, it will be seen that the ratio of the diminution in the payment for work done is less than that of the increase of the productive power of the machine. Hence the perfect machine enables the operative to earn more money in a given time than the imperfect machine.

While I was at Manchester, the predominant fear among the most intelligent operatives was, that improvements in machinery would gradually "drive their wages down to nothing," and this was one of their motives for agitating for the Ten four Bill. This

measure, they thought, by lessening produc tion, would counteract the tendency of improvements in machinery, and keep their actual earnings steady. It is certainly im portant to examine the foundations of an opinion which produces, as we have seen, such extensive influence upon the social action of large bodies of persons.

By adverting to the document which stands first it will be seen, that a spinner spinning twist of the fineness of eighty hanks to the pound, on a machine of the productive power represented by 336, is paid at the rate of 44d. for every eighty hanks that he turns off, while, if he spins on one of the superior power of 396, he is only paid at the rate of 4d. for the same quantity. But the second machine turns off thirty-three pounds of yarn during the same time that the other is employed in turning off only twenty-eight pounds. The ratio of inferiority is then as 28: 33.

But 28 lbs. at 44d. the pound gives 126 pence as the earnings made on the first machine during the time which enables the operative on the second to earn 132 pence. Thus the operative gains 6d., and the master 16 d.

Improvements in machinery, producing similar effects, are daily and hourly going on in all branches of cotton-working. It having been stated to me by George Murray, Esq., the proprietor of one of the largest fine spinning-mills in Manchester, that " he doubted whether it would be possible to apply such large mules as are now used in fine spinning to coarse spinning, where the motion is more rapid and the weight of the machine greater, but that it was a matter of opinion in which he might be mistaken."-I sent for the machine-maker of one of the largest coarse spinning-mills in Manchester, a workman of the first class, and asked his opinion on Mr. Murray's evidence; his answer was:-(See D. 1, 132, First Report, Factory Commission.)

"I should say, that with the knowledge that mechanics have now-a-days how to reduce friction to a minimum, and with the superior accuracy of their work, a spinner can manage two mules of 600 spindles for coarse spinning with as much ease to himself, and with as much or more rapidity of the machinery, than he did two mules of 300 spindles each ten years ago. I have not seen mules of 600 spindles for coarse work yet fit. ted up; but I have myself fitted up a pair of mules for my master of 512 spindles each for coarse work, and they answer so well, that I see that I could easily and certainly add 100 spindles to them. Mule-making is improv. ing every day in Manchester."

It thus appears, that mules carrying 500 spindles are already introduced with success for coarse spinning, and that mules carrying

600 spindles will "be probably introduced forthwith. In this stage of the progress of improvement the productive power of the machine will be augmented by one-fifth in the course of a few months. When this event takes place the spinner will not be paid at the same rate for work done as he was before; but as that rate will not be diminished in the ratio of one-fifth, the improvement will augment his money earnings for any given number of hours' work. The whole benefit arising from the improvement is divided between the master and the operative. Both the profits of the one and the earnings of the other are simultaneously increased by it.

The foregoing statement must, however, be qualified. Though it is clearly shown that improvements in machinery of the character which I have been describing increase the earnings of the operative, while they augment the profits of the capitalist, yet those who dispute the former conclusion will say that I have selected a particular case to illustrate my position, and omitted an element of importance in stating it,-that the spinner does not appropriate the whole of the surplus 6d.; that in consequence of the increased magnitude of his machine he requires additional juvenile aid, the payment for which is at his own private cost, and absorbs a part of his apparent gain.

This objection belongs to a department of the question of which I am treating, of the utmost importance. The effect of improvements in machinery, not merely in superseding the necessity for the employment of the same quantity of adult labour as before, in order to produce a given result, but in substituting one species of human labour for another,--the less skilled for the more skilled, juvenile for adult, female for male,-causes a fresh disturbance in the rate of wages. It is said to lower the rate of earnings of adults by displacing a portion of them, and thus rendering their number superabundant as compared with the demand for their labour. It certainly augments the demand for the labour of children, and increases the rate of their wages.

If any check were given to the cotton manufacture, nay, if its continual expansion shall not prove sufficiently great to re-absorb those adults whom it is continually casting out, then the improvements in machinery might be said to have a tendency to "lower wages;" but hitherto these improvements have materially benefited the operatives, not only by enabling a greater number of persons to enjoy the advantage of the enormous rate of earnings attainable in this important branch of human industry than would otherwise have been the case, but they have enabled "an operative" (speaking in general) to earn a greater sum of money at the end of

the week than he would have earned had the state of machinery remained stationary.

Fortunately for the state of society in the cotton district of England the improvements in machinery are gradual, or at any rate brought very gradually into general use. Hence the fall in the price of the manufactured article is gradual, and the extension of the demand for it, arising from the decrease of price, bringing it continually within the range of the means of greater numbers of consumers is likewise gradual, and keeps up the demand for adult labour, and thus counteracts the effect of the improvements of machinery which operate to displace it. Hence no diminution of earnings for adults has thus far arisen.

(To be continued.)

UNDULATING RAILWAY-WAGER OF

£1,000.

Sir,-In your" Notes and Notices" of last week, I observe a correspondent suggests that a wager might be laid between Mr. Cheverton and myself, or our friends, on the result of a trial on an undulating line. Individually, I am not in the habit of offering or accepting bets, but if Mr. Cheverton feel inclined to adopt the recommendation of your correspondent, I shall be happy, on the part of my advocates, to enter (through the medium of your Magazine) into an agreement with him-and, if he be similarly inclined, to stake 1,000l. on the result of a trial on five or ten miles of road. The stakes to be lodged in a banker's hands. I trust that the memorial which has been presented to the London and Birmingham Railway Directors may induce them and their engineer, Mr. Stephenson, to institute, as I anxiously anticipate, an impar. tial trial on that line of road, on their own account; in which case, if Mr. Cheverton be the winner, he will gain the 1,000l. without deductions. Should he prefer betting a greater sum, I shall be happy to submit his offer to those of my friends who may feel inclined to speculate.

The only sum that I, in conjunction with my partner Mr. Stephenson, should feel disposed to win or lose (which may be added to the stakes), would be the expense of a dinner and wine, at the Albion Hotel, Aldersgate-street, for all who have written on the subject, pro or con, in the Mechanics' Magazine-your worthy self, Sir, being President. Yours, very obediently, RICH. BADNALL.

Manchester, April 7, 1834.

NOTES AND NOTICES.

Sir John Herschell arrived in safety at the Cape of Good Hope on the 16th of January last. The Athenæum, which was the first to announce this interesting event to the British public, states that Sir John had landed all his instruments in good order, and was "in hopes that, before their summer months are over, he shall have commenced his astronomical observations."

Accident to Mr. Roberts' Steam Carriage.-We regret to state that, yesterday afternoon, as this carriage was proceeding along Oxford-road, Manchester, on another experimental trip, the engine suddenly exploded, when opposite to All Saints' Church. Happily no lives were lost, but one of the engineers was very much scalded, and a passenger in the street was carried from his legs by the force of the steam, and his head coming in contact with a lamp-post, was seriously injured. The front of the shop of Messrs. Barons, druggists, was completely blown away; and the windows of several of the houses and shops in the neighbourhood were much shattered. The carriage was almost destroyed, and its remnants were conveyed back to the manufactory of the owners by four strong cart horses.-Liverpool Chronicle April 5. After travelling about a mile and a quarter, it was found that the pumps of the engine did not work with their customary facility, and that the water in the boiler had become rather low. The engine was consequently stopped as early as possible, in order to prevent the possibility of accident from the tubes being overheated; but, as it subsequently appeared, this precaution was not adopted quite in time. The boiler was then directed to be refilled with water, which was supplied from an adjoining pond, and the fire was also re-kindled, After these necessary precautions, Mr. Roberts directed the carriage to be turned, and soon after twelve o'clock it commenced its journey home, carrying from forty to fifty individuals. It proceeded at a fair speed until it arrived near the corner of Rusholme-lane, where some of the boiler's tubes gave way, and the steam having in consequence reached the fire-box, blew part of the grate down to the ground with a loud explosion. The cokes in the grate were immediately scattered with considerable violence, and broke several panes of glass in the shop window of Mr. Baron, Mr. Ridgway, and Mr. Greaves. Mr. Ridgway was injured in his face by a portion of the coke striking him, as also a man and boy, who had been hanging on the back part of the carriage. None of these parties, we are happy to say, sustained any injury worth particular notice; and not one of the persons in or near the carriage was hurt.-Manchester Times, April 5.

We are glad to observe a very rapid increase in the number of suburban cemeteries; for, assuredly, to a country in so high a state of civilisation as ours, it is a subject of sore reproach, that the pernicions practice of burying within the walls should have endured so long. Besides the Metropolitan Cemetery, near Westbourne-green, there have been ten others established within the last eight years for different country towns; and Mr. Carden, to whom the honour belongs of having taken the lead in this matter, and persevered in it with a rare spirit of zeal and determination, is now engaged in organising a second Metropolitan Cemetery, to be called the Great Western," from the site chosen for it being in the vicinity of the Parks and Kensington Gardens. We can hardly imagine a spot better fitted for an establishment of this kind than the ground selected for this new cemetery-indeed, we had no idea there was any thing so suitable within so short a distance of town; it forms part of the western face of Notting-hill, is beautifully undulated, well wooded and watered, and perfectly secluded.

Amidst the nearly universal prevalence of the absurd error, that wages are not subject to the general laws of demand and supply, it is cheering to find an instance, in Glasgow, of the recognition, by the workmen, of the principle that the number of labourers is one of the chief elements in settling the price of labour. By the evidence of a large Glasgow manufacturer, given before a Parliamentary Committee last session, it appears that the spinners in that town have applied part of their funds towards paying the emigration expenses of some of their class, and have in this way got rid of one-eighth of their number.-Character, Objects and Effects, of Trades' Unions.

Mr. John Lewthwaite, of Rotherhithe, has pro】 posed to make use of harpoons charged with prussic acid, for the speedier destruction of whales. The Ann Elizabeth, of London, Capt. Kendrew, took out, on her last whaling voyage to the South Seas, half a dozen harpoons constructed on this plan by Mr. Lewthwaite, for the purpose of trial. In a letter which has been received from Capt. Kendrew, he states that he had made one experiment, but that the fish was only "paralysed for a few minutes"-owing, it was presumed, to the poison being in two small a quantity. He had several bottles of highly-concentrated acid with him, however, aud ineant to try the effect of administering it in larger doses.

J. F. (St. Albans) overlooked, but in our next.

Mr. Rudolph Ackermann, the eminent printseller in the Strand, died on the 30th March last. He was born at Schneeberg, in Saxony, in 1764, and was brought up to the trade of a coach-maker. He came in early life to London, where he pursued for some time the occupation of a carriagedraftsman, which led to an acquaintance with artists, and to his ultimately embarking in the printselling business. For enterprise and liberality, as a publisher, Mr. Ackermann had few equals. He was the first to introduce the art of lithogra phy into this country, and published the first of those splendid Annuals, which have, during the last ten years, furnished so lucrative a source of employment to our artists. We have heard that he was also the inventor of some useful improvements in the art to which he was brought up; or, more properly speaking, of a carriage on a new construction, which did not obtain from the trade that attention which it deserved.

The steam-carriages (Russel's) are now running, hourly betwixt Glasgow and Paisley. They have not yet generally made the trips so quickly as we anticipated, which is chiefly to be attributed to the inexperience of the engineers and other causes, though, it is to be hoped, time and practice will fully obviate them.-Scotsman. We shall be glad to receive from Mr. Russel, or our correspondent Mr. Whitelaw, some account of these carriages.

An Embryo Engineer seems to have been misled by the title of the " Gallery" he speaks of, which, though styled "National," is altogether a private speculation; he should apply to the proprietors.

Of the treatises published under the superintendence of the Useful Knowledge Society, one of the very best was that on the Art of Brewing," by Mr. David Booth; but owing (we believe) to some misunderstanding between the author and the Society, it was left in an incomplete state-two parts only, instead of four, having received the Society's imprimatur. Mr. Booth has, under these circumstances, been induced to give Parts III. and IV. to the world through another medium,* and however much he may, by so doing, have offended the Society, there is no person who is in possession of, and has profited by the preceding portion of his labours, but must feel much obliged to him for the con tinuation.

The information supplied by these supplementary Parts is all of a very useful and necessary description, and much of it perfectly new to the British public. Part III. contains chapters on the quantity of fermentable matter obtainable from a given weight of malted barley, and the proportion which it bears to the specific gravity of the worts-on the different methods of procuring fermentable extracts on the cooling of worts-on the several modes of fermenting wortsand on the strength of fermented liquors

with a table, showing the pounds of dry extract in a hundred gallons of any wort, corresponding to its gravity. Part IV. is appropriated to brewing in foreign countries, and treats of the art as practised at Munich, Prague, Vienna, Berlin, Brussels, Louvaine, &c. Mr. Booth states, that "for the greater portion of the information in this chapter he is indebted to the manuscript and oral communications of two German brewers (from Vienna and Munich), who have been, and now are, visiting the principal, towns of Europe, for the laudable purpose of acquiring information concerning their business."

From the latter part-being that which contains the most novel information-we shall inake a few extracts.

And first as to the Bavarian beer,

as

which, when in prime condition, is." bright as wine, and contains so much carbonic acid, that it is in that respect similar to champagne."

"The beer throughout all Bavaria is nearly of the same strength; usually between 3 and 3 barrels to a quarter of malt. It is made wholly from malted barley and hops; and all sold at an uniform rate, which is fixed by law, every year, aecording to the price of barley; so that there is but one kind of malt-liquor for all classes, from the prince to the peasant. The rate for the present year is 16s. per barrel. The beer pays no duty; but the malt must be ground at a public mill, where an impost is levied, amounting to about half of its original value. The malt is screened be. fore carrying it to the mill; and being generally cut with stones, it is also previously damped, in order to prevent the loss by dust. This operation is performed by sprinkling with a watering pan, at the same time frequently turning the heap till it has been well mixed with about two gallons of water to the quarter; and then leaving it to soak for nine of ten hours, that the moisture may penetrate to the centre of each grain. When the malt is to be bruised with rollers, this damping is not considered necessary."p. 25.

"Great care is requisite in having the store casks very clean and sweet before filling them, lest they should communicate à disagreeable flavour to the beer. In two towns this is effected, after they are well washed, by smoking them with burning sulphur; but in the rest of Bavaria it is done by lining them with pitch. The fol lowing is the manner by which this is effected at Munich: - -The store-casks, in which the beer is cleansed, are previously pitched every time for summer, beer, and once a year for winter beer. Pitching is