Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 24.djvu/776

Rh 730 Y A R Y A R from Michaelmas to Martinmas, their jurisdiction being concurrent with that of the bailiffs of Yarmouth ; but on account of the jealousies that were thus created the privilege was abolished in the reign of Charles II. Until the Act of William IV. the town was governed by a charter of Queen Anne. It sent two members to parliament from the reign of Edward I. till 1867, when it was disfranchised ; but by the Act of 1885 it was again allowed to re turn one member. (T. F. H.) YARN consists of any textile fibre prepared by the process of spinning for being woven into cloth. It is only in a few minor and exceptional cases, such as the weaving of hair-cloth or of wire, that there is any making of woven fabrics without the previous spinning of yarn. As weav ing can be shown to be among the earliest and most universal of the industries of mankind, the process of spinning yarn, which of necessity accompanies or rather precedes weaving, can be claimed as one of the primal employments of the race. There is ample evidence obtain able, not only of the great antiquity, but also of the wide almost universal diffusion of the art of spinning, llemains of the implements employed are found wherever traces of prehistoric and early man make their appearance. It happens that the exceedingly simple apparatus which was used in the earliest ages continued to be the spinning implements of civilized communities till comparatively recent times, and it may therefore be said that there is no art which has been more widely diffused, more uniformly practised, and which remained so long fixed and un pro gressive, as that of yarn-spinning. On the other hand, since human ingenuity bent itself to improve the art and these efforts only began in earnest about the middle of the 18th century there have not been developed in the whole range of mechanical industries implements of greater variety, complexity, delicacy of action, and manifold pro ductive capacity than the varied machines now adapted for the production of yarn. The primitive spinning implement consists of a spindle, a rod of wood, usually from 9 to 12 inches in length, rounded and tapering towards both extremities, as shown in the accompanying cut. At the upper extremity there Primitive spindle. is usually a notch, in which the yarn is caught while undergoing the operation of twisting, and to the spindle there is commonly added a whorl a perforated disk of stone or other heavy material the object of which is by its weight to give momentum and steadiness to the spindle when it is rotated by the hands of the spinner. The fibre to be spun is commonly attached loosely to a distaff or &quot; rock &quot; of wood, which is held under the left arm of the operator ; but in the case of certain short fibres the material is made up in rolls or carclings. A rotatory motion is given to the spindle by twirling it between the fingers of the right hand ; and the fibre to be spun is then drawn out in a uniform strand between the fingers of both hands and simultaneously twisted into yarn by the rotat ing spindle to which it is attached. The portion that is sufficiently twisted is wound on the body of the spindle, and the operation is continued till the spindle is filled with yarn of a smooth and equal calibre. The quantity thus rolled up gives the name to a now definite measure of yarn, &quot;the spindle.&quot; Simple and primitive as is this apparatus, a dexterous and experienced spinner is able to produce yarn of an evenness, strength, and delicacy such as can scarcely be exceeded with the aid of the most com plicated appliances and by the numerous processes of perfected modern spinning. The cotton yarns with which the famous Dacca muslins of India, textures which from their extreme flimsy airiness receive such names as &quot; woven air &quot; and &quot;evening dew,&quot; are spun with the aid only of these simple and rude appliances. The spindle used by the deft Hindu is a slender strip of bamboo not much bigger than a darning needle, lightly weighted with a pellet of clay ; and, as the tender thread formed cannot even support the weight of so slight a spindle, the apparatus is rotated in a socket, which consists of a piece of hollow shell. The spindle as here described was the sole apparatus with which, so far as is known, the whole of the yarn woven into cloth by mankind till comparatively modern times was made, and even at the present day it is not wholly obsolete. Apart from its use in Eastern countries and among the untutored tribes of Central Africa, the spindle in its original form continues to be used in the remote districts of the Scottish Highlands and islands, and in many other regions of Europe. Throughout all the changes and developments of modern yarn-spinning the rotating spindle continues to be the essential implement, and all the improvements which have been effected have had for their object, (1) the providing of mechanical means of rotating the spindle, (2) an auto matic method of drawing out and attenuating the fibre, and (3) devices for working a large group of spindles together. The first improvement on the simple spindle consisted in mount ing it horizontally in bearings, and giving it a rotatory motion by a band from a large wheel, passing round a small pulley or &quot; wharve &quot; fixed on the spindle itself. Such was the first spin ning wheel which, in the form of the &quot;charka,&quot; has long been known in the East Indies ; and from a drawing in a 14th-century MS. in the British Museum it is obvious that it was not unknown, although certainly far from common, in Europe at that early date. A jewelled model hand-wheel of this description was formerly the property of Mary of Guise. This form of wheel came ultimately to be known in Scotland as the &quot;muckle wheel,&quot; in contradistinction to one of later invention, and the method of working it is not yet an altogether forgotten art. No strict record of the dates at which various developments of the art of spinning took place are to be found, and it is certain that many appliances were long known and to some extent used before their adoption became general. Thus it is quite clear that the ilier, which is fitted around modern spindles for twisting the yarn before it is wound on the bobbin, was known to Leonardo da Yinci and probably invented by him. Among the numerous mechanical drawings left by that man of genius there is one which shows a spindle with flier and bobbin, with a device for moving the bobbin up and down on the spindle so as to eil ect an even distribution of the yarn. But the use of the flier does not seem to have been known in England till about the end of the 17th century. In a pamphlet issued in 1681 by Thomas Firmin, entitled Some Pro posals for the Employment of the Poor, there is an illustration of an improved wheel, with two spindles provided with fliers, having 011 them hooks or pins for directing the yarn on different parts of the bobbin. The sketch also shows the spindle and flier driven by different bands, as was the case with the spinning-wheel which sub sequently came into common use. In hand-spinning the further application of the treadle motion, with connecting rod and crank- axle to drive the little wheel with the feet alone, was the final development. By this agency both hands of the spinner were free, continuous and uniform motion was secured, and the spinner could work two spindles simultaneously, the one with the right and the other with the left hand. It was in this condition that the most advanced form of yarn-making was carried on in the 18th century, when a great series of inventions revolutionized the entire range of textile industries and laid the foundation of the gigantic factory system of spinning and weaving which now prevails. The problem which lay before inventors was to bring tangled masses of fibrous material into parallel order, and to draw out and twist these fibres into uniform strands by automatic means, without the continuous application of intelligent attention. The first stage in the evolution of mechanical spinning was effected under the patent of Louis Paul in 1738, in which there was clearly described and foreshadowed what is now one of the most important features of spinning machinery the drawing rollers. In his specification he says : &quot; One end of the mass, rope, thread, or sliver is put betwixt a pair of rowlers, cillinders, or cones, or some such movements, which, being turned round, by their motion draws in the raw mass of wool or cotton to be spun, in proport ion to the velocity given to such rowlers, cillinders, or cones As the prepared mass passes regularly through or betwixt these rowlers, cillinders, or rones, a succession of other rowlers, cillinders, or cones, moving proportionally faster