Page:On the economy of machinery and manufactures - Babbage - 1846.djvu/251

Rh merely is the precise amount of skill purchased which is necessary for the execution of each process, but throughout every stage,from that in which the raw material is procured, to that by which the finished produce is conveyed into the hands of the consumer, the same economy of skill prevails. The quantity of work produced by a given number of people is greatly augmented by such an extended arrangement; and the result is necessarily a great reduction in the cost of the article which is brought to market.

(270.) Amongst the causes which tend to the cheap production of any article, and which are connected with the employment of additional capital, may be mentioned, the care which is taken to prevent the absolute waste of any part of the raw material. An attention to this circumstance sometimes causes the union of two trades in one factory, which otherwise might have been separated.

An enumeration of the arts to which the horns of cattle are applicable, will furnish a striking example of this kind of economy. The tanner who has purchased the raw hides, separates the horns, and sells them to the makers of combs and lanterns. The horn consists of two parts, an outward horny case, and an inward conical substance, somewhat intermediate between indurated hair and bone. The first process consists in separating these two parts, by means of a blow against a block of wood. The horny exterior is then cut into three portions with a frame-saw.

1. The lowest of these, next the root of the horn, after undergoing several processes, by which it is flattened, is made into combs.

2. The middle of the horn, after being flattened by