THE INDUSTRY OF ALL NATIONS.

from the mass. These casings and openings are so arranged as to controland direct the currents of air towards and out of the opening in the hack ofthe machine, at the small, or feed end of the cones or cylinders, opposite to wherethe operator (holding the mass to be dressed in his hands) first introduces it tothe action of the dressing blades through the slot in the front casing. Theseblades draw in the mass, striking first on one side and then on the other, nearlyat right angles with the line of the fibre, beating out the wood and impurities,which pass off through the opening behind. The mass is then moved along theslot towards the other end of the blades to he finished.

The conical and spiral form of the blades cause a gradual change in the direc-tion of the blows from the feed end, where the blows fall at right angles to thedirection of the mass, towards the finishing end of the cones, where the directionof the blows is nearly lengthwise with the line of the fibre. At the feed end theblades are left very blunt and rounded off; towards the finishing end they changegradually to a sharp edge. The severity of the blows is also increased as theradius of action increases towards the larger end of the cones. With this ar-rangement, also, a larger space is left at the feed end for the mass when firstintroduced filled with shives, which gradually diminishes as the mass is cleanedand diminished in bulk. Also with this arrangement at the finishing end, theheel of the blades is thrown out nearly on the circle of the edge, on which hackleteeth or brushes can he placed if desired.

This dressing machine is claimed to produce hut little tow, and to he entirelyfree from dust; its capacity equals the flax and hemp break of the same inventor,dressing out the straw as fast as it is broken.

The old methods of swingling flax and hemp are exceedingly rude and imper-fect, and at the same time wasteful in their action. In Europe the plan generallypursued is as follows:—A large handful of the material is grasped in the lefthand and held over the edge of an upright board of a suitable height, and beatenwith a large wooden sword or knife, held in the right hand. The blows beinggiven in the direction of the line of the fibre, the broken wood or shives aredriven downward, tearing through the flax or hemp, creating a large amount oftow, and over-dressing the outside which receives the blows intended to act uponthe interior of the mass. When power is used to perform this work, the sameprinciple is involved, and the same objections present’themselves. In this case anumber of dressing blades are fastened to a shaft, and set in motion in such away as to revolve near a slot cut in an upright board. Through the slot, or open-ing, the mass is introduced, and spread out to the action of the revolving blades.

In addition to the above machines, American ingenuity has taken a new direction,for which, we think, there has been heretofore no pattern or example—we referto the flax-pulling machine. This invention, which, on account of its large size,is not placed upon exhibition, is designed to pull flax, and lay it on the ground, asrapidly as grain is gathered by the ordinary reapers. Its construction and opera-tion is as follows: A horse is harnessed into the machine, moving it before him,and the flax is pulled and laid upon the ground in such a manner as always to givea pathway, and leave an ample track for the wheels. In the forward movementof the machine, the flax is separated and collected between long wedge-shapedprojections, forming a breast or front near the ground. The flax is then pulled bymeans of vertical rollers, furnished with arms, and reaching forward underneaththe branches, or seed tops of the flax. The stalks are thus, at each revolu-tion, bent over nearly at right angles with their growth, the lower portions beingbrought into the bite of the vertical rollers, ranged just back of the wedge-shaped projections, and delivered on the ground in rows, ready to be gathered intobundles. The rollers are driven by gear-wheels, on a shaft receiving motion fromthe two large wheels, to which the whole frame is adjusted. The flax-puller hassome advantages over the grain reapers, in the fact that it contains no knives, or.cutting edges to he sharpened, and from its great simplicity is not liable to get outof order. The flax-puller is also the invention of Mr. Chichester.

If all the above machines prove as efficient and valuable as is expected andclaimed, they can hardly fail to exercise an important influence upon the flax in-dustry of this country.

royal manufactory of the gobelins.

M Id V art <TArachn6, rival de la peinture“ Reproduit les heros, les dieux et la nature.”

I N the reign of Francois Premier, that gay and voluptuous monarch, whose pro-tection and encouragement of literature obtained for him amongst his contem-poraries the title of Le Pere des Lettres; and whose taste for the luxurious artsattracted round his court all the eminent artificers not only of France, but of othercountries, there came to Paris two humble mechanics, who quitted their nativetown, Rheims, in the hope of bettering their fortunes in the French capital. At aperiod when splendor of costume was carried to such a point of extravaganceamongst the noblesse , as to justify the remark of one of the old chroniclers that,“ they carried their forests and domains upon their backs,” the trade of our adven-

turers (that of temturier or dyer) was one of the most lucrative of the occupationsdependent upon the caprices of fashion.

Taking a small house in the Faubourg Saint Marcel, on the hanks of the Bievre,Jean and Gilles Gobelin commenced their operations on a limited scale; and forsome years they encountered all the difficulties and discouragements incidentto a new career. By persevering industry, however, and the application of someof the then imperfectly understood principles of chemistry to their art, they atlength surmounted the obstacles that opposed their progress; and the beauty andfirmness of the colors which they produced attracted a large clientele to their es-tablishment. From this period Fortune, who when she is in a generous mood is noniggard of her favors, began to lavish them prodigally upon the two brothers.After monopolizing for years a large proportion of the trade of Paris, they beganto invest the wealth that they had amassed in their dyeing business in the purchaseof lands and houses. The brothers erected a monument to their own impor-tance, one of those quaint, unsightly edifices which are still occasionally seenin the old quarter lying to the north of Notre Dame, and which was dignified bythe badauds of Paris with the appropriate name of “ Gobelin’s Folly.” This ap-pellation was exchanged by an edict of the Grande Moncurgue for the high sound-ing title of the Royal Manufactory of the Gobelins.

The family of the founders of this establishment having in the next generationbecome too important to pursue any longer their calling, the building was sold tothe Sieur Lelieu, a counsellor of the parliament, who let it to the brothers Can-naye. To the trade of dyers, these persons added the manufacture of tapestry,an article now coming into more general use. They were succeeded by a Dutchman,named Gluck, and Jean Liansen, or as he was more commonly called, Jans ofBruges, the latter of whom manufactured tapestry at the Gobelins for the firsttime on the haute lisse , or high loom.

Before we proceed to describe the process by which the marvellous resultshave been obtained which we see exemplified in the French Department of theExhibition, it will he necessary to trace the progress of an art, which even in semi-barbarous ages was brought to no mean degree of excellence. The manufactureof tapestry is said to have been first introduced into Europe by the Asiaticswho returned in the train of the Crusaders. The first mention made of itin any existing document is that contained in an edict of the Cbatelet in Paris,in 1295, which authorizes the establishment of a manufactory of the tapestry ofthe high loom, and gives permission to a Sieur Renaut to employ workmenand take apprentices. During the first century that followed its importation, theart made but little progress in France, for we find that Francis the First and Henrythe Second, wishing to ornament their chateaux, gave orders for the execution intapestry, at Brussels, of the battles and triumphs of Scipio, after the celebratedcartoons of Jules Romain.

Henry the Fourth gave a fresh impulse to the art, which had fallen somewhatinto neglect, by an edict issued in January,1608, conceding certain privileges to theestablishment formed in Paris by Messrs. Marc Comans and Francois Laplanclie.In the Garde-Meuble of the crown are still preserved some pieces of tapestry exe-cuted at this establishment. Louis XIII. continued to the children of these twomanufacturers the privileges granted to them by his father. Some of the tableauxexecuted in this reign represent the life and miracles of Saint Crepin, and SaintCrepinien, and hear an inscription indicating that they were executed to the orderof the shoemakers of the city of Paris, and were destined for the chapel of theircorporation in the church of Notre Dame.

The community of marchand-tapissiers of Paris, which dates from a very ro-mote period, had originally been divided into two distinct bodies; one of thembeing known under the title of the weavers of the high loom and fine-drawers,and the other under that of courte-pointiers, or weavers of counterpanes. Theclose resemblance of the occupations of these two branches of the trade giving riseto frequent differences between them, their union was ordered by the parliamentin a decree, hearing date the lltli of November, 1621, and their new statutes wereapproved and confirmed by the letters patent of Louis XIII. in July, 1636.

Colbert having repaired and embellished the royal residences, and more espe-cially the palaces of the Louvre and the Tuileries, next bethought him how hecould furnish and decorate them in a style corresponding with the magnificence oftheir architecture. With this view he called together all the most eminent artistsand workmen who were scattered throughout the kingdom, and by splendid offers ofpensions and privileges induced most of them to enter into his plans. He contemplateduniting these different branches of industry in one vast establishment, and placing itunder the direction of some capable officer to he named by the king. In order toput the enterprise on a permanent footing, and to secure it against the contin-gencies of the future, he induced Louis XIY. to purchase the old hotel of the dyersGobelin, in which a manufactory of tapestry was still installed. In November,1667, the king accordingly issued an edict by which he created the ManufactureItoyale des Meubles de la Couronne.

The very terms of this decree, the minute details into which it entered, theimmunities and privileges which it granted to the workmen, such as the freedomof the city, the rights reserved for naturalization, and a special jurisdiction, attestthe importance which, from its origin, Louis attached to the manufactory of the