142

HORN COMB MANUFACTURE.

tooth-distance further till all the teeth are cut. Various sized cutters may be used at one machine.

The last tooth at each end of the comb or combs is separated by hand, and then you have two perfect combs, the just-cut teeth fitting into and drawing away from each other, as the fingers of each hand, if they be placed the one between the other, for purposes of illustration. The teeth of horse combs and of those finer ones for the dressing-table, are cut by the circular saw. Suppose one (or more) very fine-toothed saw to be fixed on a ripidly-revolving shaft (lathe fashion) having a frame in front to hold the horn-plate or plates, to be toothed (for several in thickness may be done simultaneously, one lot in front of each saw fixed on the one shaft). This frame is centred or pivoted, so that it can be pressed close to, or be moved further from, the sawedges; and has also a lateral motion acted on by a ratchet wheel.

Now take, say, a dressing comb, put on the ratchet wheel that will produce the number, or width and size of teeth you need (for all such wheels are numbered at so many teeth to the inch, and are made to suit the various sizes and shaped products), turn the handle, press down the horn pieces against the revolving saw, and (the pressure being regulated by the mechanism) the teeth are just cut as you want them-in depth, size, &c.—each backward motion of the frame from the saw sending the frame sideways just the distance needed to determine the width of the teeth ;-thus this repeated action produces perfect teeth.

When the back of the comb is half straight and half curved, or

in any other similar form out of the straight line, and the depth of the teeth has therefore to vary in accordance, the pressure of the frame (which holds the horn in process of "toothing") is increased or decreased against the saw, and so the cut is made deeper or less deep by causing the frame in its lateral progress to be assisted (in its proximity to the edge of the circular saw) by a projecting arm that is raised or depressed by its passage over a curved block or comb-back of the shape of the one in manipulation.

The fretwork in the back combs is all done by hand, the patterns being marked on the products and cut out by a very fine saw, a steady hand, and keen eye. The grooving and indentations on the comb-back are produced by the revolution of edged, grooved, serrated, and feathered wheels, against which the product is pressed to any required depth, exactly as the glass-cutter deals with his product. Thus also are the comb-backs of our dressing products channelled, grooved, roached, and otherwise adorned, the warmed and plastic horn being most obedient to every "good word and work." There seems scarcely an end to the rasping, planing, smoothing, and polishing, till, in the case of "stained" goods, the products are placed in a solution of weak aquafortis, and dotted with a red paint-like composition, to be subsequently chemicalised and washed off, when the stains will remain à la tortoiseshell!*

HORN BUTTONS.-The manufacture of horn buttons is one that is interesting from its antiquity, and from the modern improvements that have been introduced into it. Long before metal buttons were made for general wear, the horn button shared with the bone button the patronage of the poor. At present the horn button is used principally for shooting coats and vests, and for shoes and boots. The horn button is not, however, made from horn, as the name indicates, but from the hoofs of horned cattle. The hoofs of each animal will weigh about two pounds, and more than 80 tons are used up yearly by one factory in Aberdeen. The hoofs of horses are not suitable for the purpose. When the hoofs arrive, they are thrown into a large caldron, and boiled until they are soft. They are then cut into halves, and the sections transferred to the work-shop. Here the "blanks" are pierced or punched out by young women seated at hand-presses. The blanks, which are of a whitish colour, are then placed in vats in a strong dye, either of black, red, or green, the only colours which the hoof will take, where they remain till they are thoroughly * Simmonds's "Technologist," vol. 5, p. 475.

dyed. Black is the most common colour used. The next operation is to fix the shank, which is done while the blank is soft and hot. This is a rapid process, and, like most of the other operations, is performed by children. The horn button, after being shanked, remains but a plain piece of rounded hoof, not even flattened or smoothed on its surface. The next operation is to place it in a mould, having an orifice for the shank to fit in. This mould merely contains the maker's name or trade mark, and is for the under surface of the button. The mould contains a dozen repetitions of the same pattern. When the buttons are ranged in this receptacle they are heated over an oven, till they are almost as soft as wax, when an upper mould, containing the pattern which is to be impressed upon them, and which fits closely upon the other, is placed over it. The two are then subjected to the press, and the buttons are taken out round and complete, with the exception of an occasional roughness round the edge, resulting from the overflow of the molten substance. This is afterwards pared off. The buttons are then fixed by their shanks upon a plate of metal, and subjected to the operation of a brush or a series of brushes, moved by steam power, which gives them the last touch, and produces a beautiful polish. They are now ready for carding and packing.

The Paris makers of horn buttons are celebrated for employing many of the best die-sinkers of France. Buttons of large size enable the artist to display ability, and the very fine classical heads upon some of the buttons in alto-relievo, show a great amount of skill in the execution of the dies; on some, colours have been introduced in indented rings, which at a short distance look both neat and effective. In some French buttons the opacity of the horn (or more properly hoof) renders them unattractive at a short distance, and it is only upon close examination that their merits are discovered.*

*The stages of manufacture, and the various illustrations of horn combs and horn buttons, can be advantageously studied in the cases 168 and 169 in the Animal Products Collection at the Bethnal Green Museum.

BONES AND THEIR USES.

145

BONES AND THEIR USES.-The bones of almost all animals are now articles of commerce; both wild and domesticated ones are made to yield parts of their osseous skeletons for some useful purpose. Thus we now import the bones of the giraffe, elephant, horse, ox, buffalo, and whale. The trade in bones has reached a very large amount, our imports exceeding 100,000 tons, of the value of £700,000.

In 1850 we imported but 27,198 tons, but in 1875 the imports were 104,971 tons, and those collected at home will probably be about the same amount. The greater quantity of these bones are Of the imports in 1875, only 7,754 tons were

used for manure.

suited for manufacturing purposes.

The composition of bones has been examined by many eminent chemists, but the most complete researches are those by M. Fremy. He found no marked difference between the bones of man, the ox, calf, elephant, and whale, but in the bones of carnivorous animals and those of birds there is a slight increase in the amount of mineral matter.

The general composition of bones may be considered to be as follows:

The fresh or green bones obtained at home are more valued than the imported bones, because they yield more gelatine and fat in boiling. Fresh unsteamed shin bones being solid, are very heavy, but as they become old they lose much of their weight. Old steamed bones are on the contrary light, and float in water. Bone is an important agent in many manufactures, being used

L

146

BONES AND THEIR USES.

by potters, turners, cutlers, gluemakers, sugar refiners, assayers, and by farmers for manure.

About 2,000,000 shank bones of oxen are worked up every year in Sheffield, &c., for knife-handles and spoons, and they are made into tooth and nail brushes, combs, fans, bone flats for button moulds, and various miscellaneous articles.

The small article of bone buttons constitutes an enormous trade. Prodigious quantities are made at Birmingham and Sheffield, and sent away in ton loads annually. So cheap are they,

that they are sold at 4d. the gross wholesale, and hence can compete with any other material, even wood.

In the several stages of the useful applications of bones, we have first the shank and cut bones just alluded to for working up, next carbonised bones, burnt in closed air-tight retorts for about twelve hours, which are then ground between grooved plates to make animal charcoal in grain. This is employed as a filtering substance to clarify sugar in the process of refining. The portions of the carbonised bones which, in the process of grinding become too fine for filtering charcoal, are reduced to an impalpable powder and sold as bone-black to the blacking-maker. The grease or fat extracted from the bones before carbonising is used