commerce, a little necessary instrument made of brass-wire, chiefly used by women in adjusting their dress.

In the year 1543, by statute 34 and 35 of Henry VIII. cap. vii. it was enacted, "That no person shall put to sale any pinnes but only such as shall be double-headed, and have the leads foldered fast to the shank of the pins, well-smoak't,ed, the shank well-sha-

pen, the points well and round filed, cautied, and sharpened." From the above extract it should appear that the art of pin-making was but of late invention, probably introduced from France; and that our manufactories since that period have wonderfully improved.

Though pins are apparently simple, their manufacture is, however, not a little curious and complex. We shall therefore give our readers an account of it from Ellis's Campagna of London.

"When the brass-wire, of which the pins are formed, is first received at the manufactory, it is generally too thick for the purpose of being cut into pins. The first operation therefore is that of winding it off from one wheel to another with great velocity, and causing it to pass between the two, through a circle in a piece of iron of smaller diameter: the wire being thus reduced to its proper dimensions, is straightened by drawing it between iron pins, fixed in a board in a zig-zag manner, but so as to leave a straight line between them: afterwards it is cut into lengths of three or four yards, and then into smaller ones, every length being sufficient to make six pins; each end of these is ground to a point, which was performed when I viewed the manufactory by boys who sat each with two small grinding stones before him, turned by a wheel. Taking up a handful, he applies the ends to the coarsest of the two stones, being careful at the same time to keep each piece moving round between his fingers, so that the points may not become flat: he then gives them a smoother and sharper point, by applying them to the other stone, and by that means a lad of 12 or 14 years of age is enabled to point about 16,000 pins in an hour. When the wire is thus pointed, a pin is taken off from each end, and this is repeated till it is cut into six pieces. The next operation is that of forming the heads, or, as they term it, head-spinning; which is done by means of a spinning-wheel, one piece of wire being thus with astonishing rapidity wound round another, and the interior one being drawn out, leaves a hollow tube between the circumvolutions; it is then cut with sheers; every two circumvolutions or turns of the wire forming one head; these are softened by throwing them into iron pans, and placing them in a furnace till they are red-hot. As soon as they are cold, they are distributed to children, who sit with anvils and hammers before them, which they work with their feet, by means of a lathe, and taking up one of the lengths, they thrust the blunt end into a quantity of the heads which lie before them, and catching one at the extremity, they apply them immediately to the anvil and hammer, and by a motion or two of the foot, the point and the head are fixed together in much less time than it can be described, and with a dexterity only to be acquired by practice; the spectator being in continual apprehension for the safety of their fingers ends. The pin is now finished as to its form, but still it is merely brass; it is therefore thrown into a copper, containing a solution of tin and the leys of wine. Here it remains for some time; and when taken out assumes a white though dull appearance; in order therefore to give it a polish, it is put into a tub containing a quantity of bran, which is set in motion by turning a shaft that runs through its centre, and thus by means of friction it becomes perfectly bright. The