it, from
the plats or skeins upon bobbins; and from these, it is twisted into two,
three, or more threads. The price for throwing is from 1s. 9d. to
2s. for Bengals, and from 2s. 9d. to 3s. per lb. for China. About
1,500 lbs. a week are thrown, employing from 1,000 to 1,200 men, women,
and children. The price used to be 4s. a lb. but a fall has taken
place, within the last fifteen years, in this article of labour, as well
as in every other.

I heard much from all the manufacturers of Derby, of the mechanical
ingenuity of Mr. James Fox, of Chester Road, on the banks of the Derwent.
I paid him a visit, and beheld his powerful iron lathes, twenty-four feet
long, used by machine makers for planing iron. Here I saw iron cut in
groves or squared with great simplicity, by duly adjusting the velocity
so as to generate no heat, for a velocity, which generates heat, destroys
the tool. These lathes, Mr. Fox makes for machinists in all parts of the
kingdom, and gets from L200. to L700. for them. The castings are made at
Morley Park; and I was sorry to learn that they are now delivered at L7.
a ton instead of L30. the usual and legitimate price. In truth, the
depression of the iron trade is as great or greater than that of the
other staples of the kingdom.

The number of cotton frames employed by the above, is from 3,000 to 4,000
dispersed over the town and country; and the number of silk frames is
about 1,000. The average earnings of the cotton hands are from 7s. to
10s. per week, but many frames are worked by young persons both male
and female. The silk hands earn about 12s. or 15s.

_Petrifaction Manufactory._

A manufactory, at once local and elegant, exists at Derby, which excites
the attention and loosens the purse-strings of most strangers. It is the
spar-manufactory of Mr. Hall, and in it, he converts the petrified sports
of nature, in the Derbyshire hills, into the luxuries of civil life.
Those in London, who desire to see the products of these works, may
behold them at Mawe's, in the Strand; but all, who visit Derby, will not
fail to call upon Mr. Hall, who is as courteous as he is ingenious.
Amythistine and other spars, white and variegated marble, alabaster, &c.
are here formed in a series of workshops, aided by a steam engine, into
vases, columns, obelisks, &c. &c. Tasteful statuaries are also employed,
in converting the same materials into dogs, horses, sheep, cows, &c. for
chimney ornaments; and Mr. Hall has likew