that the thread can be ripped out at one pull at
the end of the operations.

_Singeing._--In the condition in which the pieces leave the loom and
come into the hands of the bleacher, the surface of the fabric is seen
to be covered with a _nap_ of projecting fibres which gives it a downy
appearance. For some classes of goods this is not a disadvantage, but
in the majority of cases, especially for prints where a clean surface
is essential, the nap is removed before bleaching. This is usually
effected by running the pieces at full width over a couple of arched
copper plates heated to a full red heat by direct fire. An arrangement
of the kind is shown in fig. 2, in which the singe-plates, a and b,
are mounted over the flues of a coal fire. The plate b is most highly
heated, a being at the end of the flue farthest removed from the
fire. The cloth enters over a rail A, and in passing over the plate a
is thoroughly dried and prepared for the singeing it receives when it
comes to the highly-heated plate b. A block d, carrying two rails in
the space between the plates, can be raised or lowered so as to
increase or lessen the pressure of the cloth against the plates, or,
if necessary, to lift it quite free of contact with them.

[Illustration: FIG. 2.--Section of Singe-stove.]

The pieces on leaving the singeing machine are passed either through a
water trough or through a steam box with the object of extinguishing
sparks, and are then plaited down. The speed at which the pieces
travel over the singe plates is necessarily considerable and varies
with different classes of material.[1]

In lieu of plates, a cast-iron cylinder is sometimes employed ("roller
singeing"), the heating being effected by causing the flame of the
fire to be drawn through the roller, which is carried on two small
rollers at each end and revolves slowly in the reverse direction to
that followed by the piece, thus exposing continuously a freshly
heated surface and avoiding uneven cooling.

For figured pieces which have an uneven surface, it is obvious that
plate or roller singeing would only affect the portions which project
most, leaving the rest untouched. For such goods, "gas singeing" is
employed, which consists in running the pieces over a non-luminous gas
flame, the breadth of which slightly exceeds that of the piece, or in
drawing the flame right through the piece.[2] The cons