wire and sticking the pin into the paper. When the brass wire, of which the pins are to be formed, is first received, it is generally too thick for the purpose of being cut into pins; it is therefore wound off from one wheel to another, with great velocity, and made to pass between the two, through a circle in a piece of iron, of small diameter. The wire is then straightened, and afterwards 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 is performed by a boy, who sits with two small grinding stones before him, turned by a wheel. Taking up a handful, he applies the ends to the coarser 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 applies them to the other stone; by these means, a boy of twelve or fourteen years of age, is enabled to point about sixteen thousand 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 it is called, head-spinning, which is done by means of a spinning-wheel, one piece of wire being thus wound round another with astonishing quickness, and the inner one being drawn out, leaves a hollow tube: it is then cut with shears, every two turns of the wire forming one head; and these are softened by being thrown into iron pans, and placed in a furnace till they are red hot. As soon as they are

cool again, 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 that lie before them; and catching one at the extremity, they apply it 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 would be required to describe it, 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, and has yet to be coloured; for which purpose it is thrown into a copper, containing a solution of tin and the lees of wine: here it remains for some time, and, when taken out, it assumes a white, though dull appearance. To give it a polish, it is put into a tub containing a quantity of bran, which is set into motion by turning a shaft that runs through its centre, and thus, by means of friction, it becomes perfectly bright. The pin being complete, nothing remains but to separate it from the bran, which is performed by a mode exactly similar to that of winnowing corn; the bran flying off, and leaving the pins behind, fit for immediate sale.

BOOK OF TRADES.

THE first process in making needles is, to pass the steel through a coal fire, and, by means of a hammer, to bring it into a cylindrical form. After this is done, the steel is drawn through a large hole of a wire-drawing iron, and then returned into the fire, and drawn through a second hole of the iron, smaller than the first, and so on, till it has acquired the degree of fineness required. The steel being thus reduced to a fine wire, is cut into pieces of the length of the needles intended. The pieces are flattened at one end on an anvil, in order to form the head and eye; they are then softened, and pierced at each extreme of the flat part, on the anvil, by a punch of well-tempered steel, and laid on a leaden block, to bring out, with another punch, the small piece of steel remaining in the eye. When the head and eye are finished, the point is formed with a file, and the whole is filed over. The needles are then laid, to heat red-hot, on a long narrow iron, crooked at one end, in a charcoal fire; and when taken out again, they are thrown

into a basin of cold water to harden. They are next placed in an iron shovel, on a fire, more or less brisk in proportion to the thickness of the needles, taking care to move them from time to time. This serves to temper them, and take off their brittleness. They are now straightened, one after another, with a hammer. The next process is the polishing. To do this, fifteen thousand needles. are taken, and ranged in small heaps against each other, on a piece of new buckram, sprinkled with emery-dust. When the needles are thus disposed, emery-dust is thrown over them, which is again sprinkled with oil of olives, and at last the whole is made up into a roll, well bound at both ends. This roll is laid on a polishing table, and over it a thick plank, loaded with stones, which men work backward and forward for two whole days, by which means the needles become gradually polished. After this they are taken out, and the filth is washed off with hot water and soap. They are then wiped in hot bran, a little moistened, which is placed with the needles in a round box, suspended in the air by a cord, and kept stirring till the bran and needles are dry. The needles are afterwards sorted; the points turned one way, and smoothed with an emery-stone, turned by a wheel. This is the end of the process; nothing further remaining to be done, but to make them up in packets of 250 each.

BOOK OF TRADES.

To this union with Christ, on the Sunday, which we call White Sunday, those children are solemnly admitted, whose childhood is drawing towards its close, and who are approaching the period of youth. White Sunday, (Low Sunday), is this day called, because, in the first ages of the Church, the catechumens, who were baptised on Holy Saturday, put on, on that day, as signs of innocence, white garments, and wore them until the Sunday after Easter. To this, the Introit, on this Sunday, alludes in the following words, taken from the First Epistle of St. Peter: "As new-born babes, desire the rational milk without guile, that thereby you may grow unto salvation." This is the reason why, on Low Sunday, the children are not only admitted for the first time to the table of their Lord, but are made solemnly to renew their baptismal vows in the presence of the whole community.

What an all-important, beautiful, and never-tobe-forgotten day is this, thou knowest, dear youth,