in the revolutionary army. The conversation turning upon the state of agriculture, it was regretted that there was no means of cleaning the seed from the green seed cotton, which might other. wise be profitably raised on lands unsuitable for rice. But, until ingenuity could devise some machine which would grealy facilitate the process of cleaning, it was vain to think of raising cotton for market. Separating one pound of the clean staple from the seed was a day's work for a woman; but the time usually devoted to the picking of the cotton was the evening, after the labor of the field was over. Then the slaves, men, women, and children, were collected in circles with one, whose duty it was to rouse the dozing and quicken the indolent. While the company were engaged in this conversation, "Gentlemen," said Mrs. Greene, "apply to my young friend, Mr. Whitney, he can make any thing," at the same time showing them the tambour frame and several other articles which he had made. She introduced the gentlemen to Whitney himself, extolling his genius, and commending him to their notice and friendship. He modestly disclaimed all pretensions to mechanical genius, and on their naming the object, replied that he had never seen cotton seed in his life. Mrs. G. said to one of the gentlemen, “I have accomplished my aim, Mr. Whitney is a very deserving young man, and to bring him into notice was my object. The interest which our friends now feel for him, will, I hope, lead to his getting some employment to enable him to prosecute the study of the law."

But no one foresaw the change that this interview was to make in the plan of his life. He immediately began upon the task of inventing and constructing that machine, on which his future fame depended. Mr. Miller, to whom he communicated his design, warmly encouraged him in it, and gave him a room in his house, wherein to carry on his operations. Here he set himself to work, with the disadvantage of being obliged to manufacture his tools and draw his own wire, an article then not to be found in Savannah. Mr. Phineas Miller and Mrs. Greene were the only persons who knew any thing of his occupation. The many hours he spent in his mysterious pursuits, afforded matter of great curiosity, and often of raillery, to the younger members of the family. Near the close of the winter, the machine was so nearly completed as to leave no doubt of his success.

The individual who contributed most to incite him to persevere in the undertaking, was Mr. Miller, who was a native of Connecti. cut, and a graduate of Yale college. Like Mr. Whitney, soon after he had completed his education, he came to Georgia as a private teacher, in the family of Gen. Greene, and after the decease

of the general, he became the husband of Mrs. Greene. He had qualified himself for the profession of law, and was a gentleman of cultivated mind and superior talents; but he was of an ardent temperament, and therefore well fitted to enter with zeal into the views which the genius of his friend had laid open to him. He had also considerable funds at command, and proposed to Mr. Whitney to become the joint adventurer, and to be at the whole expense of ma. turing the invention* until it should be patented. If the machine

*Description of Whitney's Cotton Gin.-The principal parts are two cylinders of different diameters, (see F H, section and plan.) mounted in a strong wooden frame, A, which are turned by means either of a handle or a pulley and belt, acting upon the axis of a fly wheel, attached to the end of the shaft, opposite to that seen in the section. Its endless band turns a large pulley on the end D of the saw cylinder F, and a smaller pulley on the end E of the brush cylinder H, (see plan,) so as to make the latter revolve with the greater rapidity. Upon the wooden cylinder F, ten inches in diameter, are mounted, three quarters of an inch apart, fifty, sixty, or even eighty, circular saws, edged as at I, (see section,) of one foot diameter, which fit very exactly into grooves cut one inch deep into the cylinder. Each saw consists of two segments of a circle, and is preferably made of hammered (not rolled) sheet iron; the teeth must be kept very sharp. Opposite to the interstices of the saws are flat bars of iron, which form a parallel grid of such a curvature, that the shoulder of the slanting saw tooth passes first, and then the point. By this means, when a tooth gets bent by the seeds, it resets itself by rubbing against the grid bars, instead of being torn off, as would happen did the apex of the saw tooth enter first. Care must be taken that the saws revolve in the middle of their respective grid intervals, for if they rubbed against the bars they would tear the cotton filaments to pieces. The hollow cylinder H, is mounted with the brushes c c c, the tips of whose bristles ought to touch the saw teeth, as at d, d, (see plan,) and thus sweep off the adhering cotton wool. The cylinder H revolves in an opposite direction to the cylinder F, as is indicated by the arrows in the section.

The seed cotton, as picked from the pods, is thrown into the hopper L, (see

should succeed in its intended operation, the parties agreed, under legal formalities, "that the profits and advantages arising therefrom, as well as all privileges and emoluments to be derived from patenting, making, vending, and working the same, should be mutually and equally shared between them." This instrument bears date May 27, 1793, and immediately afterwards they commenced business under the firm of Miller and Whitney.

An invention so important to the agricultural interests (and, as it has proved, to every department of human industry,) could not long remain a secret. The knowledge of it soon spread through the state, and so great was the excitement on the subject, that multitudes of persons came from all quarters of the state to see the machine; but it was not deemed safe to gratify their curiosity until the patent right should be secured. But so determined were some of the populace to possess this treasure, that neither law nor justice could restrain them; they broke open the building by night, and carried off the machine. In this way the public became possessed of the invention; and before Mr. Whitney could complete his model and secure his patent, a number of machines were in successful operation, constructed with some slight deviation from the original, with the hope of evading the penalty for violating the patent right.

As soon as the copartnership of Miller and Whitney was formed, Mr. Whitney repaired to Connecticut, where, as far as possible, he was to perfect the machine, obtain a patent, and manufacture and ship for Georgia, such a number of machines as would supply the demand.

section;) the disc saws, I, in turning round, encounter the cotton filaments resting against the grid, catch them with their sharp teeth, and drag them inwards and upwards, while the striped seeds, too large to pass between the bars, fall through the bottom N of the hopper, upon the inclined board M. The size of the aperture N, is regulated at pleasure by an adjusting screw to suit the size of the particular species of seeds. The saw teeth, filled with cotton wool, after returning through the grid, meet the brushes c c c of the cylinder H, and deliver it up to them; the cotton is thereafter whisked down upon the sloping table O, and thence falls into the receptacle P. A cover Q (see section) encloses both the cylinders and the hopper; this cover is turned up around the hinges as shown in the section, in order to introduce the charge of seed cotton into the machine, and is then let down before setting the wheels in gear with the driving power. The axis e e, ff, of the cylinders (see plan) should be well fitted into their plummer box bearings, so as to prevent any lateral swagging, which would greatly injure their operation. The raised position of the cover is obvious in the section, the hinge being placed at B. By means of the cotton gin, one man with the aid of a water wheel possessing a two horse power, can clean five thousand pounds of seed cotton in a day, eighty saws being mounted upon his machine. The cleaned wool forms generally one fourth of the weight of the seed cotton, and sometimes so much as twenty-seven per cent. The ginners are usually a distinct body from the planters, and they receive for their work one-eighth, or one-tenth of the nett weight of the cleaned cotton, under an obligation to supply all the seed required by the planter.