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The Sewing Machine 353 instigated by the grant of a patent for a sewing machine to an American named Lye in 1826—the first recorded effort in this direction in that country. To-day, nothing is known about Lye’s machine, because every- thing pertaining thereto perished in the flames when the American Patent Office at Washington was gutted in 1836. Thimmonier became a broken man through his misfortunes and the antagonism of his compatriots. He died in obscurity and poverty in 1859. Thimmonier’s success, interrupted summarily though it was, appears to have attracted the attention of other inventors to the possibilities of mechanical sewing. Among these were two Americans—Walter Hunt and Elias Howe. The period surrounding the early endeavours of these men is remarkable for the absence of details concerning their work, and this has led to considerable confusion and discussion, especially as the issue suffered additional aggravation because of the efforts of a British worker, Mr. W. Thomas. The defects of the chain-stitch, which had constituted the salient characteristic of all pre- vious machines, were fully recognised. As is well known, such a stitch may be easily and rapidly un- picked. The severance of loops, here and there, enables the intervening section of thread to be pulled out with the greatest ease. What was wanted was a stitch which was free from this disability. Such an end could only be achieved by making each stitch a knotted unit, as it were. In other words, it became necessary to lock the stitch, and the perfection of the loop in this manner came to be known as the lock- stitch. The nearest approach to success was achieved by x