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The Sewing Machine 363 man cabinet-maker to become reckoned in the list of millionaires of his country, the machine incorpor- ating these features becoming known as the Wheeler and Wilson. Another contribution of far-reaching significance was made by a farmer living in Virginia. He hap- pened to pick up a paper containing an illustration of a sewing machine at work. The picture fascinated him, and he traced the movement of the needle down to the moment when, with its thread, it perforated the cloth and disappeared from sight. What took place after the needle disappeared from view ? The farmer spent many an hour endeavouring to puzzle out this point. True, an explanation of the subse- quent movements was given, but they did not appear convincing to the man of the soil. So he cogitated and cogitated for hour after hour during the even- ings. Finally, he decided to solve the riddle. The outcome of his experiments was the perfection of a revolving hook, which, placed beneath the cloth- plate, carries the independent cotton round and slips it through the needle-loop at the critical moment to form the lock-stitch. It was an ingenious device, which enjoyed a commercial success after the patent was granted in 1859, an(^ which formed the out- standing feature of the machine known as the Wilcox and Gibbs, the latter being the name of the farmer responsible for the revolving hook. Yet, despite the activity among inventors between the years 1830 and 1851, the sewing machine had not met with complete favour. Indeed, so many imper- fect inventions of this character were foisted upon the market to be proved unworkable, that deep-rooted