See also:

• WIRE (A.S. wir, a wire; cf. Swed. vire, to twist, M.H.G. wiere, a gold ornament, Lat. viriae, armlets, ultimately from the root wi, to twist, bind)

WIRE (A.S. wir, a wire; cf. Swed. See also:

• VIRE

vire, to twist, M.H.G. wiere, a See also:

• GOLD
• GOLD [symbol Au, atomic weight 195.7(H = 1),197.2(0 =16)]

gold See also:

• ORNAMENT (Lat. ornare, to adorn)

ornament, See also:

• LAT

Lat. viriae, armlets, ultimately from the See also:

• ROOT (late O.E. rot, adopted from Scand., cf. Norw. and Swed. rot, Dan. rod; the true O.E. word was wyrt, plant, represented in Ger. Wurz or Wurzel; the ultimate root is the same in both words, and is seen in Lat. radix)
• ROOT, ELIHU (1845– )

root wi, to twist, bind)  , a thin See also:

• LONG, GEORGE (1800-1879)
• LONG, JOHN DAVIS (1838– )

long See also:

• ROD (O.E. rodd, probably related to Norw. rudda, stick, rodda, stake)
• ROD, EDOUARD (1857-1910)

rod of See also:

• METAL
• METAL (through Fr. from Lat. metallum, mine, quarry, adapted from Gr. µATaXAov, in the same sense, probably connected with ,ueraAAdv, to search after, explore, µeTa, after, aAAos, other)

metal, generally See also:

• ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

round in See also:

• SECTION
• SECTION (Lat. sectio, cutting, secare, to cut)

section . The uses of See also:

• WIRE (A.S. wir, a wire; cf. Swed. vire, to twist, M.H.G. wiere, a gold ornament, Lat. viriae, armlets, ultimately from the root wi, to twist, bind)

wire are multifarious and diverse beyond all enumeration . It forms the raw material of important manufactures, such as the wire-See also:

• NET

net See also:

• INDUSTRY (Lat. industria, from indu-, a form of the pre, position in, and either stare, to stand, or struere, to pile up)

industry, wire-See also:

• CLOTH

cloth making and wire-rope See also:

• SPINNING (from O. Eng. spinnen, to spin, cf. Ger. spinnen, &c., the Teut. root is seen, to draw out, cf. span, spider)

spinning, in which it occupies a See also:

• PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place analogous to a textile fibre . Wire-cloth of all degrees of strength and fineness of mesh is used for sifting and screening machinery, for draining See also:

• PAPER
• PAPER (Fr. papier, from Lat. papyrus)

paper pulp, for window screens, and for many other purposes . Vast quantities of See also:

• COPPER (symbol Cu, atomic weight 63.1, H=1, or 63.6, O = 16)

copper and See also:

• IRON [symbol Fe, atomic weight 55.85 (0=16)]

iron wire are employed for See also:

• TELEGRAPH (Gr. Tike, far, and rypaq5eiv, to write)

telegraph and See also:

• TELEPHONE (Gr. rjXs, far, and dxwvr7, voice)

telephone wires and cables, and as conductors in electric See also:

• LIGHTING

lighting . It is in no less demand for See also:

• FENCING

fencing, and much is consumed in the construction of suspension See also:

• BRIDGES
• BRIDGES, ROBERT (1844– )

bridges, and cages, &c . In the manufacture of stringed musical See also:

• INSTRUMENTS

instruments and philosophical apparatus wire is again largely used . Among its other See also:

• SOURCES

sources of See also:

• CONSUMPTION (Lat. consumere)

consumption it is sufficient to mention See also:

• PIN (a doublet with " pen " from Lat. pinna, feather, pinnacle, which is said to contain the same root as irirvs, pine tree, and properly to mean a sharp point or end)

pin and See also:

• HAIR (a word common to Teutonic languages)

hair-pin making, the See also:

• NEEDLE (O. Eng. ncedl; the word appears in various forms in Teutonic languages, Ger. Nadel, Dutch naal, the root being ne-, to sew, cf. Ger. nahen, and probably Lat. nere, to spin, Gr. vi)ats, spinning)

needle and See also:

• FISH (O. Eng. fist, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dutch visch, Ger. Fisch, Goth. fisks, cognate with the Lat. piscis)
• FISH, HAMILTON (1808-1893)

fish-See also:

• HOOK, JAMES CLARKE (1819-1907)
• HOOK, THEODORE EDWARD (1788-1841)
• HOOK, WALTER FARQUHAR (1798-1875)

hook See also:

• INDUSTRIES

industries, See also:

• NAIL (O. Eng. naegal, cf. Dutch, Ger., Swed. nagel; the word is also related to Lat. unguis, Gr. ovu, Sans. nakhas)

nail, peg and See also:

• RIVET (0. Fr. rivet, from river, to fix, fasten together, of unknown origin; Skeat compares Icel. rifa, to stitch together)

rivet making, and See also:

• CARDING

carding machinery; indeed there are few industries into which it does not more or less enter . The See also:

• PHYSICAL

physical properties requisite to make useful wire are possessed by only a limited number of metals and metallic See also:

• ALLOYS (through the Fr. aloyer, from Lat. alligare, to combine)

alloys . The metals must in the first place be ductile; and, further, the wire when See also:

• DRAWN

drawn out must possess a certain amount of tenacity, the quality on which the utility of wire principally depends . The metals suitable for wire, possessing almost equal ductility, are See also:

• PLATINUM [symbol Pt, atomic weight 145.0 (0=16)]

platinum, See also:

• SILVER

silver, iron, copper, See also:

• ALUMINIUM (symbol Al; atomic weight 27.0)

aluminium and See also:

• GOLD
• GOLD [symbol Au, atomic weight 195.7(H = 1),197.2(0 =16)]

gold; and it is only from these and certain of their alloys with other metals, principally See also:

• BRASS
• BRASS (O. Eng. braes)

brass and See also:

• BRONZE

bronze, that wire is prepared . By careful treatment wire of excessive tenuity can be produced .

See also:

• DIAMETER (from the Cr. &a, through, µErpov, measure)

Diameter . See also:

• STRAIN (through O. Fr. straindre, estraindre, mod. i treindre, from Lat. stringere, to draw tight, related to stress, stretch, string, &c.)

Strain . In. lb . Gold . . . . •0162 5.61- 5.42 Platinum . .0161 6.70- 6.59 Silver . . .0157 7.86- 7.78 Copper . .0177 I0•II-I0.2O Iron . . . . •o169 II.I2-10.89 Copper . . .

. .0605 233 Brass . . . . .0640 203 See also:

• STEEL, FLORA ANNIE (1847– )

Steel . . •o600 342 Phosphor Bronze .0630 394 Dr W . H . See also:

• WOLLASTON, WILLIAM (1659--1724)
• WOLLASTON, WILLIAM HYDE (1766-1828)

Wollaston first succeeded in See also:

• DRAWING

drawing a platinum wire ~a-,5-6- See also:

• INCH (O. Eng. ynce from Lat. uncia, a twelfthpart; cf. " ounce," and see As)

inch in diameter by encasing a See also:

• FINE

fine platinum wire within silver to ten times its diameter . The cored wire he then reduced to -auu inch, and by dissolving away the silver coating the platinum wire imv inch thick only remained . By continued treatment in this way wires of platinum for spider-lines of telescopes have been obtained of such extreme tenuity that a mile length of the wire 11 eighs not more than a See also:

• GRAIN (derived through the French from Lat. granum, seed, from an Aryan root meaning " to wear down," which also appears in the common Teutonic word " corn ")

grain; and it is said that platinum wire has been made which See also:

• MEASURES

measures not more than 12 010 o mm., equal to less than the fifty-thousandth See also:

• PART

part of an inch . The accompanying table shows the See also:

• COMPARATIVE

comparative tenacity of the wire of metals and metallic alloys . Wire was originally made by beating the metal out into plates, which were then cut into continuous strips, and afterwards rounded by beating . The See also:

• ART

art of wire-drawing does not appear to have been known till the 14th See also:

• CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century, and it was not introduced into See also:

• ENGLAND
• ENGLAND, THE CHURCH OF

England before the'second See also:

• HALF

half of the 17th century . Wire is usually drawn of cylindrical See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form; but it may be made of any desired section by varying the outline of the holes in the draw-See also:

• PLATE

plate through which it is passed in the See also:

• PROCESS

process of manufacture .

The draw-plate or See also:

• DIE
• DIE (Fr. de, from Lat. datum, given)

die is a piece of hard See also:

• CAST (from the verb meaning " to throw "; the word is Scand. in origin, cf. Dan. kaste, and Swed. kasta; " cast " in Middle Eng. took the place of the A.S. weor pan, cf. Ger. werf en)

cast-iron or hard steel, or for fine See also:

• WORK

work it may be a See also:

• DIAMOND

diamond or See also:

• RUBY (Lat. rubeus, red)

ruby . The See also:

• OBJECT

object of utilizing See also:

• PRECIOUS (O. Fr. precios, mod. precieux, Lat. pretiosus, of high value or price, pretium)

precious stones is to enable the See also:

• DIES, CHRISTOPH ALBERT (1755-1822)

dies to be used for a considerable See also:

• PERIOD
• PERIOD (Gr. irepioSos, a going or way round, circuit, aepi, round, and &Sis, way, road)

period without losing their See also:

• SIZE

size, and so producing wire of incorrect diameter . Diamond dies must be rebored when they have lost their See also:

• ORIGINAL

original diameter of hole, but the metal dies are brought down to size again by hammering-up the hole and then drifting it out to correct diameter with a See also:

• PUNCH

punch The form of a die in section is shown by fig. i; the See also:

• BELL
• BELL, ALEXANDER MELVILLE (1819—1905)
• BELL, ANDREW (1753—1832)
• BELL, GEORGE JOSEPH (1770-1843)
• BELL, HENRY (1767-1830)
• BELL, HENRY GLASSFORD (1803-1874)
• BELL, JACOB (1810-1859)
• BELL, JOHN (1691-178o)
• BELL, JOHN (1763-1820)
• BELL, JOHN (1797-1869)
• BELL, ROBERT (1800-1867)
• BELL, SIR CHARLES (1774—1842)

bell-mouthed opening receives the wire, and when it is pulled through the hole at the end its diameter becomes reduced accordingly . The See also:

• ACTION

action of drawing has the effect of hardening the wire and rendering it brittle, so that See also:

• ANNEALING, HARDENING AND

annealing must be done at intervals to soften it again for further drawing; the annealing is done in cast-iron pots, holding coils of wire which are raised to a red See also:

• HEAT (0. E. haktu, which like " hot," Old Eng. hat, is from the Teutonic type haita, hit, to be hot; cf. Ger. hitze, heiss; Dutch, hitte, heet, &c.)

heat and then allowed to cool . Although the wire is kept See also:

• AIR (from an Indo-European root meaning " breathe," " blow ")
• AIR, or ASBEN

air-tight as much as possible, some amount of scaling occurs, and pickling must be done to remove this See also:

• SCALE
• SCALE (1) A

scale before redrawing . An important point in wire-drawing is that of See also:

• LUBRICATION

lubrication to facilitate the operation and to lessen the See also:

• WEAR

wear on the dies . Various See also:

• LUBRICANTS

lubricants, such as oil, See also:

• TALLOW (M.E. talugh, talg, cf. Du. talk, L. Ger. talg ; the connexion with O.E. taelg, dye, or Goth, tulgus, firm, is doubtful)

tallow, soapy See also:

• WATER

water and stale See also:

• BEER

beer, are employed . Another method is to immerse the wire in a sulphate of copper See also:

• SOLUTION (from Lat. solvere, to loosen, dissolve)

solution, so that a film of copper is deposited which forms a See also:

• KIND (O. E. ge-cynde, from the same root as is seen in " kin," supra)

kind of lubricant, easing the drawing considerably; in some classes of wire the copper is See also:

• LEFT

left after the final drawing to serve as a preventive of See also:

• RUST (O.E. rust, a word which appears in -many Teutonic languages, cf. Du. roest, Ger. rost); in origin it is allied with " ruddy " and " red," the reddish-brown powdery substance which forms on the surface of iron or steel exposed to atmospheric corrosio

rust . The wire-drawing See also:

• MACHINES

machines include means for holding the dies, accurately in position and for drawing the wire steadily through the holes . The usual See also:

• DESIGN (Fr. desiin, drawing; Lat. designare, to mark out)

design consists of a cast-iron See also:

• BENCH (an O.E. and Eng. form of a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Bank, Dan. baenk and the Eng. doublet " bank ")

bench or table having a See also:

• BRACKET

bracket See also:

• STANDING

standing up to hold the die, and a See also:

• VERTICAL (from Lat. vertex, highest point)

vertical See also:

• DRUM (early forms drome or dromme, a word common to many Teut. languages, cf. Dan. tromme, Ger. Trommel: the word is ultimately the same as " trumpet," and is probably onomatopoeic in origin; it appears late in Eng. about the middle of the 16th century)

drum which rotates and by coiling the wire around its See also:

• SURFACE

surface pulls it through the die, the coil of wire being stored upon another drum or " See also:

• SWIFT
• SWIFT, JONATHAN (1667—1745)

swift " which lies behind the die and reels off the wire as fast as required . The wire drum or " See also:

• BLOCK
• BLOCK (from the Fr. bloc, and possibly connected with an Old Ger. Block, obstruction, cf. " baulk ")
• BLOCK, MAURICE (1816–19or)

block " is provided with means for rapidly coupling or uncoupling it to its vertical See also:

• SHAFT
• SHAFT (O. Eng., sceaft, from scafan, to shave; the word is common to Teutonic languages)

shaft, so that the See also:

• MOTION (Lat. motio, from movere, to move)
• MOTION, LAWS OF

motion of the wire may be stopped or started instantly . The block is also tapered, so that the coil of wire may be easily slipped off upwards when finished .

Before the wire can be attached to the block, a sufficient length of it must be pulled through the die; this is effected by a pair of gripping pincers on the end of a See also:

• CHAIN (through the O. Fr. citable, chcene, &c., from Lat. catena)

chain which is See also:

• WOUND (O. Eng. wund,connected with a Teutonic verb, meaning to strive, fight, suffer, seen in O. Eng. winnan, whence Eng. " win ")

wound around a revolving drum, so drawing the pincers along, and with them the wire, until enough is through the die to be coiled two or three times on the block, where the end is secured by a small See also:

• SCREW (O.E. scrue, from O. Fr. escroue, mod. ecrou; ultimate origin uncertain; the word, or a similar one, appears in Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Schraube, Dan. skrue, but Skeat, following Diaz, finds the origin in Lat. scrobs, a ditch, hole, particularl

screw clamp or See also:

• VICE

vice ready for the drawing operation . Wire has to be pointed or made smaller in diameter at the end before it can be passed through the die; the pointing is done by hammering, filing, See also:

• ROLLING

rolling or swaging in dies, which effect a reduction in diameter . When the wire is on the block the latter is set in motion and the wire is drawn steadily through the die; it is very important that the block shall rotate evenly and that it shall run true and pull the wire in an even manner, otherwise the " snatching " which occurs will break the wire, or at least weaken it in spots . Continuous wire-drawing machines differ from the single-block machines in having a See also:

• SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series of dies through which the wire passes in a continuous manner . The difficulty of feeding between each die is solved by introducing a block between each, so that as the wire issues it coils around the block and is so helped on to the next die . The speeds of the blocks are increased successively, so that the See also:

• ELONGATION

elongation due to drawing is taken up and slip compensated for . The See also:

• OPERA (Italian for " work ")

opera See also:

• ION

ion of threading the wire first through all the dies and around the blocks is termed " stringing-up." The arrangements for lubrication include a See also:

• PUMP

pump which floods the dies, and in many cases also the bottom portions of the blocks run in lubricant . The speeds at which the wire travels vary greatly, according to the material and the amount of reduction effected; rates from Too ft. up to 900 ft. are possible, the higher speeds being those of continuous machines . Wires and cables for See also:

• ELECTRICAL
• ELECTRICAL (or ELECTROSTATIC) MACHINE

electrical purposes are covered with various insulating materials, such as See also:

• COTTON
• COTTON (Fr. coton; from Arab. qutun)
• COTTON, CHARLES (163o–1687)
• COTTON, GEORGE EDWARD LYNCH (1813–1866)
• COTTON, JOHN (1585–1652)
• COTTON, SIR ROBERT BRUCE

cotton, See also:

• SILK

silk, jute and paper, wrapped in See also:

• SPIRAL

spiral See also:

• FASHION (adapted from Fr. facon, agon, Lat. factio, making, facere, to do or make)

fashion and further protected with substances such as See also:

• PARAFFIN

paraffin, some kind of preservative See also:

• COMPOUND
• COMPOUND (from Lat. componere, to combine or put together)

compound, See also:

• BITUMEN

bitumen or See also:

• LEAD
• LEAD (pronounced iced)

lead sheathing or steel taping . The stranding or covering machines employed in this work are designed to carry supplies of material and See also:

• WIND
• WIND (a common Teut. word, cognate with Skt. vats, Lat. ventus, cf. " weather," to be of course distinguished from to " wind," to coil or twist, O.Eng. windan, cf. "wander," "wend," &c.)

wind it on to the wire which is passing through at a rapid See also:

• RATE

rate . Some of the smallest machines for cotton covering have a large drum, which grips the wire and moves it through toothed gears at a definite See also:

• SPEED, JOHN (1552–1629)

speed ; the wire passes through the centre of disks mounted above a long See also:

• BED
• BED (a common Teutonic word, cf. German Bett, probably connected with the Indo-European root bhodh, seen in the Lat. fodere, to dig; so " a dug-out place " for safe resting, or in the same sense as a garden " bed ")

bed, and the disks carry each a number of bobbins varying from six to twelve or more in different machines . A See also:

• SUPPLY (through Fr. from Lat. supplere, to fill up)

supply of covering material is wound on each bobbin, and the end is led on to the wire, which occupies a central position relatively to the bobbins; the latter being revolved at a suitable speed bodily with their disks, the cotton is consequently served on to the wire, winding in spiral fashion so as to overlap .

If a large number of strands are required the disks are duplicated, so that as many as sixty spools may be carried, the second set of strands being laid over the first . For the heavier cables, used for electric See also:

• LIGHT

light and See also:

• POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power, and submarine cables, the machines are somewhat different in construction . The wire is still carried through a hollow shaft, but the bobbins or spools of covering material are set with their spindles at right angles to the See also:

• AXIS (Lat. for " axle ")

axis of the wire, and they See also:

• LIE, JONAS LAURITZ EDEMIL (1833—1908)
• LIE, MARIUS SOPHUS (1842–1899)

lie in a circular cage which rotates on rollers below . The various strands coming from the spools at various parts of the circumference of the cage all lead to a disk at the end of the hollow shaft . This disk has perforations through which each of the strands pass, thence being immediately wrapped on the See also:

• CABLE (from Late Lat. capulum, a halter, from capere, to take hold of)
• CABLE, GEORGE WASHINGTON (1844– )

cable, which slides through a bearing at this point . Toothed gears having certain definite ratios are used to cause the winding drum for the cable and the cage for the spools to rotate at suitable relative speeds which do not vary . The cages are multiplied for stranding with a large number of tapes or strands, so that a See also:

• MACHINE
• MACHINE (through Fr. from Lat. form machina of Gr. µnxavil)

machine may have six bobbins on one cage and twelve on the other . In the See also:

• CASE
• CASE, JOHN (d. 1600)

case of sub-marine cables, coverings of jute-served See also:

• GUTTA (Latin for " drop ")

gutta-percha are employed, upon which a protective covering of steel wires is laid, subsequently treated with jute yarns or tapes and protected with coatings of compound . Messrs See also:

• JOHNSON, ANDREW
• JOHNSON, ANDREW (1808–1875)
• JOHNSON, BENJAMIN (c. 1665-1742)
• JOHNSON, EASTMAN (1824–1906)
• JOHNSON, REVERDY (1796–1876)
• JOHNSON, RICHARD (1573–1659 ?)
• JOHNSON, RICHARD MENTOR (1781–1850)
• JOHNSON, SAMUEL (1709-1784)
• JOHNSON, SIR THOMAS (1664-1729)
• JOHNSON, SIR WILLIAM (1715–1774)
• JOHNSON, THOMAS

Johnson & See also:

• PHILLIPS
• PHILLIPS, ADELAIDE (1833-1882)
• PHILLIPS, EDWARD (163o-1696)
• PHILLIPS, JOHN (1800—1874)
• PHILLIPS, SAMUEL (1814—1854)
• PHILLIPS, STEPHEN (1868– )
• PHILLIPS, THOMAS (1770-1845)
• PHILLIPS, WENDELL (1811-1884)

Phillips, Ltd., of Charlton, See also:

• KENT
• KENT, EARLS AND DUKES OF
• KENT, JAMES (1763-1847)
• KENT, WILLIAM (1685-1748)

Kent, make See also:

• COMBINATION (Lat. combinare, to combine)

combination machines which See also:

• LAY

lay the steel wires, apply the tapes and See also:

• COVER (from the Fr. convert, from couvrir, to cover, Lat. cooperire)

cover with the preservative compound, in one continuous operation . The wire is carried on bobbins in two rotating cages, having twelve bobbins each, and the jute bobbins, seventy-two in number, are mounted on disks, while the compound is supplied from See also:

• STEAM
• STEAM (0. Eng. steam, vapour, smoke, cf. Du. steam; the origin is unknown)

steam-heated tanks, through which the cable is passed by rollers . A machine of this class will turn out as much as 8 m. of finished cable in a See also:

• DAY (O. Eng. dreg, Ger. Tag; according to the New English Dictionary, " in no way related to the Lat. dies")
• DAY, JOHN (1574-1640?)
• DAY, THOMAS (1748-1789)

day of twelve See also:

• HOURS, CANONICAL

hours . When a supply of steel wire has been used up, the next portions are See also:

• UNITED

united by electric See also:

• WELDING (i.e. the action of the verb " to weld," the same word as " to well," to boil or spring up, the history of the word being to boil, to heat to a high degree, to beat heated iron; according to Skeat, who points out that in Swedish the compound verb

welding .

Tapes of paper, See also:

• RUBBER, INDIARUBBER

rubber or jute are served from bobbins on disks and also in some designs from See also:

• INDEPENDENT

independent bobbins, each mounted on its own pin, set at a suitable See also:

• ANGLE (from the Lat. angulus, a corner, a diminutive, of which the primitive form, angus, does not occur in Latin; cognate are the Lat. angere, to compress into a bend or to strangle, and the Gr. ayKOS, a bend; both connected with the Aryan root ank-, to

angle in a See also:

• FRAME

frame, to give the spiral lead . In some instances seventy-two layers of paper are applied to high-tension cables . These cables are subsequently put into steam-heated tanks, hermetically sealed and connected to a vacuum pump, by which the moisture is drawn off as quickly as possible . When the cable is thoroughly dry a quantity of compound is admitted to the tank and so permeates the insulation . Lead is put on the outside of the paper in a See also:

• PRESS (through Fr. presse from Lat. pressare, frequentative of premere, to crush, squeeze, press)

press, which has dies through which the cable passes, and is covered with a See also:

• UNIFORM

uniform coating or See also:

• TUBE (Lat. tuba)

tube of lead, forced into the dies and around the cable by See also:

• HYDRAULIC

hydraulic pressure . Steel tapes are in some cases used to See also:

• ARMOUR, PHILIP DANFORTH (1832-1901)

armour cables and protect them from See also:

• EXTERNAL

external injury; the tape is wound in a similar manner to the other materials already described . Rubber covering of wires and cables is done by passing them through grooved rollers simultaneously with rubber strips above and below, so that the rubber is crushed on to the wires, the latter emerging as a wide See also:

• BAND

band . The See also:

• SEPARATE

separate wires are parted forcibly, each retaining its rubber sheathing . Vulcanizing is afterwards done in steam-heated drums . Many See also:

• AUXILIARY (from Lat. auxilium, help)

auxiliary machines are necessary in connexion with wire-and cable-covering, as plant for preparing the rubber and paper, &c., cutting it into strips, winding it, measuring lengths, &c . Wire Gauges.—In See also:

• COMMERCE
• COMMERCE (Lat. commercium, from, cum, together, and rnerx, merchandise)

commerce, the sizes of wire are estimated by gauges which consist of plates of circular or oblong form having notches of different widths round their edges to receive wire and See also:

• SHEET

sheet metals of different thicknesses . Each notch is stamped with a number, and the wire or sheet, which just fits a given notch, is stated to be of, say, No .

1o, Et, 12, &c., of the wire See also:

• GAUGE, or GAGE (Med. Lat. gauja, jaugia, Fr. jauge, perhaps connected with Fr. jale, a bowl, galon, gallon)

gauge . But it is always necessary to See also:

• STATE
• STATE, GREAT OFFICERS OF

state what particular gauge is used, since, unfortunately, uniformity is wanting . Holtzapffel investigated the subject, and published a valuable collection of facts See also:

• RELATING

relating thereto in 1846 . A more exhaustive See also:

• REPORT (O.Fr. report or raport, modern rapport, from O.Fr. reporter, mod. rap porter, Lat. reportare, to bring back, in poetical use only, of bringing back an account, news, &c.)

report was published by a See also:

• COMMITTEE (from commute, an Anglo-Fr. past participle of commettre, Lat. committere, to entrust; the modern Fr. equivalent comite is derived from the Eng.)

committee of the Society of Telegraph See also:

• ENGINEERS, MILITARY

Engineers in 1879 (Journ . See also:

• SOC

Soc . Tel . Eng. viii. p . 476), a result of which was the sanctioning by the See also:

• BOARD (O. Eng. bord)

Board of See also:

• TRADE (O. Eng. trod, footstep, from tredan, to tread; in M. Eng. the forms teed, trod and trade appear, the last in the sense of a beaten track)
• TRADE, BOARD OF

Trade, in 1884, of the New ImperiaLStandard Wire Gauge . That report stated: " The different gaug8 in use might he counted by hundreds . . . . Every wire-drawer has gauges adjusted to suit See also:

• SPECIAL

special See also:

• OBJECTS

objects . When competition is keen, wire is commonly drawn by one gauge and sold by another; half sizes and See also:

• QUARTER (through Fr. from Lat. quartarius, fourth part)

quarter sizes are in See also:

• CONSTANT, BENJAMIN (1845-1902)

constant use among the dealers, the wire being sold as whole sizes .

Sometimes four or five different gauge plates have been made by one maker—some by which the workmen are paid, and others by which the wire is sold . . The whole See also:

• SYSTEM

system is in confusion, and lends itself to those who See also:

• DESIRE

desire to use fraudulent practices." See also:

• THOMAS
• THOMAS (c. 1654-1720)
• THOMAS (d. 110o)
• THOMAS, ARTHUR GORING (1850-1892)
• THOMAS, CHARLES LOUIS AMBROISE (1811-1896)
• THOMAS, GEORGE (c. 1756-1802)
• THOMAS, GEORGE HENRY (1816-187o)
• THOMAS, ISAIAH (1749-1831)
• THOMAS, PIERRE (1634-1698)
• THOMAS, SIDNEY GILCHRIST (1850-1885)
• THOMAS, ST
• THOMAS, THEODORE (1835-1905)
• THOMAS, WILLIAM (d. 1554)

Thomas See also:

• HUGHES, DAVID EDWARD (1831-1900)
• HUGHES, HUGH PRICE (1847-19o2)
• HUGHES, JOHN (1677-1720)
• HUGHES, JOHN (1797-1864)
• HUGHES, SIR EDWARD (c. 1720-1794)
• HUGHES, THOMAS
• HUGHES, THOMAS (1822-1896)

Hughes (The See also:

• ENGLISH

English Wire Gauge, See also:

• LONDON

London, 1879) stated that, " Inthe same See also:

• TOWN

town some use Stubs, some the See also:

• WARRINGTON

Warrington, some the See also:

• LANCASHIRE

Lancashire, some the See also:

• YORKSHIRE

Yorkshire, some the See also:

• BIRMINGHAM

Birmingham, some the iron wire gauge and some their own made wire gauge, all maintaining the gauge in their own See also:

• POSSESSION
• POSSESSION (Lat. possessio, possidere, to possess)

possession to be the correct one." . Gauges may be broadly divided into two See also:

• GROUPS
• GROUPS, THEORY

groups, the empirical and the geometrical . The first include all the old ones, notably the Birmingham (B.W.G.) and the Lancashire or Stubs . The origin of the B.W.G. is lost in obscurity . The See also:

• NUMBERS, BOOK OF
• NUMBERS, PARTITION OF

numbers of wire were in See also:

• COMMON

common use earlier than 1735 . It is believed that they originally were based on the series of drawn wires, No. t being the original rod, and succeeding numbers corresponding with each draw, so that No . To, for example, would have passed ten times through the draw plate . But the Birmingham and the Lancashire gauge, the latter being based on an averaging of the dimensions collated from a large number of the former in the possession of See also:

• PETER
• PETER (Lat. Petrus from Gr. irfpos, a rock, Ital. Pietro, Piero, Pier, Fr. Pierre, Span. Pedro, Ger. Peter, Russ. Petr)
• PETER (PEDRO)
• PETER, EPISTLES OF
• PETER, ST

Peter Stubs of Warrington, have long held the leading position, and are still retained and used probably to a greater extent than the more See also:

• RECENT

recent geometrical gauges . There is no need, therefore, to give an See also:

• ACCOUNT
• ACCOUNT (through O. Fr. acont, Late Lat. comptum, cornputare, to calculate)

account of the other and less known gauges which have been used by manufacturers . In no case is there any See also:

• REGULAR

regular increment of dimensions from which a regular See also:

• CURVE (Lat. curvus, bent)

curve could be drawn . The first See also:

• ATTEMPT (Lat. adtemptare, attentare, to try)

attempt to adopt a geometrical system was made by Messrs See also:

• BROWN
• BROWN, CHARLES BROCKDEN (1771-181o)
• BROWN, FORD MADOX (1821-1893)
• BROWN, FRANCIS (1849- )
• BROWN, GEORGE (1818-188o)
• BROWN, HENRY KIRKE (1814-1886)
• BROWN, JACOB (1775–1828)
• BROWN, JOHN (1715–1766)
• BROWN, JOHN (1722-1787)
• BROWN, JOHN (1735–1788)
• BROWN, JOHN (1784–1858)
• BROWN, JOHN (1800-1859)
• BROWN, JOHN (1810—1882)
• BROWN, JOHN GEORGE (1831— )
• BROWN, ROBERT (1773-1858)
• BROWN, SAMUEL MORISON (1817—1856)
• BROWN, SIR GEORGE (1790-1865)
• BROWN, SIR JOHN (1816-1896)
• BROWN, SIR WILLIAM, BART
• BROWN, THOMAS (1663-1704)
• BROWN, THOMAS (1778-1820)
• BROWN, THOMAS EDWARD (1830-1897)
• BROWN, WILLIAM LAURENCE (1755–1830)

Brown & See also:

• SHARPE, DANIEL (18o6-1856)

Sharpe in 1855 .

They established a regular progression of See also:

• THIRTY

thirty-nine steps between the English sizes, No . 0000 (46o mils) and No . 36 (5 mils) . Each diameter was multiplied by 0.890522 to give the next See also:

• LOWER

lower size . This is now the See also:

• AMERICAN

American gauge, and is used to a considerable extent in the U.S.A . The Imperial See also:

• STANDARD
• STANDARD, BATTLE OF THE

Standard Wire Gauge, which has been sanctioned by the See also:

• BRITISH

British Board of Trade, is one that was formulated by J . See also:

• LATIMER, HUGH (c. 1490-1555)

Latimer See also:

• CLARK, FRANCIS EDWARD (1851- )
• CLARK, GEORGE ROGERS (1752—1818)
• CLARK, JOHN BATES (1847— )
• CLARK, JOSIAH LATIMER (1822—1898)
• CLARK, SIR ANDREW
• CLARK, SIR JAMES (1788—1870)
• CLARK, THOMAS (1801—1867)
• CLARK, WILLIAM (1770-1838)
• CLARK, WILLIAM GEORGE (1821—1878)

Clark . Incidentally, one of its recommendations is that it differs from pre-existing gauges scarcely more than they differ among themselves, and it is based on a rational system, the basis being the mil . No . 7/0, the largest size, is 0.50 in . (500 mils) in diameter, and the smallest, No . 50, is 0.001 in .

(1 mil) in diameter . Between these the diameter, or thickness, diminishes by 10.557%, and the See also:

• WEIGHT

weight diminishes by 20% . But the fact remains that a large number of gauges are still in common use, and that gauges of the same name differ and are therefore not authoritative . Sheet iron wire gauge differs from Stubs' steel wire gauge . Gauges for wire and plate differ . Accuracy can only be secured by specifying precisely the name of the gauge intended, or, what is generally better, the dimensions in decimals, which can always be tested with a See also:

• MICROMETER (from Gr. wcp6c, small, jArpov, a measure)

micrometer . A decimal gauge has been proposed . Tables of decimal equivalents of the wire gauges have been prepared, and are helpful . The circular forms of gauge are the most popular, and are generally 3; in. in diameter, with thirty-six notches; many have the decimal equivalents of the sizes stamped on the back . Oblong plates are similarly notched . Rolling See also:

• MILL
• MILL (O. Eng. mylen, later myln, or miln, adapted from the late Lat. molina, cf. Fr. moulin, from Lat. mola, a mill, molere, to grind; from the same root, mol, is derived " meal;" the word appears in other Teutonic languages, cf. Du. molen, Ger. muhle)
• MILL, JAMES (1773-1836)
• MILL, JOHN (c. 1645–1707)
• MILL, JOHN STUART (1806-1873)

mill gauges are also oblong in form . Many gauges are made with a See also:

• WEDGE (O. Eng. wecg, a mass of metal, cognate with Dutch wig, wigge, Dan. vaegge, &c.; in Lith. the cognate form outside Teut. is found in wagis, a peg, spigot; there is no connexion with " weigh," " weight," which must be referred to the root wegh, to li

wedge-like slot into which the wire is thrust; one edge being graduated, the point at which the See also:

• MOVEMENT

movement of the wire is arrested gives its size .

The graduations are those of standard wire, or in thousandths of an inch . In some cases both edges are graduated differently to serve for comparison between two systems of measurement . A few gauges are made with holes into which the wire has to be thrust . All gauges are hardened and ground to dimensions .