Each manufacture
requires its own list of questions, which will be better drawn up
after the first visit. The following outline, which is very
generally applicable, may suffice for an illustration; and to
save time, it may be convenient to have it printed; and to bind
up, in the form of a pocket-book, a hundred copies of the
skeleton forms for processes, with about twenty of the general
enquiries.
GENERAL ENQUIRIES
Outlines of a description of any of the mechanical arts ought to
contain information on the following points
Brief sketch of its history, particularly the date of its
invention, and of its introduction into England.
Short reference to the previous states through which the
material employed has passed: the places whence it is procured:
the price of a given quantity.
[The various processes must now be described successively
according to the plan which will be given in (161); after which
the following information should be given.]
Are various kinds of the same article made in one establishment,
or at different ones, and are there differences in the processes?
To what defects are the goods liable?
What substitutes or adulterations are used?
What waste is allowed by the master?
What tests are there of the goodness of the manufactured
articles?
The weight of a given quantity, or number, and a comparison
with that of the raw material?
The wholesale price at the manufactory? (L s.
Pages:
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176