This 19th century machine in the Masson Mill textile museum, Derbyshire, cleans and teases cotton into strands ready for spinning. It was generally referred to “The Devil” because it had a tendency to remove fingers and limbs – no guards, and stopping the machine involved disengaging it from the steam driven mechanism above the machine, a process that took two or three minutes. The notice on the large wheel instructs women and children that they must not crawl beneath the machine to retrieve cotton while the machine was in motion. Men, on the other hand, had to take their chances with the whirling sharp needles inches above their head.
