A late-19th-century technical treatise by E. A. Posselt describing patented improvements in power-loom machinery. It covers shedding mechanisms (dobbies, harness motions), drop-box and shuttle-box motions, let-off and take-up, pickers, shuttles, temples, reeds, heddles, Jacquard attachments, spooling and winding machines, lappet motions, and yarn-counting devices. Each entry explains a mechanism with line drawings and lettered parts, often credited to Crompton & Knowles, Draper, Mason or individual inventors. It also includes a table of contents and period advertisements for textile machinery and suppliers.