Illustration: DRILLING THE EYES.
The manufacture of needles is one of those arts in which manual
dexterity is acquired by minute subdivision of labour, each artisan
performing only a small part of the process, but so often, that the
most wonderful rapidity and accuracy are obtained, insomuch that
although each needle has to pass through nearly 150 hands (together
with expensive machinery) before finishing, yet they may be bought
at an astonishingly low price.