1-158-414 - Oxford Science Archive/Heritage Images

Milking parlour equipped with Thistle suction and pulsation milking machine, 1899. Devised by Dr Alexander Shields of Glasgow, Scotland, in 1895, the Thistle was considered too expensive and was not developed, although subsequent machines used the same principle. At 3 is a vacuum pump powered by a 4-5 hp stationary engine. From Les Inventions Illustrees. (Paris, September, 1899).