SECTION FOURTII. WEAVING CROSS WARPS. THE species of ornamental weaving which we nave now to investigate, is exclusively adapted to the slightest and most flimsy textures. Like the other branches of the art, we derived our first knowledge of cross weaving from the East; but, it certainly has been much improved, and a considerable variety of nets have been added, by the invention and ingenuity of European weavers.* * The yarn used by the Egyptians in the manufacture of their nets, or lace texture, appears to have been remarkable for its fineness; "and so delicate were some of these," says Pliny,† "that they would pass through a man's ring, and a single person could carry a sufficient number of them to surround a whole wood." Julius Lupus, who died while Governor of Egypt, had some of these nets, each string of which consisted of 150 threads; a fact perfectly surprising to those who are not aware, that the Rhodians preserve to this day, in the temple of Minerva, the remains of a linen corslet, presented to them by Amasis, King of Egypt, whose threads are composed each of 365 fibres; and in proof of the truth of this, Mutianus, who was thrice consul, lately affirmed at Rome, before Pope Gregory XVI., "that he had examined it; and the reason of so few fragments remaining was attributable to the curiosity of those who had frequently subjected it to the same scrutiny."-Heroditus mentions this corslet and another, presented by Amasis to the Lacedæmonians, which had been carried off by the Samians; "It was of linen, ornamented with numerous figures of animals, worked in gold and cotton.” Many of the Egyptian stuffs presented various patterns worked in colours by the loom, independent of those produced by the dying or printing process, and so richly composed that they vied with cloths embroidered with the needle. The art of embroidery§ was commonly practised in Egypt. We find that the Hebrews, on leaving the country, took advantage of the knowledge they had there acquired to make a rich hanging for the door of the tent, "of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needle-work ;" a coat of fine linen was embroidered for Aaron; and his girdle was "of fine linen twined, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, of needle work."|| + Plin. xix. 7. Herodot. ii. 182, and iii. 47. Ezekiel. xxvii. 7. The first branch of cross weaving, and of which all the others are only varieties, is COMMON GAUZE. In all the branches of weaving which we have hitherto considered, the threads of the warp, whether raised or sunk, alternately, or at intervals, remain always parallel to each other, and without crossing. But in gauze weaving, the two threads of warp which pass between the same dents of the reed, are crossed over each other, and twined like a cord at every tread. They are twined to the right and to the left, alternately, and each pick of weft preserves the twine which the warp has received. To produce this effect, it is only necessary that the warp should really be crossed at every second pick, for its return from the crossed to the open or parallel state gives the reversed crossing. A representation of a mounting peculiar to gauze weaving will be found in Fig. 49, and a section of the web is shown under the same figure at A.* Fog. 49 represents two threads of warp opened to form the shed, where the warp is not crossed, and Fig. 50, I fe the shed where it is crossed. The mounting of a gauze loom consists of four leaves, constructed like common clasped headles, and of two half leaves. The leaves are raised and sunk, by means of top levers or coupers, and marches, exactly in the same way as in most other ornamental looms. The opened shed of the gauze is formed by the leaves 3 and 4, (see Fig. 49) the cross shed by the leaves 1 and 2, and by the half leaves. The leaves 1 and 2 are called standards, and the half leaves pass through them, as is represented more clearly in Figs. 51 and 52. It is necessary to observe, that in order to produce the twi gauze twist, as represented at A* under Fig. 49, in formin 3 sheds, the threads do not rise and fall alternately, as in plain weaving, nor at intervals as in tweeling. In both sheds the thread A is always raised and the thread B sunk; but in the open shed, Fig. 49, the threads are not crossed, and in the cross shed, Fig. 50, they are. By examining these two figures (49 and 50,) the way of drawing the warp through the headles will become apparent, and this is an important part of every branch of cross weaving. The thread A is drawn through the third leaf, but as it always rises, it is not taken through the clasp, or eye, of the headle, but above it, through what the weavers usually call the upper doup, as at, X Fig. 49. In like manner the thread B, which always sinks, is drawn through the under doup of the fourth leaf as at Y Figs. 49 and 50. When this has been done, the thread A is crossed under the thread B, as will appear more plainly in Fig. 53, which is a horizontal or ground plan. After being drawn through these two leaves, which are generally called the back mounting, it only remains to cross and draw the warp through the fore mounting. Of the half leaves, one is hung from above, and one rises from below. The one hung from above passes through the lower doup of the leaf or standard 2, and that from below through the upper doup of the standard 1. This will appear very plain in Fig. 51. Through the under half leaf connected with the standard 1, the thread A is drawn, (see Fig. 49) and through the upper half leaf connected with the standard 2, the thread B passes, as in Fig. 49. In Figs. 49 and 50, the shaft of the upper half B', appears as hung between the standards 1 and 2, but this is not the usual practice; for it is found more convenient to place the two standards to gether, the under half leaf, A2, in front of the standard 1, and the upper half, B2, behind the standard 2, as in Figs. 51 and 52. By means of the half leaves the alternate crossing of the warp is effected; for in the open shed (Fig. 49,) the half leaves work in an opposite direction to the standards, and leave room for the warp to rise and sink in the space between the standards, while in the cross shed (Fig. 50) the half leaves rise and sink with their respective standards, and force one thread of warp across the other. Thus, when the warp is direct, the half leaves are crossed, and when the mounting is direct, the warp is crossed. This will plainly appear by carefully tracing the threads A and B in Figs. 49 and 50, and also in Figs. 51 and 52, where sections of the threads are represented by round dots, thus (..) In Fig. 51 the half leaves and standards are crossed as in Fig. 49, and in Fig. 52 the standard 1 is sunk and the standard 2 raised; the mounting will be direct and the warp crossed, as in Fig. 50. To render the mode of mounting a gauze loom as plain as possible, we shall enter into a more detailed account of the mounting than appears necessary in those kinds of weaving where the horizontal plans of the draught and cording have been long practised and understood by professional men. The novelty of the subject, and its evident utility, should we succeed in our explanation, will, we hope, screen us from the charge of unnecessary prolixity. It has been already stated, that the gauze mounting consists of two back leaves, two standards, and two half leaves. These are moved by two treadles. The intermediate levers are five top levers or coupers, five long, and five short marches. Tracing the headles in regular succession from the front, the first is the under half leaf, A2, the second the front standard 1, the third the second standard 2, the fourth the upper half leaf, B2, the fifth the first back leaf 3, and the sixth the second back leaf 4 (see Fig. 49.) The two back leaves and the two standards are raised, or sunk, as the case may require, by connecting cords with the marches and treadles, as in other looms. The half leaves have no connection with any treadle, but are lifted, and sunk by the warp, in the open shed Fig. 49; and they are kept tight by weights in the cross shed 50. These weights must, therefore, operate upon the half leaves in the cross shed, and must be relieved in the open. It will be proper to trace the connections of the leaves with the coupers and marches in the first place, and then to explain the way in which the weights are applied to operate upon the half leaves |