MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 61 



scarlet and a stripe of gold, the ends arc of cloth of gold, about a yard in 

 depth, and the whole shawl is surrounded by a rich border of flowers or 

 birds in variegated silks, woven on a gold ground. The process by which 

 this gold thread used in these fabrics is manufactured is as follows : 



A rod of silver, weighing about twenty-two rupees, after having been 

 roughened by a file, is covered with a leaf of the best gold, weighing one, so 

 that gold forms one twenty-third part of the whole metal. The rod of silver 

 having been wetted, the gold leaf is laid on, and pressed with the finger and 

 afterwards rubbed smartly on the thigh. The edges of the gold leaf that 

 come in contact are beaten a little thinner than the body of the leaf, so as to 

 secure, as nearly as possible, uniform thickness. The bar so prepared is heated 

 in a pan of charcoal till it becomes red-hot. It is then taken out and ham- 

 mered, and rubbed with a piece of wood, and is ready to undergo the first 

 process of being drawn into wire. The rod is, at this time, about the thick- 

 ness of a man's thumb, and from six to eight inches in length. In the wire- 

 drawer's house there is a pit dug in the floor, about thirty inches deep, con- 

 taining a rude horizontal wooden cylinder, or beam, turning on pivots. In 

 this cylinder are fixed four handspikes, over one of which is slipped a ring, to 

 which is attached a chain, with a ring at the other end. Through this ring 

 is slipped the head of a pair of pincers, in the jaws of which is placed the end 

 of the gilt bar, which had previously been hammered at one end, so as to 

 ennable it to pass through the hole pierced in a steel plate, through which the 

 bar has to be drawn, and, being drawn, is reduced in diameter, and propor- 

 tionably increased in length. As the cylinder revolves, the rod of metal 

 lengthens, and winds round the cylinder. To lessen the friction in passing 

 through the holes, the rod is invariably rubbed over with wax. Having 

 passed through the holes in the steel plate, each hole being a degree finer than 

 the other, the wire is coiled up and reheated, or annealed, by which it is soft- 

 ened, or made more malleable. This process of drawing and heating is 

 repeated over and over again, until the wire is reduced to the substance of 

 ordinary whip-cord. The wire is subsequently passed through a steel plate 

 pierced with fifteen or twenty holes of different degrees of fineness. To 

 make the Avire pass easily through the finer hole, it is rubbed at the end be- 

 tween two pieces of porcelain, then slipped through the hole caught with 

 a pair of nippers, and attached to a limb or spoke of the empty reel, which 

 is turned by the hand, and the wire is driven through Avith perfect ease. 

 This operation is continued and repeated until the wire becomes as fine as 

 the finest hair. 



In this state it is too Aveak to be woA'cn, and must be united w r ith some 

 fibre before it can be worked in the loom. In order that it may readily 

 attach itself to the thread, it becomes necessary that it should be flattened, 

 which is done by beating it with a highly polished steel hammer, on an 

 anvil. Eight or ten wires arc flattened at one time. The flattened wire is 

 next passed into the hands of a spinner or plater of gold thread. FCAV im- 

 provements haA-e been made in the system since the manufacture first be- 

 gan, and the greater portion of the inhabitants of Pactun are engaged in its 

 different branches. 



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