134 EEPOET OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1914. 



Some progress was made in the compilation of the textile glos- 

 sary, begun last year, new terms and definitions appearing in the 

 trade papers and technical journals being carefully recorded, but 

 until more time can be given to it it will be impossible to properly 

 advance this important piece of work. 



Several visits were made by the curator to textile centers of the 

 country for the purpose of studying certain industries at first hand 

 and of soliciting material for the division. The history of several 

 important textile machines, including the Slater cotton spinning- 

 frame, the first wool card built in the United States, the Carpenter 

 yarn reel, and processes formerly used in the manufacture of flags 

 for Army purposes were investigated at Pawtucket, R. I., and Lowell 

 and North Andover, Mass. The other important trips were as follows : 

 To Paterson, New York City, and Philadelphia, with reference to 

 the dyeing and finishing of silks and ribbons and the manufacture of 

 laces, artificial silk, and fur hats. To Manchester, N. H., and several 

 places in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, to study the manufacture 

 of ginghams, piece-dyed cottons, worsted and woolen goods, and to 

 investigate certain questions concerning the early history of the 

 textile industry in this country. To Chicago, 111., for the examina- 

 tion of the exhibits and the methods of classifying, installing, and 

 labeling specimens of textiles and of other industrial arts in the Field 

 Museum, the Art Institute, and the museums of the Chicago Academy 

 of Sciences and the Chicago Historical Society. The factories of the 

 Earnshaw Knitting Co. and the Zeldman Plaircloth Co. were also 

 visited. To the silk-throwing mill of the Klots Throwing Co., at 

 Fredericksburg, Va., where a careful study was made of the steps in 

 the methods there employed. All of these trips resulted very ad- 

 vantageously for the Museum, since they permitted the curator to 

 mvestigate closely the man}^ processes of textile manufacture over a 

 wide field and to indicate definitely the materials best suited to rep- 

 resent these processes in a museum exhibit. Received everywhere in 

 a cordial spirit, he has been able to enlist the interest of many manu- 

 facturers in the collections now in course of assembling. Practically 

 all of the important accessions of the year were secured through these 

 means, and other acquisitions, which require more time for their 

 preparation, are soon to be expected. 



It should be possible, with the growth of its collections, for this 

 division to render substantial aid to the interests of the arts and 

 crafts outside of Washington, but at present it has not the necessary 

 duplicate material for such cooperation. One set of specimens, how- 

 ever, was supplied to the Children's Museum of Boston to form the 

 beginning of an industrial room in that institution. It consisted of 

 cotton bolls, raw cotton, silk cocoons, raw silk, unwashed, washed, 

 and combed wool. The curator lectured on textile processes before 



