32 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol.60. 



of the operation is still performed by hand, while in the most com- 

 plicated looms all the operations are performed automatically. In 

 some tribes of our Indians and among rude peoples elsewhere the 

 loom is little better than a darning machine. The fingers are the 

 only harness, and often the side of the hand acts as the batten, In 

 Chinese matting looms and in the belt- weaver's outfit of the south- 

 western United States the warp is shifted by a wooden harness and 

 the weft is beaten home by a wooden sword. Pedals are not used in 

 any of these early forms, because in all occupations both men and 

 women sit on the ground at their work. 



No. 1. Aino loom for weaving belts of ohiyo (elm) bark. Single heald ; primi- 

 tive shuttle ; sword batten ; warp spreader with holes burnt through. 



No. 2. Mexican loom with .single heald rod, primitive shuttle, and sword batten. 



No. 3. Navaho loom with three heald rods, sword batten, and weft of different 

 colors in hanks, not in shuttles. 



No. 4. Babylonian loom with four sets of healds and reed batten. 



No. 5. Heddle cut from a single board. Other examples are made of reeds held 

 in parallel crosspieces. 



No. 6. Italian loom, same as No. 5, in its heddle, with yarn beam and ratchet. 



HISTORY OF METAL WORKING. 



Among savages, generally, the ores of metals and pure nuggets of 

 copper, gold, and silver are treated as stone. They are chipped, bat- 

 tered, abraded, and polished. A little higher in culture the softer 

 metals are cold hammered, or cut, or pressed into shape, and in some 

 cases, swaged. The third step in the elaboration of this art is found 

 among those African tribes that have iron ore in sufficient purity to 

 reduce it in an open forge. The smelting of metal comes last, and this 

 portion of the art gives rise to an infinite number of modern indus- 

 tries. 



In the reduction of metals the first and simplest process is " heap 

 roasting " ; the second is the " open-hearth roasting " ; next comes the 

 earth hearth with a cavity, which is the primitive crucible. This 

 is followed in order by the crucible without draft, the crucible with 

 draft, natural or forced, and the crucible with a flame playing above 

 and below, leading up to the reverberatory furnace with its hot blast. 

 The electrical furnace, without fuel, is the latest step in the process. 



After the crude substance has been rendered tractable it is then 

 the object of innumerable manipulations, the consideration of which 

 would form the second series of exhibits. The tools employed at 

 first in metal working were of stone, then of metal held in the hand. 

 Finally, a wide range of machine tools has been devised for the 

 purpose of manufacturing objects of use and beauty. 



