A PRIMITIVE WEAVING FRAME. 



503 



from Aulnini, Miiiiu\ collected by Mr. H. C. Merrill. Tt is formed 

 from a piofo of wiiito ])ino board ono-half inch thick, and has eighteen 

 heddle dents. There is no crosspiece at the top, the working portion 

 being formed by seventeen saw cuts 10 inches long, dividing the upper 

 portion into parts like the toeih of a comb, each part one-half inch 

 wide. On both sides the angular edges of the upright parts have 

 ])een whittled away so as to facilitate the passing of the threads. The 

 holes for the warp threads have })een rudely perforated and their 

 outer extremities whittled. The 

 lower part of the apparatus, 8i 

 inches long, has concave sides to 

 facilitate holding it between the 

 knees of the operator (tig. 14). 



It is quite possible that examples 

 might l)e found in northern New 

 England States. The form in which 

 the heddle made of a single piece of 

 board is prolonged to be held be- 

 tween the weaver's knees or to be 

 set in a block of wood on the floor 

 is peculiar to New England, so far 

 as the U. S. National Museum col- 

 lection testifies. 



PATENTED HEDDLE FRAMES. 



As the climax of this t3'pe of the 

 stationary heddle frame, attention is 

 now called to the United States pat- 

 ent No. 334320, granted in 1886 to 

 Eugenia Wernicke, a subject of the 

 King of Prussia, residing at 7 Bes- 

 selsstrasse, Berlin. 



In the Wernicke patent the hed- 

 dle frame, in the drawing, shows 

 twenty-seven healds made of wire 

 or cord, with stirrups in the middle. 

 The shuttle for holding the thread is a seine needle lenticular in cross 

 section, tapering at its extremities, and provided at each end with an 

 eye. Other attachments to this device form part of the patent, 

 namely, for holding the warp in good shape, so as to secure uniform- 

 ity of width in the textile; clamp for holding the apparatus to the 

 table, etc., all unimportant in this place, the principle of operation 

 being the same as in those previously described from Germany and 

 other parts of Europe. 



Fig. 14. 



HEDDLE FROM MAINE, WITH HEALDS DISCON- 

 NECTED AT THE TOP. 



At the bottom a footing is cut in to fit the knees 

 of the operator. 



Cat. No. 17.5640. U.S.N. M. Collected tiy H. C. MerrilL 



