mitted the record to l)e presumed — 

 examples occur of the use of ahnost e\'ery 

 •device for fabric decoration which we 

 know to(hiy. 



The proof of this rather sweeping; 

 statement will he offered in a paper soon 

 to be issued. The subject is referred to 

 at this time merely to sustain the conten- 

 tion that the study of the type of loom 

 now to be considered has a deep interest 

 even aside from archaeology. 



The simplest form of two-barred loom 

 that I have ever seen, is illustrated in 

 Dr. Roth's excellent paper entitled, 

 " Some Technological Notes from the 

 Pomeroon District, British Guiana." 

 It is merely two sticks, parallel to each 

 other and held apart by cords, on which 

 a string is wound to form a simple warp. 

 The warp threads are placed in the same 

 plane preparatory to weaving, by twining 

 two wefts at the lower part. There are 

 no leash rods, such as occur in Navajo 

 and other looms, to divide the warps into 

 convenient form for weaving. Even the 

 simplest form of heddle for opening the 

 weaving sheds is absent, the paddle- 

 shaped object being used for this pur- 

 pose and also to beat the weft up after 

 it is delivered. 



It is cjuite proper for us to be 

 amazed at the wonderful technical 

 inventions of our race during the past 

 few centuries. They have marvelously 

 influenced the ad^'ancement of civiliza- 

 tion and indeed form our chief basis of 

 cultural superiority. We must remem- 

 ber however, that primitive peoples 

 arrived at their mechanical results by 

 the same hard road of ceaseless experi- 

 ment and constant effort to overcome 

 economic and technical obstacles. Each 

 apparently simple deA'ice added to their 

 looms from time to time was as truly an 

 intellectual triumph as the more spec- 

 tacular results of Arkwright or Cromp- 

 ^ton, of Jacquard or Northrup. 



Peruvian bell loom similar to that shown on page 

 384; but showing also how short lengths of warp were 

 stretched between bars for convenience in weaving. 

 Below, the warps are twisted in a skein to avoid tangles 



385 



