85S 



EMBROCATION. 



EMBROIDERING AND SEWING-MACHINES. 



851 



therefore, the parapet be more than 8 feet high, it is better to raise the 

 terreplein of the gun. In laying out an embrasure, the usual rule 

 namely, that given by Sir Charles Pasley has been to make the neck 

 or interior of the opening 2 feet wide for guns and 2 feet 6 inches for 

 howitzers ; and the embrasure being funnel-shaped, with its greatest 

 opening to the front, the inclination of the cheeks to one another is 

 determined by making them widen out 6 inches at the distance of 

 5 feet; that is, the centre line, or line of fire, being laid down, the 

 bottom of each cheek is made 1 foot from this line at the neck and 

 1 foot 6 inches from it at 5 feet to the front. This opening of 2 feet 

 for the neck of the embrasure was found too small for the heavy guns 

 and continuous firing used at the siege of Sebastopol, where they were 

 increased as follows : for 



Heavy 32-pounders 



8-inch guns . 



10-inch guns 



Lancaster guns and 68-pounders 



to 2 feet 6 inches 

 2 9 

 3 



M V M & ! 



They should, however, be as small as possible, to afford protection to 

 the gunners. 



The cheeks of the embrasure are made almost perpendicular at the 

 neck where the effects of the explosion are slight, and gradually sloping 

 outwards to the front, in order that they may be the better able to with- 

 stand this effect : they are, in fact, what is termed in mechanics " in 

 winding," that is, not in the same plane. They are revetted according 

 to circumstances with timber and planking, fascines, or gabions, the 

 former being perhaps the best and the latter the worst description of 

 revetment, though from its being the most accessible the most ordi- 

 narily used. Four or five gabions are placed hi each cheek ; though at 

 .Sebastopol eight and nine gabions were required in a parapet 24 feet 

 thick at top (a great thickness, necessitated by the heavy guns, 56- and 

 08-pounders, of the besieged), in consequence of the looseness of the 

 soil, which, where not retained by some revetment, soon fell in and 

 choked the embrasure. The gabions were again covered with raw 

 hides, hurdles, &c., to protect them from the effect of rapid fire. The 

 Russians in many instances used the large iron ships' tanks taken from 

 the dockyard to revett their embrasures. Embrasures are occasionally 

 revetted with sand-bags, which, unless protected by raw hides, are 

 noon burnt by the flame from the muzzle of the gun. Sandbags are, 

 however, very useful to stuff the gabion revetement of an embrasure 

 with, instead of filling them with earth, which is liable to be shaken 

 out by firing. The sole of the embrasure is, for direct firing, made 

 sloping slightly downwards to the front ; but for ricochet firing, where 

 the guns are always fired at a considerable angle of elevation, they are 

 made countersloping. 



EMBROCATION (from fpPpoxri), a moistening, a term employed 

 to denote external applications, which had for their object to soften 

 and dissipate swellings : in this sense they do not differ from fomenta- 

 tions ; but the word has been extended beyond its original mean- 

 ing, and signifies oleaginous or spirituous compounds, which may 

 excite the vessels of the skin to increased action, and produce all the 

 effects of counter-irritants, or by their influence on the extremities 

 of the nerves may assist in resolving spasm, and so act as anti- 

 Bpasmodics. 



KMBROIDERING AND SEWING-MACHINES. The word em- 

 broidery, as employed in the writings of the ancient historians, has 

 reference to all kinds of ornamental work done with the needle ; thus 

 comprehending within its meaning every description of decorative 

 needlework, including tapestry and some descriptions of weaving. At 

 the present day, however, the application of the term is much more 

 limited, relating to one kind of needlework only, which, nevertheless, 

 embraces great variety, both as to the materials employed and the 

 mode of using them. The recent invention and amazing extension 

 of * ' ' If 9 give a new scope to the term; seeing that the 



cmbn >idering machines and sewing-machines are BO nearly alike in 

 principle, that they had better be described together. It will be con- 

 venient, therefore, to treat the subject here under the sub-headings, 

 Hand embroidery , Embroidering Machines, and Sewing Machines. 



Hand-embroidery. Some of the modes of hand-embroidery partake 

 of the nature of TAPESTRY ; but there is one method, in which a very 

 rich effect is produced by inserting pieces of cotton wool, or blips ol 

 parchment cut to suit the devices, between the fabric upon which the 

 embroidery is executed and the threads of silk or other material oi 

 which the pattern is formed, so that the embroidery may be raisec 

 considerably above the surface. Gold and silver thread are often used 

 in embroidery with good effect, and spangles or tinsel are occasionally 

 mixed with the needle-work. The fabric to be embroidered is usually 

 stretched in a kind of frame or loom, and the pattern is drawn either 

 upon its surface, or, if it be very transparent, upon a piece of paper 

 applied underneath it. 



The Orientals have always paid more attention to this art than 

 Europeans. The Hebrews had elaborate embroideries in their taber- 

 nacle and on their priests' vestments. The Egyptians embroidered 

 their linen garments, and the linen-wrappers of their mummies. The 

 Greeks, the Sidonians, and the Phrygians, were all skilled in this art. 

 The Peruvians, too, when discovered by the Spaniards, astonished 

 them by their elaborate embroideries of gold and silver on feathers. 

 In the embroidery of the middle ages, priests' vestments, hangings, 



eils, canopies, curtains, door-screens, and corridor-linings, were all 

 perated upon by the needle ; noble ladies and their hand-maidens 

 iroduced the specimens for domestic use ; while nuns produced the 

 chief portions for ecclesiastical and sacerdotal adornment. There were 

 three modes practised in those days : the low embroidery, in which 

 ;he threads were laid flat on the groundwork ; the raised, in which 

 ;he figures were in relief, and rounded by means of wool, cotton, 

 Kirchment, or paper placed beneath the thread ; and gimped, in which 

 ihe figures were formed by cords of gold, silver, or silk, and pieces of 

 velvet, satin, silk, or gold. The finest modern examples of hand- 

 embroidery are those produced by the Chinese, Turks, Hindoos, and 

 ?ersians ; some of these workers will put as many as 700 stitches in a 

 square inch. 



Embroidery, as a handicraft employment, is in our day singularly 

 affected by changes of fashion. About the year 1846, embroidered 

 dress-pieces for ladies came into vogue ; and in a short time there was 

 employment for 2000 hand-embroiderers in London alone, and many 

 thousands in Scotland and Ireland. A pattern was printed in outline 

 on the merino or other material ; the stuff was then distributed by 

 .ravelling agents ; and after the embroiderers had worked it, the agents 

 re-collected it. Such dresses are now (1859) nearly out of fashion, and 

 mbroidery (as a regular branch of trade) is chiefly applied to window- 

 curtains, table-covers, valences, borderings, and other furniture fabrics. 

 The sewed-muslin work, sent out by Glasgow manufacturers to the 

 Scotch and Irish peasantry, has sent to those countries a certain 

 'acility in doing embroidery work whenever the fashion tends in that 

 direction 



At the Paris Exhibition, in 1855, several machines were shown, 

 much used in France for pricking or piercing the lines of embroidery, 

 ;o enable the embroiderers to transfer these lines to the cloth by rubbing 

 coloured powder through the holes. This pricking, which is a very tedious 

 process when performed by hand, is effected by the machines with 

 jreat rapidity and precision. A jointed frame carries a needle, which 

 vibrates vertically by means of a treadle and connecting cords passing 

 over pulleys. The pointer or pricker, when guided over the traced 

 lines of the design, will make as many as seventy or eighty holes in 

 an inch. 



Mr. Hope, in 1855, patented a method of producing effects somewhat 

 resembling what is called appliqu( work : not by actual embroidery, 

 but by printing patterns on the textile material, either by block-printing 

 alone, or by block-printing combined with embossing. The pattern 

 produced is subsequently finished at pleasure by the needle. Any tint 

 or shade of colour may be used, different from that of the textile 

 material. Surface-printing will suit in some instances, but block-printing 

 is better, seeing that it causes the colouring material to enter more 

 durably into the fibres. 



What is now called Berlin Work, though not exactly embroidery, 

 may be briefly touched on here. Miss Lambert, in her ' Handbook of 

 Needlework," gives some interesting details concerning its origin. The 

 kind of work itself is, of course, old enough ; the only novelty consists 

 in the care bestowed on the production of patterns. About the year 

 1805, a Mr. Phillipson published some patterns, which, being badly 

 executed and devoid of taste, did not meet with encouragement. In 

 1810, Madame Wittich, a lady of great taste and an accomplished 

 needlewoman, justly appreciating the advantages which the art would 

 derive from the production of better patterns, prevailed upon her 

 husband, a print-seller of note at Berlin, to undertake the publication 

 of a series of designs. He did so ; and the designs were got up in so 

 superior a manner, that many of the first patterns which were issueo. 

 from his establishment have had a continued demand almost to the 

 present time. The designer and engraver of these designs are paid as 

 artists, in proportion to their talents. The cost of the first coloured 

 design on point paper (divided into small squares) varies from three to 

 thirty or forty guineas ; but in some instances, such as the large 

 patterns of Bolton Abbey, Boccaccio's Garden, &c., it is considerably 

 more. The colouring affords employment for men, women, and 

 children. A dozen or so of copies are given to each person at a time, 

 with the original design as a guide. The earnings are from sixpence to 

 three shillings a day, according to the age and skill of the persons 

 employed. Berlin workers have had their work facilitated by an in- 

 genious frame, registered by Mr. Lisle. From a flat horizontal stand 

 rise two pillars, which support the frame somewhat in the same way as 

 a toilet looking-glass is supported, so that the frame may be placed and 

 secured in any convenient position. The canvas or other woven 

 material is wound on rollers, which turn easily on their axes ; all the 

 canvas is wound on one roller in the first instance, and is unwound to 

 the other roller as fast as the work proceeds ; the space between the 

 two rollers being occupied by a smooth well-stretched portion of the 

 canvas. The rollers are worked by small handles, and there are 

 crotchet-wheels to prevent them from slipping backwards. The side or 

 selvage edges of the canvas are kept stretched by two rods. By this 

 apparatus the Berlin worker or embroidress can work on a piece of 

 canvas of almost any length. 



In reference to the designs for patterns in hand embroidery, Mr. 

 Wallis, hi a paper drawn up in 1856, said : " In embroidery, the ultra- 

 naturalesque forms which prevailed some six or seven years ago are 

 giving way to a class of designs more suited to production by the 

 needle. Much of this is doubtless to be attributed to the severe 



