2021 



EMERSON 



The tools of the embroiderer consist chiefly 

 of scissors, needles and a frame or hoop to 

 hold the material. Small pieces of work do 

 not usually require a frame. Various kinds 

 of thread are used, including cotton and linen, 

 silk, wools and twist. The different stitches, 

 with their variations, are almost beyond num- 

 ber, familiar forms being the outline, the em- 

 broidery buttonhole, the cross, the satin, the 

 feather, the herringbone, the chain, the crewel 

 and the tent stitches. Directions for using 

 these and other stitches are given in numerous 

 instruction books, most of which are well 

 known. There are also a number of good 

 monthly publications devoted exclusively to 

 needlework. Various stitches which are pop- 

 ular at any one time may be superseded shortly 

 by new ones devised by the ingenuity of 

 woman. 



A great variety of articles in every-day use 

 testify to the skill, care and patience required 

 of the embroiderer. Handkerchiefs, dresses, 

 underwear, towels, table linen, sofa pillows, 

 sideboard and dresser scarfs, bed furnishings, 

 doilies and curtains are representative of the 

 many familiar articles that are beautified by 

 this art. 



Embroidery work has been found on mummy 

 clothes in Egyptian tombs, 5,000 years old, and 

 the art is known to have been practiced by 

 the ancient Greeks and Romans. It was in- 

 troduced into Europe from Byzantium (Con- 

 stantinople), reaching a marvelous degree of 

 perfection in the Middle Ages. One of the 

 most celebrated examples of European em- 

 broidery is the Bayeux Tapestry (which see), 

 a band of linen over 230 feet long and nineteen 

 inches wide, embroidered in colored wools with 

 seventy-two pictures representing scenes con- 

 nected with the Norman Conquest of England 

 in A. D. 1066. 



Oriental embroidery has the same character- 

 istics it possessed a thousand years ago. That 

 of the Chinese and Japanese is very elaborate, 

 most of the work being done upon silk, with 

 the figures in brilliant colors of silk alone or 

 combined with gold and silver. Besides silk 

 and gold threads, beads, spangles, pearls and 

 gems are used by the Persians, Turks and Hin- 

 dus in their embroideries. In Central Africa, 

 the girls of certain tribes decorate skins with 

 embroidered figures of flowers and animals. 

 The reindeer-skin garment of the Laplander is 

 adorned with figures worked with a needle 

 made of reindeer bone and with thread made 

 of reindeer sinews. S.L.A. 



Consult Christie's Fancy Work for Pleasure 

 and Profit and her Embroidery and Tapestry 

 Weaving. 



EMBRYO, em' brio, AND EMBRYOLOGY, 



embriol'oji. In a general sense the word 

 embryo refers to the beginning of anything, 

 while it is still in an undeveloped condition. 

 Specifically it refers to the beginning of life 

 the young plant within the seed, the chick 

 within the egg, the unborn animal. 



Embryology is the scientific study of the 

 development of the embryo. It commences 

 with the development of a germ cell, which 

 may be a part of the body of another individ- 

 ual, a bud, or an egg, to the completed plant, 

 animal or human being. Such study gives clues 

 to heredity and so to the study of the develop- 

 ment of a family of plants or animals or of a 

 race of people. See CELL. 



EM'ERALD, a well-known pure green 

 precious stone, which when flawless commands 

 a price almost equal to that of the diamond. 

 It is a variety of beryl (which see), and is 

 the softest of precious stones, though some- 

 what harder than quartz. Its natural form is 

 either rounded or that of a short, six-sided 

 prism. Emeralds of large size, free from flaws, 

 are rare. The finest are now obtained from 

 Colombia, but some excellent specimens have 

 been found in North Carolina. One of the 

 largest on record was the size of an ostrich egg 

 and was worshipped by the inhabitants of the 

 valley of Manta, in Peru, as the mother of 

 emeralds. One specimen weighing over six 

 pounds is now in the Royal Museum at Petro- 

 grad. In the book of Revelation the emerald 

 is mentioned as forming the fourth foundation 

 of the city of Jerusalem. 



The emerald is the birthstone of May and 

 signifies, in the so-called language of precious 

 gems, success in love. 



EMERALD ISLE, He, a poetic and familiar 

 name for Ireland, referring to its velvety-green 

 vegetation. The name is said to have been first 

 used by Dr. William Drennan in his poem 

 Erin, a stanza of which follows: 



Arm of Erin, prove strong, but be gentle as 



brave, 



And, uplifted to strike, still be ready to save ; 

 Nor one feeling of vengeance presume to defile 

 The cause or the men of the Emerald Isle. 



EM'ERSON, RALPH WALDO (1803-1882), an 

 American philosopher, essayist and poet, whose 

 writings have never ceased to be an inspiration 

 to noble ideals and right conduct. The keynote 

 of his philosophy is self-reliance and individual 



