478 THE FARMER'S AND 



and cannot be unravelled without breaking the weft. 

 This structure of cloth is easily seen, by examining a 

 piece of linen or calico with a magnifying 

 grass, (see cut, A,) anrl may be observed on a 

 large scale in matting, which is woven of coarse 

 grass, or similar substances. 



Indeed, some kind of matting made of the fibrous parts 

 of plants, as the stalk, such a? the rushes and straws, was 

 probably the first kind of cloth invented by rude and un- 

 civilized nations ; and the art of spinning threads from 

 fine fibres was probably a refinement upon this, which 

 led to the weaving of what we, at the pressent time, term 

 cloth. Some nations are still ignorant of the art of weav- 

 ing ; for the cloth made in Otaheite, where it was first 

 discovered by Captain Cook, was made by merely ce- 

 menting vegetable fibres together, and was very analo. 

 gous to our paper ; and the Tartars make cloth by mere- 

 ly felting wool. 



When the process of spinning threads from the delicate 

 and short fibres which animals afford was discovered, the 

 weaver was furnished with a material superior to any 

 fibres in their simple state, and the foundation was laid 

 of ihe art of producing woven cloth. When, and by 

 whom, that discovery was made is not known ; but it ap- 

 pears to have happened early in '.he history of mankind. 

 The cultivation of flax was practiced by the ancient 

 Egyptians, and it is recorded that Pharaoh was arrayed 

 in vestments of fine linen. The Hindoos have made cot- 

 ton cloth from time immemorial, and the Hebrews were 

 also in possession of the arts of weaving, dyeing, and em- 

 broidery. 



Weaving was introduced into Britain by the Romans 

 along with other arts of civilization ; but, from various 

 causes, so little did our British ancestors profit by the ex- 

 ample which had been thus set, that for several ages a 



