90 REELING SILK. 



struction, but when contrasted with the contrivances 

 in India would seem to give them a decided advan- 

 tage. In India the weaver weaves his web in the 

 open air. He first selects a station for his operations, 

 generally under a tree, that its foliage may protect 

 him from the scorching rays of the sun. He then ex- 

 tends the threads which compose the warp of his in- 

 tended fabric lengthwise, between two bamboo roll- 

 ers, which are fastened to the ground by means of 

 wooden pins. He then digs a hole in the earth large 

 and deep enough to contain his legs in a sitting pos- 

 ture. He next attaches to a limb of the tree the 

 cords by which his harness is to be operated, and to 

 the lower shafts of the harness cords with loops of 

 sufficient size to admit the insertion of his great toes. 

 With his web thus arranged, he is prepared to com- 

 mence weaving. This he does by putting his toe into 

 the loop of the cord attached to that part of the har- 

 ness which he wishes to tread down, and then with a 

 shuttle introduces the woof and beats up by striking 

 the threads of the woof with the shuttle instead of a 

 batten. The shuttle is in the form of a netting needle, 

 and longer than the breadth of the web. With this 

 rude apparatus he manufactures a fabric of which an 

 Italian silk weaver would be proud. 



If the silk manufacture in China is so simple and so 

 easily performed, without the aid of complicated ma- 

 chinery, can it not be successfully and profitably pros- 

 ecuted in a country abounding in machinists, with 

 ingenuity to invent and skill to execute the most per- 

 fect machinery in the world ? 



