190 COILED BASKETRY IN BRITISH COLUMBIA (ern. ANN. 41 
All the informants agree that this is a recent devolopment and 
that the knowledge and use of the invention is as yet confined 
to only a few individuals. There seems to be some doubt as to 
whether the stitching always proceeds toward the center in the case 
of lids made in the manner just discussed. One woman thought that 
the usual method of sewing from the center outward was followed on 
small lids and was accomplished by first wrapping and basting the 
coils to one another at intervals until the center was reached, 
this being done merely to hold them in place. Thus the exact 
number and size of coils needed to fit into the space bounded by the 
rim coil was determined, and any adjustment of the size of the bunch 
of coil splints required to make the center as neat as the rest could 
be calculated and provided for. The real stitching then commenced 
at the center and was carried toward the rim, the wrapping being 
unwound as the stitching advanced upon it. 
A process requiring so many operations which were exactly the 
reverse of those usually employed and which entailed so much more 
labor makes it seem exceedingly unlikely that many women would 
attempt it, and makes its suggestion, as coming from a member of 
the group, all the more remarkable. Unfortunately it is impossible 
to tell whether such a scheme has or has not been adopted by any- 
one without observing its actual execution, since the finished product 
could not be distinguished in any way from a lid which really was 
begun, coil and all, in the center; and positive observation of a case 
in point has not been made. Nevertheless the thought through 
which the idea was evolved is worthy of recording. 
Usually, whatever may be the type of lid, the finish of the coil 
is neatly executed, the foundation material tapering down to a 
point. If the rim of the basket ends in this manner, the lid is 
made so that the two pieces fit one over the other (fig. 17, A). But 
on round baskets especially the coils are frequently cut off bluntly, 
and the ends of basket and lid coils are made to come together so that 
the effect is that of a continuous spiral (fig. 17, 7). 
Ring coils are also used to finish lids and here, as elsewhere, impart 
a very neat appearance. It is said by the Lower Thompson that 
these are a modern development, introduced about 1885. 
A small, new, circular shape was made entirely of ring coils, the 
bottom and lid being of the same construction. These two parts 
were started with a knot of foundation material which was sewed 
around with a splint, exactly as when beginning a watch-spring coil, 
but the long end of the bunch of splints was cut off short and also 
overcast, instead of being bent into a coil, and the knot was inclosed 
by the first small ring, followed by others properly graduated in size. 
The splint acts as a measuring instrument for comparing the 
diameter of the mouth of the basket with that of the lid. Where 
