WEAVING. 
upper rails of the loom, so that it can swing 
backwards and forwards. The bottom bar, 
H, is much broader than the rails, G G, and 
projects before their plane about an inch 
and a half, forming a shelf called the shuttle- 
race. The end^ of the bar, H, have boards 
nailed on each side, and at the ends, to form 
two short troughs, or boxes, 1 1, in which 
pieces of wood, or thick leather, k k, called 
peckers, or drivers, traverse : they are 
guided by two small wires, fixed at one end 
to the uprights, G G, and at the other to the 
end pieces of the troughs, 1 1. Each pecker 
has a string fastened to it, tied to the han- 
dle, y, which the weaver holds in his right 
hand when at work, and with which he pulls 
each pecker, alternately, forward. R, is a 
small frame fixed upon the shuttle-race, H, 
formed of a number of small pieces of split 
reeds, or canes ; or else of pieces of flat wire 
of steel or brass. This frame is called the 
reed. When this is in its place, the yarns of 
the warp pass between the canes, or dents. 
The shuttle is a small piece of wood, pointed 
at each end, about six incites long. It has an 
oblong mortice in it, containing a small bob- 
bin, on which is wound the weft, which runs 
through a small hole in the shuttle, called 
the eye. The shuttle has two little wheels 
on the under side, by which it runs upon 
the shuttle-race, H. See Fly Shuttle^ in the 
article Manufacture of Cotton. 
The weaver sits on the seat M, (fig. i) 
which hangs by pivots at its ends, that it 
may adapt itself to the ease of the weaver 
when he sits upon it. It is lifted out when 
the weaver gets into the loom, and he puts 
it in again after him. He leans lightly 
against the cloth roll, B, and places his feet 
upon the treddles, D E. In his right hand 
he holds the handle, y, (fig. 2) and by his 
left he lays hold of a bar, called the lay- 
cape, which crosses the batten, or lay, GG, 
and serves to support the upper edge of the 
reed, R. He commences the operation by 
pressing down one of the treddles with his 
foot : this depresses one half of the yams of 
the warp, and raises the other, as before de- 
scribed ; the shuttle is placed in one of the 
troughs, I, against the. pecker, k, belonging 
to that trough ; by drawing the handle of 
the pecker with a sudden jerk, he drives 
the pecker against the shuttle, and throws 
it across the warp upon the shuttle race in- 
to the other trough, I, leaving the yarn of 
the woof which was wound on the bobbin 
after it. With his left he then pulls the lay 
towards him; by means of the reed, the 
yarn of the woof, which before was lying 
loose between the warp, is driven up to- 
wards the cloth roll : the weaver now pres- 
ses down his other foot, which reverses the 
operation, pulling down the heddle which 
was up before, and raising that which befirre 
was depressed: by the other pecker he 
now throws the shuttle back again, leaving 
the woof after it between the yarns of the 
warp ; and, by drawing up the batten, beats 
it close up to the thread before thrown. In 
this manner the operation is continued until 
a few inches are woven ; it is then wound 
upon the cloth roll, by putting a short lever 
into a hole made in the roll, and turning 
it round. A click, acting in the teeth of 
a serated wheel, prevents the return of the 
roll. The yarn roll, A (tig. 1), has at each end 
a cord wound round it. One end of this 
cord is tied to the frame of the loom, the 
other has a weight hung to it : this repe 
causes a friction, which prevents its turning 
(unless the yarn is drawn by the cloth 
beam), and always preserves a proper de- 
gree of tension in the yarn. T T (fig. i) 
are two smooth sticks (cotton weavers have 
usually three) put between the yarns, to 
preserve the lease, and keep the threads, or 
yarns, from entangling. In cotton-weaving, 
these sticks, or rods, are kept at an uniform 
distance from the heddles, either by tying 
them together, or by a small cord with a 
hook at one end, which lays hold of the 
front rod, and a weight at the other, which 
hangs over the yarn beam. The cloth is 
kept extended during the operation of 
weaving, by means of two pieces of hard 
wood, with small sharp points in their ends, 
which lay hold of the edges, or selvages, of 
the cloth. The^e pieces are connected by 
a cord, passing obliquely through hples, or 
notches, in each piece. By this cord they 
can be lengthened or shortened, according 
to the breadth of the web. They are kept 
flat after the cloth is stretched by a small 
bar turning on a centre fixed in one of the 
pieces,with its longer end projecting closely 
over the edge of the other piece. These 
pieces of wood, thus, formed, are called the 
temples. Silk-weavers usually stretch their 
cloth by means of two small sharp-pointed 
hooks, fastened to the ends of two strings, 
with little weights at the other ends ; and 
the strings are made to pass over little pul- 
leys in eaph side of the loom, at a suitable 
distance from the selvages of the cloth. 
In the treading of a web, most beginners 
are apt to apply the weight, or force, of 
the foot much too suddenly. The bad con- 
sequences attending this mistake, are parti- 
