CLO 
t)y this means tlie number of strokes is 
made to increase one at each time from 
one to twelve. 
CLOCK-toOT-fc, in the limited meaning of 
the word used by artists, denotes only 
the machinery employed in the striking 
part of a clock ; that used for giving mo- 
tion to the hands being called watch-work. 
In its more extensive sense, it is generally 
understood to mean any combination of 
wheel-work, for any purpose, wdiose parts 
do not much exceed in size those of a com- 
mon clock. 
CLOSE, in heraldry. When any bird is 
drawn in a coat of arms witli its wings 
close down about it (i. e. not displayed) and 
in a standing posture, they blazon it by this 
■word close ; but if it be flying, they call it 
volant. 
Close hauled, in marine language, the 
arrangement of a ship’s sails when she en- 
deavours to make progress in the nearest 
direction possible towards that point of the 
compass from which the wind blows ; in 
this manner of sailing the keel of square 
rigged vessels commonly makes an angle of 
six points with the line of tlie wind, but 
cutters, luggers, and other fore and aft 
rigged vessels will sail much nearer. 
Close quarters, strong barriers of 
wood stretching across a merchant ship, in 
several places ; they are used as a place of 
retreat when a ship is boarded by her ad- 
versary, and are therefore fitted with loop- 
holes, through which to fire the small arms. 
An English merchant ship of 16 guns, pro- 
perly fitted with close quarters, has de- 
feated the united efforts of tliree French 
privateers who boarded her. 
CLOTH, a woven fabric composed of 
wool, flax, cotton, or hemp, either sepa- 
rate or mixed. Woollen cloths consist 
.chiefly of broad cloths, kerseymeres, flan- 
nels, shalloons, serges, baizes, &c. : the two 
former are tlie most valuable, and will be 
chiefly noticed. The wool should be of 
the best quality, and in the best state of 
preparation before it is sent to the loom. 
Formerly Spanish wool bore a very high 
price with us, but of late years we have, 
by obtaining some of the sheep of that 
counti-y, establislied a breed which is found 
to yield a finer sample than even the pure 
Marino. The justly celebrated Dr. Parry, 
of Bath, has sedulously attended to this 
point, and has produced fleeces which, in 
regard to fineness and length of staple, are 
pbviously superior, being as six to five when 
CLO 
compared with the Spanish. Hence our 
woollens have latterly been less indebted 
to importation, and we may fairly expect 
to see our flocks become doubly valuable. 
The cloths are woven in a common loom, 
and the superfluous nap is taken oft’ by a 
vei-y ingenious contrivance called the shear- 
er, not unlike the blade of a scythe, which 
with a regular motion, given by various 
machinery, completely levels the surface, 
and fits it for the last process ; this is done by 
the teazel, a kind of thistle, which grows in 
hedge rows, but is in many parts cultivated 
for the supply of manufactories, The 
heads of the teazles are inserted into 
grooves in long battens, so as to appear, 
and to act like brushes ; these brushes ex- 
tend the whole breadth of the cloth, and 
are set all around a cylinder, which brushes 
the cloth by its rotatory motion, rendering 
its surface beautifully glossy and smooth. 
The appearance is, however, greatly im- 
proved by pressing. The coai'ser kinds of 
cloth undergo little finishing. Linens are 
made of bleached flax; they are chiefly 
manufactured in Ireland and Scotland, both 
which countries derive essential advan- 
tages from their manufactures, especially 
as they produce the raw material. Cotton 
must be imported in its raw state ; ' a cir- 
cumstance wliich gives employ to many 
thousands of our poor. Though the mus- 
lins, calicos, &c. are generally made from 
tlie thread formed by machinery. Hemp 
makes Sail-cloth, Canvas, &c. which 
see. The manufactories for woollens and 
linens in the United Kingdoms, are supposed 
to give bread to near a million of persons. 
The importation of foreign cloths is there- 
fore very wisely prohibited. For further 
particulars see Weaving. 
CLOUD, a visible aggregate of minute 
drops of water, suspended in the atmo- 
sphere. It is concluded, from numerous 
observations, that the particles of which 
a cloud consists, are always more or less 
electrified. The hypothesis,, which as- 
sumes the existence of vesicular vapour, 
and makes the particles of clouds to be hol- 
low spheres, which unite and descend in 
rain when ruptured, however sanctioned by 
the authority of several eminent philoso- 
phers, does not seem necessary to the sci- 
ence of meteorology in its present state ; it 
being evident that the buoyancy of the par, 
tides is not more perfect than it ought to 
be, if we regard them as mere drops of wa- 
ter, In fact they always descend, and th« 
