830 
K N I 
difplayed as an offering, chance to pafs by, he has a right 
to take it, upon replacing fomething of inferior value ; 
but to take or touch any thing wantonly is confidered as 
a facrilegious aft, and highly infultingto the great Mafter 
of life, (to adopt their expreffion,') who is the facred ob- 
jeft of their devotion. The fcene of private facrifice is 
the lodge of the perfon who prepares it, and it is conduft- 
ed with a variety of ceremonies. He begins by fpreading 
the contents of his medicine-bag, containing various arti¬ 
cles, on a piece of new cloth or well-drefled moofe-fkin 
neatly painted. The principal of thefe articles is a kind 
of houl’ehold-god, which is a final 1 carved image about 
eight inclies long, and is an objeft of the mod pious re¬ 
gard. The next article is his war-cap, decorated with the 
feathers and plumes of rare birds, beavers and eagles’ claws, 
&c. From this is fufpended a quill or feather for every 
enemy whom the owner of it has flain in battle. The re¬ 
maining contents of the bag are a piece of Brafil tobacco, 
feveral roots and fimples in repute for their medicinal qua¬ 
lities, and a pipe. After certain previous ceremonies, an 
affillant lights the pipe, and prefents it to the officiating 
perfon, who, turning to the eaft, draws a few whiffs, which 
he blows to that point. He praftifes the fame ceremony 
towards the other three quarters, with his eyes conftantly 
direfted upwards. After fome other ceremonies perform¬ 
ed with this pipe, he makes a lpeech, explaining the de- 
fign of the attendants being called together, and concludes 
with an acknowledgment of palt mercies, and a prayer for 
the continuance of them, from the Mafter of life. He 
then fits down, and the whole company declare their ap¬ 
probation and thanks by uttering the word ho! with an 
emphatic prolongation of the laft letter. The michiniwais, 
or affiftant, again takes up the pipe, and holds it to the 
mouth of the officiating perfon, who, after fmoking three 
whiffs out of it, utters a Ihort prayer, and then goes round 
with it, in a courfe from eaft to weft, to every perfon pre- 
fent; and thus the pipe is fmoked out 5 when, after turn¬ 
ing it three or four times round his head, he drops it 
downwards, and replaces it in its original lituation. Fie 
then returns the company thanks for their attendance, 
and wifhes them, as well as the whole tribe, health and 
long life. Thefe fmoking-rites precede every matter of 
great importance, wdth more orlefs ceremony, but always 
with equal folemnity. The public feafts are condufted 
in a fimilar manner, but with fome additional ceremony. 
At thefe feveral chiefs officiate, and the guefts difcourfe 
upon public topics, repeat the heroic deeds of their fore¬ 
fathers, and excite the rifing generation to follow their ex¬ 
ample. From thefe feafts the women and children are ex¬ 
cluded ; but the women, who are forbidden to enter the 
places facred to thefe feftivals, dance and fing around them, 
and fometimes beat time to the inufic within them; thus 
forming an agreeable contraft. 
As to their divifions of time, the Kniftenaux compute 
the length of their journeys by the number of nights palled 
in performing them ; and they divide the year by the fuc- 
ceffion of moons, the names of which are defcriptive of 
the feveral feafons. Thefe people are acquainted with the 
medicinal virtues of many herbs and fimples, and apply 
the roots of plants and the bark of trees with fuccefs. 
But the conjurers, who monopolize the medical fcience, 
blend myftery with their art; their remedies and furgical 
operations are fuppofed to derive much of their efteft from 
magic and incantation. Mackenzie's Voyage from. Montreal. 
To KNIT, v. a. preter. knit or knitted,-, [cnifcan, Sax.] 
To make or unite by texture, without a loom : 
A thoufand Cupids in thofe curls do fit; 
Thole curious nets thy fiender fingers knit. Waller, 
Sleep, that knits up the ravell’d lleeve of care ; 
The birth of each day’s life ; fore labour’s bath ; 
Balm of hurt minds. • Skakfpeare. 
To tie: 
Send for the county ; go tell him of this ; 
I'll have this knot knit up to-morrow morning. Skakefp. 
K N O 
To join ; to unite. Formerly of extenfive ufe ; now lefs fre~ 
quent. —If ye be come peaceably, mine heart {hall be knit 
unto you. 1 Chron. xii. 17.—That their hearts might be 
comforted, being knit together in love. Col. ii. 2.—Thefe 
two princes were agreeable to be joined in marriage, and 
thereby knit both realms into one. Hayward. 
This royal hand and mine are knit, 
And the conjunftion of our inward fouls 
Married in league. Skakfp. King John. 
By the fimplicity of Venus’ doves. 
By that which knitteth fouls, and profpers loves. Skakefp, 
Come, knit hands, and beat the ground. 
In a light fantaftic round. Milton. 
To contraft : 
What are the thoughts that knit thy brow in frowns. 
And turn thy eyes fo coldly on thy prince ? Addifon. 
To tie up.—He faw heaven opened, and a certain veffel 
defeending unto him, as it had been a great ftieet, knit at 
the four corners, and let down to the earth. AEis, x. 11. 
To KNIT, v. n. To weave without a loom.—A young 
fliepherdefs knitting and finging: her voice comforted her 
hands to work, and her hands kept time to her voice’a 
raufic. Sidney. 
Make the world diftinguifh Julia's fon 
From the vile offspring of a trull, that fits 
By the town-wall, and for her living knits. Drydeft. 
To join ; to clofe ; to unite. Not ufed. 
Our fever’d navy too 
Have knit again; and float, threat’ningmoft fea-like. Skakefp, 
KNIT, f Texture.—-Let their heads be fleekly comb’d, 
their blue coats bruftfd, and their garters of an indiffer¬ 
ent knit. Shakefpeare. 
KNIT'TER, f. One who weaves or knits: 
The fpiufters and the knitters in the fun, 
And the three maids that weave their thread with bones. 
Do ufe to chant it. Skakefp. Twelfth Night. 
KNIT'TERFELDT, a town of the duchy of Stiria, on 
the river Muehr. In Augult 1797, this town was taken 
by the French : twenty miles fouth-weft of Pruck, and fe- 
venty-eight fouth-weft of Vienna. Lat. 47. 14. N. Ion, 
14. 36. E. 
KNIT'TING, f The aft of forming a texture without 
a loom ; a junftion, an union.—He doth fundamentally and 
mathematically demonftrate the firmed knittings of the up¬ 
per timbers, which make the roof. Wotton's ArchiteElure. 
Many ladies of Munich have learned to knit without 
needles. The inventor of this art is M. Nellifen, a native 
of the county of Limburg, who teaches it himfelf in the 
Bavarian capital. It is, however, yet very imperfeft ; as, 
by this method, they can only knit breadthwife, and not 
circularly. Monthly Mag. April 1810. 
KNITTING-NEEDLE,/ A wire which women ufe 
in knitting.—He gave her a cuff on the ear: fhe would prick 
him with her knitting-needle. Arbuthnot. 
KNIT'TING-SHEATH, f. An inftrument with a 
fmall perforation to receive the end of the needle in knit¬ 
ting. Now out of ule. 
KNIT'TLE, f. [from knit. ] A firing that gathers a 
purfe round. Ainfwortk. —In fea-language, a fmall line, 
which is either plaited or twifted, and ufed for various 
purpofes at fea ; as, to fallen the fervice in the cable, to 
reef the fails by the bottom, and to hang the hammocks 
between decks, See. 
KNIT'TLINGEN, a town of Wurtemberg, the birth¬ 
place of Faull, one of the firft printers : twenty-two miles 
iouth of fleidelburg, and nineteen north-weft of Stutt¬ 
gart. 
KNOB,/ [ensep, Sax. knoop, Dut.] A protuberance; 
any part bluntly rifing above the reft.—Juft before the 
entrance of the right auricle of the heart is a remarkable 
knob or bunch, railed ud from the fubjacent fat. Ray. 
KNOB'BED, 
