The expense of this stupendous under taking, with respect to the first flag on ly, will be not less than one thousanil guineas. The admirers of art, and the friends of our national manufactures, will not think this information trifling or unnecessary ; the correctness of which the writer of this article has been at con siderable pains to ascertain : nor ought we to omit to mention, that the idea, and much of the design, of this piece of fi gure work, originated principally with Mr. Samuel Sholl, an ingenious silk weaver, to whom the Society of Arts, a few years ago, gave a silver medal and thirty guineas, for the construction of an improved loom for weaving slight silks. For some account of the silk manufacture, see the article SILK.
The art of cotton-weaving, in its pre sent improved state, has not been long known either in this or any other coun try. Wherever it originated, it is cer tain that most of our manufactures, in this respect, are unequalled in any part of the known world ; and were it not for the many commercial restrictions, by which the present war is so unfortunately dis tinguished, there is every rational pro spect that our cotton trade would be still further improved and extended.
i Having briefly traced the history of this art in Great Britain, we proceed to a description of the manner in which it is practised in this country ; confining our observations chiefly to the art of cotton weaving.
The apparatus necessary in the art of cloth-weaving consists, chiefly in the loom, shuttle, reed, and heddles, or har ness, the form and use of which are here described.
There are several kinds of looms for cloth-weaving, the most common of which is that delineated on Plate Loom, (fig. 1 and 2) which represents the com mon silk-loom. In this plate, A, (fig. 1) is the yarn-beam ; B, the cloth-beam, or breast-roll ; D E, the treddles ; d d, e e, the heddles, or harness : 0, the lay, or batten ; M, the seat-board ; and T T, the rods. Fig. 2 is a view of the lay, or bat ten and reed ; which, to shew the reed more distinctly, is represented without the lay-cape, being a long piece of wood, having a groove running along its lower most side, for the purpose of sustaining the upper edge of the reed. The lay cape is that part of the machine on the middle of which the weaver lays hold with his left hand when in the act of weaving. F, the lay-pole ; G G, the lay swords ; H, the shuttle-race ; I 1, the boxes which receive the shuttles ; k k the peckers; y, the pecking-peg, or handle, and R, the reed.
When the weaver has received his warp from the warping-mill (for an ac count of which see 'MANUFACTURE of Cot ton), his first care is to wind it upon the beam in a proper manner. Having ascer tained the number of half-gangs, or beers, and the breadth of the web, lie passes a small shaft of wood through the inter val formed by the last of the lower pins upon the warping-mill, and a small cord tied to this shaft through that formed by the first. This gives him the lease for beaming, and keeps the half-gangs dis tinct. When this has been done, and the cord made fast at both ends of the shaft, the knotting left by the warper is cut, and the warp stretched to its proper breadth. An instrument, or utensil, called a ravel, is then to be used. Ravels are somewhat like reeds, and are also of different di mensions. One proper for the purpose being found, every half-gang is placed in an interval between two of the pins. The upper part, or cape, is then put on and secured, and the operation of winding the warp upon the beam commences. In broad works, two persons are employed to hold the ravel which serves to guide the warp, and to spread it regularly upon the beam ; one or two to keep the chain,. or chains of the warp, at a proper degree of tension, and one or more to turn the beam upon its centres. The warp being regularly wound upon the beam, the weaver prepares to take it through the heddles, and this operation is called drawing.
Before the operation of drawing com mences, two rods are inserted into the lease formed by the upper-lease pins on the warping.mill ; the ends of these rods are tied together, the twine by which the lease was secured is cut away, and the warp stretched to its proper breadth. The beam is then suspended by cords be hind the 'teddies and somewhat higher, the warp hanging down perpendicularly. The weaver then places himself in front of the heddles, and another person is placed behind. The former opens every heddle in succession, and it is the business of the latter to select every thread in its order, and deliver it to be drawn through the open heddle. The succession in which the threads are to be delivered is easily ascertained' by the rods, as every thread crosses that next to it. The warp, after passing through the heddles, is next drawn through the reed by an instrument called a sley, or reed-hook, two or more th reads being taken through everyinterval.