The. invention of spinning and weaving is a prodi gious improvement in the art of making clothes ; but it is of so high antiquity, that its history cannot be traced. The Egyptians say, it was Isis that taught the art of spinning, (Mart. Capella, t. 2.) The Chinese give the honour of this invention to the consort of their emperor Yas, (Martini, t. 1.) The Greeks ascribed it to Miner va ; the Lydians to Arachne, (Pliny, 1. 7. s. 57) ; and the Peruvians, to Mama-sella, wile to Manco-capac, their first sovereign, (Hist. des Incas, t. 1.) So that tradition is so far unirorm, as to attribute the invention of the art of spinning to a female ; and we may say the same thing of the allied arts of weaving and 'se wing. However this may be, these are undoubtedly arts of very great utili ty, and not of very obvious discovery. The process of weaving by means of warp and woof, is exceedingly in genious, and cannot be performed without the aid of appropriate machinery. Many conjectures have been proposed about its origin. Some will have it, that we owe the first suggestion of this art to the spider, which forms its web into meshes consisting of a kind of warp and woof. Others suppose, that the idea of warp and woof might first strike men from an inspection of the inner bark of certain trees, which bears a very great resemblance to a web ; the fibres being interwoven, and crossing each other almost at right angles. However this may be, the invention of weaving is extremely an cient; and is frequently referred to in the patriarchal ages. Thus Abraham, in refusing the booty offered him by the king of Sodom, says, " I will not take from a thread of the woof, even to a shoe-latchet." Moses says, that Abimelech made a present of a veil to Sarah ; and also, that Rebecca covered herself with a veil when she saw Isaac. Jacob gave his son Joseph a coat of many colours, and Pharaoh arrayed this patriarch in ves tures of fine cotton. In the book of Job also, mention is made of a weaver's shuttle. Ch. 7. v. 6.
The art of weaving is therefore of great antiquity ; and appears even to have arrived at considerable per fection in the remotest ages. To do this it is not neces sary to have recourse to very complicated machinery. The inhabitants of the East at present weave very fine and beautiful stuffs with a few simple instruments. A shuttle, and a few small pieces of wood, are sufficient for their purpose. Lettres Edit: t. 1.
It may not be improper to observe, that in ancient times the work of weaving was performed in a standing posture. This is attested both by Homer and Virgil. (//. I. 1. v. 31. Georg. 1. 1. v. 294.) The warp was ex tended perpendicularly from top to bottom, and kept firm by means of a piece of wood, to which heavy weights were appended. The Egyptians, it is said, were the first who changed this incommodious and fatiguing pos ture into that of sitting at the work, as our weavers do at present. (Junius de Pict. Vet. 1. 1. c. 4.) It is well known that it was women alone who originally spun, wove, and even dyed wool and cloth.
Besides the materials for clothing furnished by the animal tribes, there are a variety of plants, such as cot ton, flax, hemp, &c. which supply a substance exceed ingly proper for this purpose. It probably would not be long before men began to manufacture cotton. The
seeds of this shrub arc lodged in a kind of down, which has a great resemblance to fine wool, and requires but little preparation to render it fit for spinning. We may therefore conclude, that cloth of cotton was a very an cient invention. Tne robe in which Pharaoh arrayed Joseph was of this material ; at least, it is generally thought by the commentators, that by the term byssus, which Moses employs to describe the nature of the stuff of which this robe was made, we are to understand cot ton. The use of flax, hemp, and other filamentous plants, was by no means so obvious as that of cotton. Their fibrous parts must first be disengaged from the bark and wood, before they can be spun and wove. In order to accomplish this, it is necessary, first to steep. them in water, then to break and switch them, and last ly, to comb or heckle them. It cannot, however, be doubted, that robes of linen were used in very ancient times. Flax appears to have been cultivated in Egypt from time immemorial : it is mentioned by Moses as having been destroyed by the supernatural had, was one of the plagues sent clown by the Lord upon Pharaoh. This legislator also forbids the Israelites to wear a garment made of linen and woollen cloth toge ther. Deut. xxii. 11.
It is only necessary to add to this part of our subject,. a few words respecting the various modes of forming the materials of clothing into a compact and commodi ous covering for the human body. Before thread was invented, garments, which were then commonly made of skins, were sewed together by means of slender thongs of leather, or fibres formed out of the entrails of animals. Many savages of Africa and America use the sinews of animals for this purpose ; and the Green landers sew their garments by means of slender thongs formed out of the guts of sea-dogs, and other fish dried in the air. (Hist. Nat. de r Islande,t. 2.) The place of needles, or awls, was anciently supplied by thorns, sharp bones, and the like. The ancient inhabitants of Peru, though in many respects a civilized people, had no other method of sewing and fastening their vestments, than by means of long thorns, (Hist. des Incas, t. 2.); and many other tribes might be mentioned who, to this day, are reduced to the same expedients.
3. We have, in the last place, to make some observa tions on the useful art of architecture, and those mecha nic arts to which the progress of architecture probably gave rise ; particularly metallurgy, or the working of metals. In all ages mankind must have been obliged to seek for shelter against the injuries of the air, and the as saults.of wild beasts. The hollow of a tree, the cavity of a rock, or a den tinter ground, seem to have sufficed for some of the rudest tribes of men, such as the Afri can Troglodytes ; but the desire of seeking for more convenient and agreeable could not be long of being felt. The nature of the climate, and the ma terials which it most readily afforded, regulated, in a great degree, the construction of the first buildings in which men sheltered themselves. The first dwellings in Egypt and Palestine were of reeds and canes inter woven, (Diod. 1. I.) The huts of some savages are of the bones and skins of fish ; others are of the bark of trees; many are of turf or clay.