The fabrics produced in worsteds are almost infinitely varied. The names, however, by which they are distinguished aro purely fanciful in most cases, and afford no clue either to the class of the material of which they are composed, or the method of fabrication. These names are usually given by the manufacturer or merchant who first intruclue s them, and if they should prove successful, it is not often long before the name is attached to some other fabric of quite another character, or at least a deg,raded imitation. To suit the public craving for variety, old fabrics are continually reappearing under new names; and with some slight modification etill more frequently. Hence the great confusion which exists amongst distributors and the public, who are bewildered thereby, owing to the want of some rational or scientific system of classification.
The texture, " weave," or armure as the French call it, offers the best basis for a classification of woven goods, and might, payieg due regard to the other elements of the fabric, form also the basis of a system of scientific nomenclature, though it is doubtful whether such could ever become a substitute for that popularly current. The texture or weave means the order of the interlacement of the warp threads; the French designation armure means the system of harness with which the loom is furnished or armed. There are four of these systems which may be regarded as fundamental, and which are employed to produce nearly all the varieties of siniple fabrics. In the first or " taffeta" weave, there are only two harnesses, forming a sirnple interlacement of the threads, such as ueed in the production of plain broad-cloth, ealico, or mausselines-de-laine. In this, alternate threads of the warp rise together, the intermediate ones being depressed to form the shed fur the passage of tle shuttle and the introduetiou of the weft. When a thread of the latter has been put in, tho elevated threads desecud, the bottom ones rise, and another transverse or weft thread is inserted, the previous one having been driveu home by the sley. The next is the twillid" or " Batavia " weave, in which four harnesses are employed, and in which the four leaves of the harness asceud in successive order, producing a pattern upon both sides of the fabric, which takes the form of a diagonal line across the width, the pattern on the hack running in an opposite direction to that on the front. The third is the " serge," a 3-harness twill, the effect being a similar pattern to the above, but upon one side only, the back being in this case plain. The fourth is the " satin " weave, and is produced by five or more harnesses ; the effect in this is to bring the weft threads most conspicuously to the surface. Many of these are often combined with one another, or with " fancy " weaves, one of which is the leno, in which the warp threads are made to half twist round each other, and are fixed in that position by the weft. By these means, and the combination of various materials or colours, numerous and widely different effects are produced.
The following table of worsted stuffs composed of the finer classes of combing wool will prove instructive, and illustrate the foregoing observations. As will be seen from the names, the first
portion of the list is chiefly French, and is from Alcan. The later is English. Both are, however, common in many cases to England, France, and America.
This list, were, it required, could be greatly extended, but the examples given will stiffice During the past few years, worsted fabrics have been quite out of vogue as dress materials, the demands of fashion requiring softer fabrics than can be produced from the long English wools. The worsted industry has therefore suffered from considerable depression, and this has seriously depreciated the price of English wools. The trade is now in a transition state, a, considerable number of the largest capitalists therein being engaged in altering their machinery to manufacture line short wools consumed in the production of soft all-wool goods.
Besides Kidderminster, Brussels, and tapestry carpets, sufficiently described already, there aro several other varieties which call for brief notice. Persia may be regarded as the birthplace of the carpet manufacture, and its productions have formed models for the imitation of all countries. Persian carpets or rugs are chiefly made in Kurdistan, Khorassan, Feraghan, and Kerman, each district producing a distinctive style and texture. The finest are those of Kurdistan. In these carpets, the most perfect taste is generally manifested, the pattern never representing flowers, bouquets, or other objects, thrown up in relief from a unifnrm ground, as in European and American styles, but wrought so as more to represent a layer of flowers strewn under the feet of the observer. They are furnished with borders always well accentuated and of brighter CO1OUTS than the centre. Feraglian carpets are not unlike those of Kurdistan, but are less close and of simpler pattern. They are cheaper, and consequently in more general use. Khorassan carpets are superior in texture to the last, and usually more realistic in patterns. Toe carpets of Kerman are still more realistic in stylo than those of Khorassan, and in value approach those of Kurdistan. In form, Persian carpets are usually rather long and narrow, which renders their manufacture easier, and suits the shape of the roorns in which they are to be laid. Of all carpets, these are perhaps the most purely hand fabricated, all being made without even the simplest machinery, the loom merely consisting of a frame on which the work is stretched. The woof consists of short threads interlaced with those of the warp by the fingers alone, and when a cross thread has been c,ompleted, a comb is inserted into the warp threads by which the weft is pressed or driven home. The pile is formed by merely clipping the protruding threads until an even surface is obtained. The weaver sits with the reverse side towards him, and depends upon his memory for the formation of the pattern. Persian carpets are admittedly superior to all other oriental products of the same class, being distinguished by their subdued tortes and harmony of colours. Certain forms are repeated iu all designs, vvhich clearly mark their national character.