“But thee, Atrides, in that dangerous hour,
The gods forgot not, nor thy guardian power,
Pallas assists, (and weakened in its force),
Diverts the weapons from its destined course;
So, from her babe, when slumber seals his eye,
The watchful mother wafts the envenom’d fly.
Just where his belt, with golden buckles join’d,
Where LINEN folds the double corslet lin’d.
She turn’d the shaft, which, hissing from above,
Passed the broad belt, and through the corslet drove;
The folds it pierc’d, the plaited LINEN tore
And raz’d the skin, and drew the purple gore.”
From what appears in the subsequent, as well as the former, part of this article, we submit, that the general manufacture of cloth, both woollen and linen, has been established; and if this is made out, the prior existence of the other subsidiary arts of spinning, weaving, &c. cannot be denied.
There are hieroglyphical symbols in the British Museum, which denote the various operations of the manufacture of cloths; and upon a monument upwards of three thousand six hundred years old.
Numerous arts have been discovered by mere accident. We are told, the very valuable operation of feldtmaking was discovered by a British sovereign, whose feet being always cold in the winter, he had wool put into his shoes; the moisture there contracted, the natural heat of the body, with the action to which this wool was exposed, between the foot and the shoe, caused the fleecy substance to consolidate; whence the origin of that very necessary article, the Hat.
STOCKING MANUFACTURE.
The invention to which this article refers, affords a warm subject for panegyric. That clothing for the feet be warm, medical writers have in all ages recommended, and truly upon the most rational as well as philosophic and experimental practice; the feet, lying the most remote of any member from the heart, require, and particularly by people in years, to be kept warm, in order for their present comfort, as well as to promote the essential evacuation of superfluous humours, by perspiration, without which no frame can be healthy. So strongly is this precept impressed in our national moral habits, that it has formed a general maxim for the preservation of health. Even Thomas Parr is said to have observed, upon being asked to what cause he attributed the protraction of his life, “To keep the head cool by temperance, and the feet warm by exercise, to eat only when hunger required satisfaction, and to drink only when thirsty.” We should suppose that this recipe would be at least worth a waggon load of the puffed quack pills which are palmed upon the public as made from a recipe left by that venerable man.
The art of knitting nets is one of great antiquity, as those nets used by the Hebrews, as well as by the Greeks, are conceived to be similar to those used in the present day. It was thought by Ovid, in his sixth “Metamorphosis,” that the public were indebted to the spider for the origin of this ingenious invention; which would indeed seem probable, as it appears that the insect is prompted to be thus ingenious for the gratification of its natural wants, the web serving as a net or gin for the capture of flies and other small insects which supply it with food. And if our memory serve us, we recollect that the poet also, speaking of flies, observes that the web of the spider serves to secure the weak flies only, whilst the strong break it and escape; alluding to the influence of wealth and power to pierce through those laws which were made for the protection of the weak against the encroachments and violence offered by the strong. The author of Job, in the eighteenth chapter and ninth verse, mentions gins. However, in knitting stockings, the operation, as well as the effect, is essentially different from knitting nets. In the latter the twine is knotted into distinct meshes, which are secured by knots; in the former, the entire substance is produced without knots. To this distinction is to be ascribed the reason why knit stockings may become unravelled. In the other species the knots not only prevent the material being taken apart, but they also render the nets sufficiently strong to prevent even vigorous fish from escaping, yet being so capacious as to permit little fish to escape with the water.
The art of knitting is not now, by any means, so general as it was formerly. It then unquestionably rated among the number of female accomplishments; and it is certainly rather wonderful, because when the mechanism is once obtained, it requires no exertion of intellect to practise it; it may be carried on while sitting, walking, and talking, or in almost every situation to which ordinary life is called; and when it is considered that its produce adds to the comfort of the indigent, to the advantage of the poor,—and that to persons in easy circumstances habitual industry increases their happiness, these things considered, it is with wonder and regret we see it fallen into disuse; particularly as it is an occupation suited to every age and capacity, which the infant is strong enough to practise; and even in the infirmity and weakness of age it is practicable. We certainly do hope and trust these observations may invite the attention of those meritorious individuals who have the direction and management of our scholastic establishments, to revive the practice.
Fishing nets are also in use among the most barbarous nations of this period, as various navigators have satisfactorily proved; frequently made of rude materials, it is true—some of the bark of trees, and others of the beards of whales, besides a variety of other articles which the more refined inhabitants of civilised countries would never think of using for such a purpose.