Take eight strands, ninety hairs in a strand, and place on table like pattern. Commence, take No. 1 at A in right hand, and No. 1 at B in left hand, and swing around table to the right—the No. 1 in the right hand over across Nos. 2, 3 and 4 at B, and the No. 1 in the left hand over across Nos. 2, 3 and 4 at A; repeat until the braid is finished.
Braid this over a small wire, with a hole in one end like the eye of a needle, so as to draw a small cord in the place of the wire. When you have it braided, take off your weights, tie the ends fast on the wire and push the braid together on the wire; then boil in water about ten minutes; then take it out and put in an oven as hot as it will bear without burning, until it is quite dry; then take it out and slip it off of the wire on to the cord, and sew the ends of the braid so it will not slip on the cord, and put a little shellac on the end to keep it fast. If you want it elastic, use elastic cord. To vary the size of the braid, vary the number of hairs in a strand.
Take sixteen strands, eighty hairs in a strand, and place them on the table like pattern. Commence at A, take both No. 1 strands and cross over in between Nos. 1 on the opposite side to B, then bring back both Nos. 2 from B to A, and place them in between Nos. 2; then walk around table to C and braid it across table to D as before. Then commence at A and repeat until braid is finished.