SECTION SEVENTH.

CARPETING.

The progress of almost any of the arts may be safely taken as an index of civilization. The arts, indeed, are so intimately interwoven, that one of them can scarcely flourish without giving rise to and receiving support from others. This is particularly the case in regard to the manufacture of carpets; which, like the other branches of weaving, has received improvements at every hand, and has lately made important advances. The very fact of the existence of such a manufacture speaks volumes as to the increase of our domestic comforts.

In the superficial texture of the common carpet, nothing appears to distinguish it from an ordinary web; and a first observer is at a loss to imagine by what means its variety of colours can be produced. On examining the figure more narrowly, it appears that the designer has laboured under considerable difficulties: for in many places where purity of colour would have been advantageous, a mixed colour, of the warp and weft, only is to be found, while scarcely any gradual shading of the tints depending on the nature of the figure is to be seen. A still closer examination explains at once the source of these imperfections. The ingrain or double carpet is found to consist of two contiguous webs, intermingled with each other in such a manner as to produce the pattern: each of these webs, if woven singly, would have a striped appearance, being partly coloured in the weft. One set of coloured stripes is thus imposed upon another and in designing the colours of the pattern, no selection beyond what is afforded by the judicious arrangement of these stripes can be made. The number of full colours is thus very limited; and these can only be obtained where the weft traverses warp of the same colour. To bring up then a part of the figure full red, red warp must be traversed by red weft ; these colours can be immediately concealed by sending the threads to the other web, but were they to remain long there, both webs would become monotonous. It is therefore extremely difficult to avoid a strong tendency to striping in the colours, and, except in the principal part of the figure, the colours can hardly be well managed, the secondary embellishments being almost matters of chance.

Yet, in the face of all these difficulties, patterns of great beauty are being continually formed on the carpet loom.

The invention of the triple carpet, claimed by Mr. Morton, of Kilmarnock, has almost removed these difficulties.* This carpet is composed of three webs, which interchange their threads in order to produce the pattern. The primary object in the introduction of the third web, appears to have been the obtaining of greater variety and brilliancy of colouring; but another curious effect has followed, that the two sides of the carpet are necessarily counterparts to each other. To a certain extent the figure of the under must depend on that of the upper side, since threads may be needed from the under web to produce what is wanted in the chief pattern on the upper side, but there still remains the choice of an interchange of threads between the two inferior webs. It is obvious that the tendency to striping must be much less on this than on the common carpet, and that the designer having a far greater choice of colours, may produce effects that could not before have been obtained. After the principal figure has been determined on, the skill of the designer is most severely exercised on the wrong side of the carpet. His choice of materials is indeed as great as with the common carpet, but then he is hampered by the restriction in figure, and can only be entirely at ease opposite a piece of plain texture on the other side. The superior beauty of the triple carpet over the common ingrain or two-ply is at once acknowledged: it possesses almost all the freedom in colouring of the floor-cloth or paper-hanging, while its great thickness and comparative cheapness bring it into competition with the more expensive kinds of carpeting.

Fig. 105 is a correct representation, in perspective, of an imperial Scotch carpet loom.

The frame of the loom consists of four perpendicular posts A A A A, with capes B B, and cross rails CCCC, to hold them firm at suitable distances apart; these posts are generally 6 feet 4 inches in height; D is the cloth roller, which must be made of wellseasoned wood of 5 inches in diameter, with an iron gudgeon of aths of an inch in diameter driven into each end of it, in the usual way; on one of these ends a ratchet wheel E is fastened, which is operated upon by two clicks FF, for the purpose of holding the web in its proper place when wound upon the roller by the weaver,

* Mr. M. is one of those sanguine mortals who believe, that if a man could produce a machine which would generate the power by which it was worked, he would become a creator! Oui!!

in a similar manner to that formerly described in section 1st under the head of plain weaving; G G is the lay or batten; H the reed; I the upper shell to hold the reed; J the under shell or sill of the lay; K the rocking tree or cross bar, which connects the lay swords G G above, as in Fig. 9, section 1st (which see;) L the harness, with double necking, connected to each of the Jacquard machines; M the treadles; N a rack or guide which serves to keep the treadles in their proper places; O treadle cords or wires which connect the treadles to their respective levers or lifters, in the usual way; P the harness board; Q the warp roller, with its ratchet wheel R, similarly fixed to that of the cloth roller D, and held in its place by the catch or dog S, as in Fig. 7, section 1st (which see;) T the warp yarn as

it proceeds from the warp roller through the harness L, and from thence into the reed H, where it is woven into cloth, then passes over the breast beam U, and on to the cloth roller D; V the cloth; W a strong cord, fastened to the catch or dog S at X, passing over the pulley Y, and attached to the loom frame at Z, on the right hand side of the loom, and convenient to the weaver's hand; on this cord a small wooden bob A' is fixed, which the weaver pulls when he finds it necessary to draw his bore or sink, and he winds the same length of cloth upon the cloth roller that he draws of warp from off the warp roller; B' B' Jacquard machines of the common description, mounted on the top of the loom in the usual way; C' Ci the pattern cards, and, D' D' two wooden boxes into which they drop when delivered from the cylinders, as represented more clearly in the description formerly given of the Jacquard machine, and in the drawings Figs. 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, and 98 (which see.)

The introducer of this texture (Mr. Morton) has conferred on us a very great benefit: he has furnished us with a higher embellishment for the interior of our dwellings, and presented to us another evidence of the active benevolence and social disposition of man. And it is agreeable to reflect, that in the nursing of the idea, and the carrying of it into effect, he must have felt a pleasure mucí. more intense than is likely to be experienced by any of the multitudes who will enjoy the fruits of his abilities.

A desire for something in the interior of a dwelling analogous to the soft clothing of the external world, seems to be generally felt; for in all states of society attempts are made to remove the hardness and unseemliness of the floor. Among the poorer nations, these attempts are confined to the mere dormitories, but, as advances are made in wealth, the mat and carpet begin to appear. The softness of the turf and more than its smoothness having been attained, it was natural to imitate also its embellishments: for this purpose several distinct kinds of carpet texture have been contrived. On one of these (the ingrain) we have already reported an immense improvement, and proceed to describe a no less striking improvement on another.

The Brussels carpet is distinguished from the common one by having a raised pile, and by the circumstance that the figures and colours are entirely produced from the warp. The pile is raised by inserting a wire between the body of the warp and the previously raised colouring threads. These threads descend and are fixed by the weft, which is of linen, two picks being given before the insertion of each wire, and these picks are called binders, and after a few

repetitions of the process the wires are withdrawn, taking care that the wires be not drawn out too near the face of the cloth: otherwise the looped warp would become stretched, by recovering the position in which it was before the wires were inserted.

The Wilton carpet differs only in this, that the pile is made somewhat longer, and cut in the manner of velvet.* Were the coloured warp, however, raised into pile at each stroke, the web would have simply a striped appearance; and if it were raised only at intervals, the figure would be given in relief, but would still be merely striped. In order to produce a properly coloured pattern, several coloured yarns are arranged, so that any one of them may be raised, into pile. Their number is generally five, and these constitute what is called five covers, so that, by their irregular ascent to the surface, the striped appearance is almost broken up. Still, however, the

* The knife or cutter used in England, for cutting the piles of various kinds of fabrics, is a steel rod about 2 feet long and 3ths of an inch thick, having a square handle at one end; the other end is tapered away to a blade as thin as the edge of a razor. To prevent the point of the knife from turning downwards and injuring the cloth, its under side is covered by a guide, which serves to stiffen it, as well as to prevent its under edge from cutting the fabric during the operation of guttering out the pile. The operative grasps the handle in his right hand, and insinuating the projecting point of the guide under the weft, pushes the knife smartly forward through the whole breadth of the pile (from selvage to selvage.) This process is repeated upon every line of the pile throughout the web.

An expeditious method of manufacturing common velvets has lately been introduced by our respected friend, M. Tannias Falson, of Lyons, its ingenious inventor. There are two principal features of novelty in this method; the first of which is, the weaving of two webs or pieces of velvet at once, the one above the other, the pile of each turning inward, and the webs being connected together by the pile itself. The second feature consists of a vibratory cutter or knife, which passes between the two pieces of velvet and cuts them asunder, as fast as woven, by the mere operation of the loom; the cutter is, of course, set from the face of the cloth at a sufficient distance to prevent its cutting too near the reed.

This excellent mode of manufacturing velve, might, we think, be introduced with great advantage in this country: the necessary apparatus may be obtained, by applying to the inventor, at Lyons, or to Messrs. James Jacquier & Co., No. 1 Wood Street, Spitalfields, London.

† Called covers on account of all the colours being covered or hid, except one, which shows on the face of the cloth. In a pattern, for instance, containing five colours, all these may be visible, but only one will show at any particular point, and the sum of all the parts of the coloured yarns which appear on the face, will be only one fifth of the whole of the coloured yarns employed. Five colours are commonly used in the manufacture of Brussels carpet: if a