. The story of textiles; a bird's-eye view of the history of the beginning and the growth of the industry by which mankind is clothed. wasthe construction of the hand wheel, in which the spindle,mounted in a frame, was fixed horizontally, and rotatedby a band passing around a large wheel set in the frame-work. Such a wheel has been used from prehistoric timesin the East, but was not introduced into Europe until aboutthe fourteenth century. The earliest manuscript that mentions the spinning wheelwas written in the fourteenth century, and is in the BritishMuseum. This wheel was evidently one at
. The story of textiles; a bird's-eye view of the history of the beginning and the growth of the industry by which mankind is clothed. wasthe construction of the hand wheel, in which the spindle,mounted in a frame, was fixed horizontally, and rotatedby a band passing around a large wheel set in the frame-work. Such a wheel has been used from prehistoric timesin the East, but was not introduced into Europe until aboutthe fourteenth century. The earliest manuscript that mentions the spinning wheelwas written in the fourteenth century, and is in the BritishMuseum. This wheel was evidently one at which a womanstood, for that which came into general use is said to havebeen invented in 1533 by a citizen of Brunswick, and wasthe first wheel at which a woman could sit. Other improve-ments enabling one to spin with a treadle movement, andthus allowing the spinner to work with both hands free,Were added at later dates that cannot be fixed. Thuscame into use the spinning wheel as our forbears used itin the homespun industries of New England and as it isstill used in the isolated rural districts of Ireland, Scotland,and HINDU WEAVER AT HIS LOOM (From an old woodcut) THE STORY OF TEXTILES 73 It was not long before every woman in England spun,and terms of the industry had become a part of the spear side and distaff side of the house became thelegal terms respectively for the male and female lines ofinheritance. Spinster was and is still the English termfor unmarried women. January 7 was jocularly calledSt. Distaffs Day, or Rock Day, and signified the resumptionof spinning after the rest of the Christmas holidays. EARLY IMPROVEMENTS IN TEXTILE MACHINERY To Lewis Paul, John Wyatt, James Hargreaves, JohnKay, Richard Arkwright, James Crompton, and EdmundCartwright the textile industry owes the basic inven-tions which have revolutionized it. It is impossible tosay to whom the greatest credit is due, for there is muchcontroversy over the question of whose inventi
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