WAV would have been at the same height with itself; these run into the first wave one after another, as it is rising; by which means its rise is continued much longer than it naturally would have been, and it becomes accumulated to an enormous size. A number of these complicated waves rising together, and being continued in a long succession by the continuation of the storm, make the waves so dangerous to ships, which the sailors in their phrase call mountains high. "The Motion of the Waves" makes an article in the Newtonian philosophy; the author having explained their motions, and calculated their velocity from mathematical principles, similar to the motion of a pendulum, and to the reciprocation of water in the two legs of a bent and inverted syphon or tube. See PRINCIPIA. Stilling Waves by means of Oil." This wonderful property, though well known to the ancients, as appears from the writings of Pliny, was for many ages either quite unnoticed, or treated as fabulous by succeeding philosophers. By means of Dr. Franklin, the subject again attracted the attention of the learned; though it appears from some anecdotes, that seafaring people have always been acquainted with it. Mr. Pennant, in his British Zoology, vol. iv. under the article Seal, takes notice that when these animals are devouring a very oily fish, which they always do under water, the waves above are remarkably smooth; and by this mark the fishermen know where to find them. Sir Gilbert Lawson, who served long in the army at Gibraltar, assured Dr. FrankJin, that the fishermen in that place are accustomed to pour a little oil on the sea, in order to still its motion, that they may be enabled to see the oysters lying at its bottom, which are there very large, and which they take up with a proper instrument. A similar practice obtains among fishermen in various other parts; and Dr. Franklin was informed by an old sea-captain, that the fishermen of Lisbon, when about to return into the river, if they saw too great a surf upon the bar, would empty a bottle or two of oil into the sea, which would suppress the breakers, and allow them to pass freely. The doctor having revolved in his mind all these pieces of information, became impatient to try the experiment himself. At last, having an opportunity of observing a large pond very rough with the wind, he dropped a small quantity of oil upon it. But having at first ap He then WAVED, WAVY, or WAVEY, in herat- wax. WAX. There are two or three substances which resemble each other so closely as to have received the name of The first, and by far the most important, is bees' wax, which is consumed in such vast quantities for giving light; and is also used for a variety of other purposes. Another kind of wax is the myrtle wax, which is extracted pretty largely in Louisiana, and some other parts of America, from the myrica cerifera. Another substance very similar to wax is the pe la of the Chinese, the product of an insect, the exact species of which is not known; and the white matter which yields the laccic acid has also a strong resemblance to wax. The properties which all these substances have in common are, fusibility at a moderate heat when kindled, burning with much flame: insolubility in water, solubility in alkalies, and also in alcohol and ether. In these two latter properties all the species of wax differ from the concrete oils, with which, in other respects, they have a very strong resemblance. Bees' wax is the substance, excreted from the body of the bee, of which these insects construct their cells, both those for containing honey and for the lodgement of their young. It is collected for the use of man wherever bees are kept. A young hive will yield at the end of the season about a pound of wax; and an old hive about twice as much. The colour of wax, when fresh from the bee, is nearly white, but it soon grows considerably yellow in the hive, or if very old is of a dark brown. The wax, which is the ordinary bees' wax of the shops, is a pale yellow substance, of an agreeable honey-like smell, soft, and somewhat unctuous to the touch, but with out sticking to the fingers, in winter be coming considerably hard and tough, and melting at about 142°. This yellow colour and the smell of wax are entirely taken away by exposing it, when divided into thin lamine, to the united action of the light and air, and by this means it becomes perfectly white, scentless, somewhat harder and less greasy to the touch, and in this state it is employed for candles and many other purposes. Bleached wax burns with a very pure white light, and gives no offensive smell, and very little smoke compared with tallow. Being less fusible than tallow, it requires a smaller wick. Bleached wax melts at about 155°, or 7° higher than the unbleached. Its specific gravity is less than that of water, being about .96. Alcohol has no sensible action on wax when cold, but on boiling it dissolves rather less than 1-20th of its weight of wax, the greater part of which separates when cold in the form of white flocculi, and what remains in solution is entirely precipitated by water. Wax is soluble abundantly in the fixed oils, but very sparingly in the essential oils. It is usually supposed that the wax is the pollen of flowers, which the bees visibly collect on their thighs, and afterwards elaborate in some unknown way. The great difference between wax and this matter which the bees collect, has however been long remarked. When examined by the microscope, this little mass of pollen is obviously composed of a number of hard grains compressed together; and if it is laid on a hot plate, it does not melt as wax would do, but smokes, dries, and is reduced to a coal, and if kindled it burns without melting. Some late very curious experiments of Huber, one of the most celebrated apiarists in Europe, has further shown that the pollen has no share whatever in the formation of wax, but that this latter substance is produced indiscriminately from honey, sugar, or any other saccharine matter which serves as food for the bees. WAY, a passage or road. The Roman ways are divided into consular, prætorian, military and public; and of these we have four remarkable ones in England: first, Watling-street, or Watheling-street, leading from Dover to London, Dunstable, Towcester, Atterston, and the Severn, extending as far as Anglesea in Wales. The second, called Hikenild, or Ikenild-street, stretches from Southampton over the river Isis, at Newbridge; thence by Cam den and Litchfield; then passes the Derwent, near Derby, and ends at Tinmouth. The third, called Fosse-way, because in some places it was never perfected, but lies as a large ditch, leads from Cornwall through Devonshire, by Tethbury, near Stow in the Wolds; and beside Coventry to Leicester, Newark, and so to Lincoln. The fourth, called Erming, or Erminage. street, extends from St. David's, in Wales, to Southampton. WAY, in law. A way may be by prescription, as, if the owners and occupiers of such a farm have immemorially used to cross another's ground; for this immemorial usage implies an original grant. A right of way may also arise by act and operation of law; for if a man grant to another a piece of ground in the middle of his field, he at the same time tacitly gives him a way to come at it; for where the law gives any thing to any person, it gives implied whatever is necessary for enjoy. ing the same. WAY, milky. See GALAXY. WAY of a ship, is sometimes the same as her rake, or run forward or backward; but this term is most commonly understood of her sailing. Thus, when she goes apace, it is said, that she hath a good way, or makes a fresh way. So when an account is kept how fast she sails by the log, it is called keeping an account of her way; and because most ships are apt to fall a little to leeward of their true course, they always, in casting up the log board, allow something for her leeward way. WAY of the rounds, in fortification, is a space left for the passage of the rounds between the rampart and the wall of a fortified town. This is not now much in use; because the parapet, not being above a foot thick, is soon overthrown by the enemy's cannon. WEATHER, rules for judging of. 1. The rising of the mercury presages, in general, fair weather; and its falling foul weather, as rain, snow, high winds, and storms. When the surface of the mercury is convex, or stands higher in the middle than at the sides, it is a sign the mercury is then in a rising state; but if the surface be concave or hollow in the middle, it is then sinking. 2. In very hot weather, the falling of the mercury indicates thunder. 5. In winter, the rising presages frost; and in frosty weather, if the mercury falls three or four divisions, there will be a thaw; but in a continued frost, if the mercury rises, it will be cer tainly snow. 4. When foul weather happens soon after the depression of the mercury, expect but little of it; on the contrary, expect but little fair weather, when it proves fair shortly after the mercury has risen. 5. In foul weather, when the mercury rises much and high, and so continues for two or three days before the bad weather is entirely over, then a continuance of fair weather may be expected. 6. In fair weather, when the mercury falls much and low, and thus continues for two or three days before the rain comes, then a deal of wet may be expected, and probably high winds. 7. The unsettled motion of the mercury denotes unsettled weather. 8. The words engraved on the scale are not so much to be attended to, as the rising and falling of the mercury; for, if it stand at much rain, and then rises to changeable, it denotes fair weather, though not to continue so long as if the mercury had risen higher. If the mercury stands at fair, and falls to changeable, bad weather may be expected. 9. In winter, spring, and autumn, the sudden falling of the mercury, and that for a large space, denotes high winds and storms; but in summer it presages heavy showers, and often thunder. It always sinks lowest of all for great winds, though not accompanied with rain; but it falls more for wind and rain together, than for either of them alone. 10. If after rain the wind change into any part of the north, with a clear and dry sky, and the mercury rise, it is a certain sign of fair weather. 11. After very great storms of wind, when the mercury has been low, it commonly rises again very fast. In settled fair weather, except the barometer sink much, expect but little rain. In a wet season, the smallest depressions must be attended to; for when the air is much inclined to showers, a little sinking in the barometer denotes more rain. And in such a season, if it rise suddenly fast and high, fair weather cannot be expect ed to last more than a day or two. 12. The greatest heights of the mercury are found upon easterly and north-easterly winds: and it may often rain or snow, the wind being in these points, while the barometer is in a rising state, the effects of the wind counteracting. But the mercury sinks for wind as well as rain, in all other points of the compass. WEAVING, the art of making threads into cloth. This art is of very ancient origin. The fabulous story of Penelope's web; and, still more, the frequent allu. VOL. XII. sions to this art in the sacred writings, tend to show, that the constructing of cloth from threads, hair, &c. is a very ancient invention. It has, however, like other useful arts, undergone an infinite variety of improvements, both as to the materials of which cloth is made, the apparatus necessary in its construction, and the particular modes of operation by the artist. Weaving, when reduced to its original principle, is nothing more than the insertion of the weft into the web, by forming sheds; but this principle has been so extensively applied in almost every country, and the knowledge of its various branches has been derived from such a variety of sources, that no one person could ever be practically employed in all its branches; and though every part bears a strong analogy to the rest, yet a minute knowledge of each of these parts can only be acquired by experience and reflection. We will, however, endeavour to give the reader as comprehensive an idea of the history and progress of this ancient and invaluable art, as the nature of the thing, and the limits to which we are necessarily confined, will permit. The history of this art is very little known, and its great antiquity necessarily involves the earlier æras of it in the most perfect obscurity. Enough, however, is known to prove that none of the species of it originated in Britain. The silk manufacture was first practised in China, and the cotton in India. Both the woollen and linen were borrowed from the continent of Europe, and all improvements in them, in this country, were first introduced by foreign artificers who settled amongst us. To the present day, our superiority in point of quality is only universally acknowledged in the cotton manufacture; while in those of silk, woollen, and linen, it is still disputed by other countries. But it should be understood, that we are here speaking more particularly of the art in its more advanced and improved state. For when it is considered, that, as the wants of mankind are nearly the same in all countries, it is not improbable that the same arts, however, varied in their operations, may have been invented in different countries. It is not, however, certain, that the art of making cloth is one which the Britons invented. It is more probable that the Gauls learned it from the Greeks, and communicated the knowledge of it to the people of Britain. And it is certain that the inhabi Gg tants of the southern parts of Britain were well acquainted with the arts of dressing, spinning, and weaving, both flax and wool, when they were invaded by the Romans. The art of making linen, which was probably the first species of cloth invented, was communicated by the Egyptians, the inhabitants of Palestine, and other eastern nations, to the Europeans. By slow degrees it found its way into Italy; and it afterwards prevailed in Spain, Gaul, Germany, and Britain. The Belga manufactured linen on the continent; and when they afterwards settled in this island, it is probable they continued the practice, and taught it to the people among whom they resided. Whatever knowledge the Britons might possess of the clothing arts, prior to the invasion, it is very certain that these arts were much improved among them after that event. It appears from the Notitia Imperii, that there was an imperial manufactory of woollen and linen cloth, for the use of the Roman army then in Britain, established at Venta Belgarum, now call ed Winchester. In Bishop Aldhelm's book concerning "Virginity," written about A. D. 680, it is remarked, "that chastity alone forms not a perfect character; but requires to be accompanied and beautified by other virtues. " This observation is illustrated by the following simile, borrowed from the art of figure-weaving: "It is not a web of one uniform colour and texture, without any variety of figures, that pleaseth the eye, and appears beautiful; but one that is woven by shuttles, filled with threads of purple, and many other colours flying from side to side, and forming a variety of figures and images in different compartments with admirable art." Perhaps the most curious specimen of this ancient figure-weaving and embroidery, now to be found, is that preserved in the cathedral of Bayeaux. It is a piece of linen, about 19 inches in breadth, and 67 yards in length, and contains the history of the conquest of England, by William of Normandy; beginning with Harold's embassy, A. D. 1065, and ending with his death at the battle of Hastings, A. D. 1066. This curious work is supposed to have been executed by Matilda, wife to William, Duke of Normandy, afterwards King of England, and the ladies of her court. Although it is certain that the art of figure-weaving was then known in Bri tain, it must be owned, that the piece of tapestry just mentioned owes most of its beauty to the exquisite needle work with which it is adorned. About the close of the eleventh century, the clothing arts had acquired a considerable degree of improvement in this island. About that time the weavers in all the great towns were formed into guilds or corporations, and had various privileges bestowed upon them by royal charters. In the reign of Richard I. the woollen manufacture became the subject of legislation; and a law was made, A. D. 1197, for regulating the fabrication and sale of cloth. The number of weavers, however, was comparatively small, until the policy of the wise and liberal Edward III. encouraged the art, by the most advantageous offers of reward and encouragement to foreign cloth-workers and weavers, who would come and settle in England. In the year 1331, two weavers came from Brabant, and settled at York. The superior skill and dexterity of these men, who communicated their knowledge to others, soon manifested itself in the improvement and spread of the art of weaving in this island. Many weavers from Flanders were driven into England by the cruel persecu tions of the Duke of D'Alva, in the year 1567, who settled in different parts of the kingdom, and introduced, or promoted, the manufacture of baizes, serges, crapes, and other stuffs. About the year 1686 nearly 50,000 manufacturers, of various descriptions, took refuge in Britain, in consequence of the revocation of the edict of Nantz, and other acts of religious persecution, committed by Louis XIV. These improvements, &c. chiefly related to linen wearing. The arts of spinning, throwing, and weaving silk, were brought into England about the middle of the fifteenth century, and were practised by a company of women in London, called silk-women. About A. D. 1480, men began to engage in the silk manufacture, and the art of silkweaving, in England, soon arrived at very great perfection. The civil dissentions which followed this period retarded the progress of this art; but afterwards, when the nation was at rest, the arts of peace, and, among others, that of weaving, made rapid advance in almost every part of the kingdom. It has been generally suppos ed, that silk-weaving, particularly that of figure-weaving, has never been brought to that perfection in England, to which it has attained in other countries. Our silkweavers, however, seem at length determined to remove this reproach. For this purpose a most magnificent undertaking is at this time begun by the weavers in Spitalfields, London; the object of which is, "to remove those prejudices which have long prevailed in favour of foreign manufactures." This object is intended to be accomplished by the "weaving of certain flags, for public exhibition, on which are to appear figures, flowers, and other devices," interwoven with various coloured silks. After considerable labour and expense, this design is now begun to be put into execution, under the superintendance of a committee, who are appointed to receive subscriptions, and conduct the execution of the plans, &c. Mr. William Titford, of Union-street, Bishopsgate, has been appointed treasurer by the committee, and the undertaking is now making advances towards its final accomplishment. The weaving of the first flag is begun, and about twelve or fourteen inches of it completed. The designs for this flag are curious and well executed. They represent, within a large oval, "a female figure, with a dejected aspect, reclining on a remnant of brocade." Two figures, representing Enterprise and Genius, appear to encourage the dejected female. In the back ground is the Temple of Fame, on the top of which is a flag bearing the weaver's arms, to which Genius is directing the attention of the reclining figure. The four corners of this design, which are intended to be correctly engraved, are ornamented with appropriate emblematical figures of Peace, Industry, &c. It is two yards wide; and the figures in the body of the design are drawn nearly as large as life: but the silks, being all dyed fast colours, have not that brilliant appearance in the work which could have been wished. What makes this piece of work more curious, and will convey an extraordinary stability to its texture, is, that it has a satin ground, and is brocaded on both sides exactly alike. The threads of the web, or porry, are upwards of 48,900, the lead attached to the harness weighs upwards of 500 pounds, and the shuttles constantly in use amount to upwards of 500. Two men are employed in the weaving, who are able to make, upon an average, about three-quarters of an inch daily The expense of this stupendous undertaking, with respect to the first flag on ly, will be not less than one thousand guineas. The admirers of art, and the friends of our national manufactures, will not think this information trifling or unnecessary, the correctness of which the writer of this article has been at considerable pains to ascertain; nor ought we to omit to mention, that the idea, and much of the design, of this piece of figure work, originated principally with Mr. Samuel Sholl, an ingenious silkweaver, to whom the Society of Arts, a few years ago, gave a silver medal and thirty guineas, for the construction of an improved loom for weaving slight silks. For some account of the silk manufacture, see the article SILK. The art of cotton weaving, in its present improved state, has not been long known either in this or any other country. Wherever it originated, it is certain that most of our manufactures, in this respect, are unequalled in any part of the known world; and were it not for the many commercial restrictions, by which the present war is so unfortunately dis. tinguished, there is every rational prospect that our cotton trade would be still further improved and extended. Having briefly traced the history of this art in Great Britain, we proceed to a description of the manner in which it is practised in this country; confining our observations chiefly to the art of cotton weaving. The apparatus necessary in the art of cloth-weaving, consists, chiefly, in the loom, shuttle, reed, and heddles, or harness, the form and use of which are here described. There are several kinds of looms for cloth-weaving, the most common of which is that delineated on Plate Loom, (fig. 1 and 2) which represents the common silk-loom. In this plate A, (fig. 1) is the yarn-beam; B, the cloth-beam, or breast-roll; D E, the treddles; dd, ee, the heddles, or harness; G, the lay, or batten; M, the seat-board; and TT, the rods. Fig. 2 is a view of the lay, or batten and reed; which, to show the reed more distinctly, is represented without the lay-cape, being a long piece of wood, having a groove running along its lowermost side, for the purpose of sustaining the upper edge of the reed. The laycape is that part of the machine, on the middle of which the weaver lays hold with his left hand when in the act of weaving. F, the lay-pole; G G, the layswords; H the shuttle-race; II, the boxes which receive the shuttles: kk |