CLOTH-DRESSING.--BRUSHES AND COMBS.--BUTTONS, HOOKS AND EYES, AND CLASP.
The Teazle and its Structure.--Its Use in raising the “Nap” on
Cloth.--Its Value in Commerce.--Artificial Teazles.--The modern
Cloth-dressing Machine.--The Brush an Article of
Luxury.--Definition of the Brush, and its various Uses.--Brushes in
Nature.--The Foot of the Fly and the Tail-brush of the Glow-worm
Larva.--Mode in which they are used.--The Comb.--Varieties of the
Comb as made in different Countries.--Combs in Nature.--Foot of the
Spider and its Uses.--Beak of the Toucan.--Comb of the
Scorpion.--Buttons, Hooks and Eyes.--Use of the Button.--The
Egyptian Garment.--The Buckle and the Shoe-tie.--The
Clasp.--Wing-hooks of various Insects.--The Saddle-back Oyster.
CLOTH-DRESSING MACHINE.
In former days, when so much was done by hand that is now done by
machinery, the thistle called the Teazle (_Dipsacus fullonum_) was of
great value in British commerce, being used by countless thousands in
the manufacture of broadcloth.
When the woollen threads are woven so as to form the fabric of the
cloth, there is no nap upon them, this having to be produced by a
subsequent process. The plan of former days was, to procure a quantity
of the seed-vessels of the Teazle, and dry them. They were then fastened
to an instrument something like a wooden battledore, and swept over the
surface of the cloth. By degrees the delicate hooklets which terminate
the many scales of the seed-vessel tore up the fibres of the cloth, and
produced the desired nap without impairing the strength of the thread.
When this nap is worn off, the threads are again visible, producing the
effect called “threadbare.”
As the art of weaving continued to progress, the demand for Teazles
increased in due proportion, and vast quantities were imported from
abroad. Instead of being used by band, they were then fastened to the
circumference of wooden wheels as broad as the width of the cloth, and
made to revolve rapidly, while the cloth was pressed against them.
[Illustration: TEAZLE.]
[Illustration: CLOTH-DRESSING.]
For many years attempts had been made to construct artificial Teazles
which would not wear out so rapidly as did the dry seed-vessels, but
nothing could be constructed that was not too stiff or too strong, and
which did not injure the threads while producing the nap. At last,
however, this difficult problem has been solved, and the Teazle is no
longer an important article of commerce, its place being supplied by
delicately made cards of the finest and most elastic wire.
In the illustration a head of Teazle is given on the left hand, and on
the right is seen the mode in which the wire cards are placed in the
machine, and the cloth drawn over them so as to produce the required
nap.
BRUSHES.
It is worthy of notice that there are many articles of comparative
luxury which could not be used until man had attained some degree of
civilisation. Among these we may class the Brush and the Comb, no true
savage ever troubling himself about either article. The Brush, indeed,
belongs to a much more advanced stage of civilisation than the Comb, for
whereas we find combs, however rude they may be, used in semi-savage, or
rather, barbarian countries, the Brush is, as far as I know, an adjunct
of a high state of civilisation.
Brushes may be defined to be instruments formed of fibres set more or
less parallel to each other. The vast variety of brushes used in
different parts of Europe is indicative of the civilisation of the
nations who use them. Take, for example, the brushes used in household
management, such as the hearth-brush, the housemaid’s brush, the
Turk’s-head brush, the crumb-brush, the stair-brush, the carpet-brush,
the dusting brush, and many others.
Then we have those which are applied to our garments, such as the
ordinary clothes-brush, the velvet-backed hat-brush, and the three kinds
of boot-brushes.
In architecture, again, we should be very badly off without the
painting-brushes, the whitewasher’s brush, and the paper-hanger’s brush;
not to mention the exceeding variety of brushes used by artists both in
oil and water colours.
As to brushes applied to our persons, we have an infinite number of
them. There is, of course, the hair-brush, without a pair of which, one
for each hand, no one with a respectable head of hair could be expected
to be happy.
We may add to this the revolving brush worked by machinery, which is to
be found in the rooms of any respectable hairdresser, and which is a
sort of an apotheosis of the Hair-brush, especially when it is worked,
as in some places, by the electrical engine.
Then there is the shaving-brush, once an absolutely necessary article in
a gentleman’s dressing-case, and above all requisite if the owner should
happen to be a clergyman. Nowadays, shaving is rapidly decreasing, and
of all the professions, those who are most largely bearded, both in
number of beard-wearers and dimensions of the beard, are to be found
among the clergy.
Then there are any number of tooth-brushes for the interior of the
mouth, and of flesh-brushes, with or without handles, for the service of
the bath. There are even gardeners’ brushes, for the purpose of clearing
the plants of the aphides, or green-blight, as these insects are
popularly called by gardeners. So it will be seen that--absurd as the
proposition may appear at first sight--we may really accept the use of
the brush as a safe test of the progress of civilisation.
* * * * *
WE will now glance at the illustrations of this subject.
On the right hand is depicted the once honoured Shaving-brush, the
terror of all stiff-bearded men on frosty mornings, and yet clung to
with a strange inconsistency. Many years ago a military member of the
House of Commons was sensible enough to wear his beard, and was, in
consequence, the butt for interminable jokes. At the present time, if
the House were counted, a great majority of the younger, and not a few
of the older, members will be found to wear either the beard or
moustache, or both.
[Illustration: FOOT OF FLY.]
[Illustration: BRUSH OF GLOW-WORM LARVA.]
[Illustration: HAIR-BRUSHES.]
[Illustration: SHAVING-BRUSH.]
Perhaps some of my readers may object that many nations in a state of
very partial civilisation are accustomed to shaving. So they are, but
they do not use the shaving-brush. Most of them content themselves with
pulling out the hairs by the roots, while others merely saturate the
hair with hot water, and so need no brush.
Next to the shaving-brush is drawn a pair of ordinary Hair-brushes, such
as have been mentioned.
* * * * *
PASSING to the left, we find an object which bears a curious resemblance
to the shaving-brush. This is an apparatus belonging to the larva or
grub of the Glow-worm. This creature feeds upon snails, and, in
consequence, gets itself covered with the tenacious slime. In order to
enable it to rid itself of this inconvenience, the larva is furnished
near the end of its tail with the curious apparatus which is here shown.
It consists of some seven or eight soft white radii, arranged so as to
produce a brush-like outline, and being capable of extension or
withdrawal at will.
It had long been known that this “houppe nerveuse,” as it is called, was
employed as an assistant in locomotion; but until comparatively late
years--I believe about 1826--no one seemed to be aware that it was used
as a brush. Its functions as a brush may be compared with the somewhat
similar offices fulfilled by the pincers of the Earwig, as mentioned on
page 259.
Next to the brush of the glow-worm larva is shown one of the fore-feet
of the ordinary house-fly, much magnified. Passing, as irrelevant to the
present subject, the use of the feet as organs of locomotion, we may
take them as being used for the purpose of cleansing the body of the
insect.
I suppose that none of my readers has been sufficiently inobservant not
to have noticed the way in which a fly cleanses itself, behaving almost
exactly like a cat under similar circumstances. The fore-feet are
repeatedly passed over the head, which is bowed down to meet them, while
a similar office is performed for the rest of the body by the hind-legs.
The feet are then rubbed against each other, so as to free them from all
accumulations, just as the housemaid cleanses the hair-brush with the
comb before washing it. So mechanical is this process, that a fly has
been known to go through it even after it had been deprived of its head.
The reader will see, on reference to the illustration, that the two
sharp and curved claws are capable of answering the purpose of combs,
and, indeed, are so employed.
COMBS.
We will now proceed to the COMB, and see how Art has been anticipated by
Nature.
As long as human beings possess hair upon their heads, whether it be the
short, frizzed, woolly pile of the negro, the thick, coarse crop of the
Fijian, the coarse, straight hair of the Mongolian, or the long and fine
hair of the Georgian races, they must, as soon as they attempt any kind
of civilisation, form some instruments by which the hair can be dressed.
The simplest machine for this purpose is the Comb, and I possess many
varieties of this article, suitable to the different races for whom it
was made.
Putting aside the ordinary Combs of our European civilisation, such as
are given in the illustration, there are many others which are modified
according to the use which they have to fulfil.
[Illustration:
FOOT OF SPIDER.
BEAK OF TOUCAN.
COMBS.]
The simplest is the Comb of the celebrated Amazon regiment of Dahomey.
This is nothing but a slight skewer of ivory, some ten inches in length,
and amply sufficient for arranging the short woolly lumps which do duty
for hair on the head of a true negro. One of these very primitive combs
is in my collection, together with an undress costume of the Amazon in
question, and both being very much suited to each other. The comb being
a simple skewer, the dress is only a few thongs of leather, but they are
both equal to the requirements of their wearers.
As much time would be lost in combing the hair with a single skewer,
especially when that hair belonged to any but the pure negro races, a
simple but obvious improvement was introduced. A number of skewers were
lashed together side by side, with their ends a little diverging, and
thus was formed the germ of our present Combs.
As to the varieties of the Comb, they are simply endless; and whether
they are intended, in the form of the Currycomb, to smooth the harsh
coat of a horse, or, as a small-tooth Comb, to search the hair of the
young, they are all based on one principle.
It is really curious to see how often two men, who cannot possibly have
seen each other, will hit upon the same idea, not only simultaneously,
but often in the very same words. So it is with regard to the Comb. In
no two parts of the world can the natives be more opposed to each other
than is the case with Fiji and Western Africa; yet I possess specimens
of combs from both countries, made on the same principles, and so
exactly in the same manner, that, except for the coarseness of the
African Comb, it would be almost impossible to distinguish between them.
There is but a slight difference in the size and shape of the two combs,
and yet nothing can be more distinct than the characters of the two
nations.
I have also a Japanese Comb of the most ingenious construction. It is
made of wood, and cut exactly like our double ivory small-tooth comb;
but it is furnished with a curious kind of handle, consisting of a flat
piece of wood with a deep longitudinal slit, into which either side of
the comb fits; and so beautifully is it made, that when it is fitted
upon either side of the comb it looks as if handle and comb had been cut
out of the same piece of wood.
The Fijian Combs are much after the same fashion as those of Western
Africa, except that, with the artistic nature of their kind, the
Fijians, instead of merely lashing together the numerous spikes of which
the comb is made, employ a variety of patterns, and seem to luxuriate in
the exuberance of artistic spirit which can make hundreds of combs, and
no two of them alike.
* * * * *
ON the left hand of the illustration are two examples of Natural Combs
which are well worthy of notice. The upper one is a foot of the common
Garden Spider (_Epeira diadema_), which has been several times mentioned
in this work in connection with different subjects.
Every one who has watched the life of one of these creatures must have
noticed how often its hairy body becomes clogged with little bits of its
own web, and how dexterously it releases itself from such encumbrances.
The figure in the illustration shows how this can be done, the strangely
formed foot acting at the same time the part of comb and brush. It will
be seen that the curved spikes of the claws act as a comb, while the
bristle-like hairs discharge the duty of a brush.
* * * * *
NOT only are these projections used as Combs, but as appendages which
insure the security of footing along the lines of the web. The reader
will easily remember that when a Spider rushes along its web to secure
its prey, it always runs along one of the radiating lines, which have no
viscid drops, and that it never misses its hold. The latter point is
secured by the structure of its claws, which are so made that if one
projection misses the line, another is sure to fasten upon it. Some
years ago, while watching “Blondin” go through his wonderful
performances, I was especially struck with the pattern on which he had
constructed the stilts upon which he traversed the rope. They were made
in the most exact imitation of the Spider’s foot, and though it is not
probable that he borrowed them from that object, the resemblance was so
close that he might readily have done so.
* * * * *
BELOW the spider’s foot is given the head of a Toucan, one of those
beautifully coloured and large-billed birds that inhabit tropical
America. These birds are very particular about their plumage, and even
when in captivity dress their feathers with the utmost care. When they
do so, the saw-like notches of the beak act the part of a comb, and the
fibrils of the feathers are by their action dressed parallel to each
other, and give to the whole bird its proper appearance of health.
* * * * *
I MAY here mention that there is one comb in Nature, the use of which
has never been clearly ascertained. This is the remarkable organ found
in the Scorpion, and simply known as the “comb.” There are two of them,
one on each side of the under surface. Their colour differs slightly
according to the species, but is generally a light yellow brown. The
number of teeth also differs extremely, for in the Rock Scorpion there
are only thirteen teeth, while in the Red Scorpion there are
twenty-eight.
BUTTONS, HOOKS AND EYES, AND CLASP.
HAVING now treated of brushes and combs as articles belonging to the
toilet, we will proceed to those which belong to the dress rather than
the person. It is a curious fact that, as far as is known, buttons and
hooks belong only to advanced civilisation. The simplest garment is, of
course, a cloth of some material wrapped round the waist, and, as we see
in the wonderful Egyptian paintings which have survived their painters
some three thousand years, the simple fold can retain its grasp round
the loins, even through the exertions of a long day’s work.
I was always at a loss, when looking at these drawings, to understand
how a single fold could retain so simple a garment in its place, but
when I made my first visit to the Hammam Turkish Bath in Jermyn Street
the mystery was at once solved. The “check,” as it is there called, is
long enough to pass about once and a half round the waist of an ordinary
man. One end of it is placed on the left side, so as to bring the lower
edge on a level with the knee. It is held by the left hand until the
right hand passes it round the waist. It is then turned over in a broad
single fold, and will remain in position for hours, the left leg having
free scope between the two ends, and yet not being needlessly exposed.
Next to the simple fold comes the tie, which is in use all over the
world. The chief object of a good Tie is that it should retain its hold
as long as needed, be loosened with a touch in necessity, and, as a
matter of consequence, should never “jam.”
Still, even the best of ties are liable to objection. I once heard an
argument on the subject of ties and buckles with regard to shoes. The
speakers were both Derbyshire men, and their phraseology was somewhat
obscure. However, both stuck to his own principles, one saying that
“when a shee-uew is boo-oo-oockled, it’s boo-oo-ookled;” and the other
asserting, in equally strong terms, that “when it’s tee-ee-eed, it’s
tee-ee-eed.”
The buckle was here asserting its supremacy in civilisation over the
tie, and was palpably right. Any one, so rose the argument, can tie two
strings together, but the structure of the buckle is too complicated to
be understood, much less invented, by any uncivilised being.
* * * * *
NEXT come, in natural order, the Button and the Clasp, each being
identical in principle. In the case of the former the “eye” is placed
over the button, while in the latter the clasp or hook is passed through
the eye. Several examples of the Button and the Clasp are given on the
right hand of the illustration, and are too familiar to need
description.
* * * * *
AS to the corresponding articles in Nature, they are very numerous. We
will take, for example, the Saddle-back or Crow Oyster of our own
shores. It is a most remarkable being. It deposits upon the object to
which it adheres a sort of button of shelly matter, and the lower valve,
which is nearly flat, has in it an aperture which is placed over the
knob, just as a button-hole goes over the button. As this arrangement is
confined to the lower valve, and cannot be seen unless the upper valve
be removed, the lower valve only is shown in the illustration, as it
appears when fastened to the side of a large limpet.
[Illustration: WING-HOOKS OF INSECT. SADDLE-BACK OYSTER.]
[Illustration: CLASPS AND BUTTON.]
* * * * *
OF the Hooks and Eyes in Nature I have only taken two examples, though
there are many others.
We all know the Bees, Wasps, Hornets, and other similar insects, and
that they possess four wings. I may here mention that no insect which
does not possess four transparent wings is capable of stinging.
When the insect is at rest the four wings may be easily distinguished,
but when it is in flight they coalesce, so that practically the insect
has two wings instead of four. This object is attained in the following
way:--
The lower edge of the first pair of wings is turned over in a rather
stiff fold. The upper edge of the second pair of wings has a row of
small, but strong and elastic hooks. When the insect is about to fly,
the hooks are hitched into the fold, and so the wings are fastened
together. These hooks are shown in the illustration, and the reader will
easily see how effective they must be in their operation. An almost
exactly similar structure is found in the feathers of birds, and it is
by means of these tiny hooks that wings are enabled to present a
continuous, light, and elastic surface in the air.
USEFUL ARTS.