CARPETS

textile floor-coverings, of which the principal styles are Persian, Turkey, Kidder minster, Bru els, Will on, Tapestry, and ‘royal’ and ‘patent’ Axmins ‘When carpets were first used cannot be exactly ascertained, but it is clear, from fragments which have been discovered, that they were in use amongst the Egyptians at a very early period, and they were most certainly used by the early Greeks and Romans. Persian and Turkey ‘pile’ carpets are of very ancient manufacture, and are made upon primitive looms by a proce of knotting on warp threads tufts of woolen yarn, which are held together by the weft. As the carpet in a Persian palace or dwelling was the principal article of furniture, and was used for table, chair, and bed, it naturally followed that, apart from its decorative use, it should be made as soft and comfortable as was po ible. Hence the wonderful pile carpets which came from these Eastern looms, remarkable also for their durability. Carpets are to be found in Pers. palaces at the present time which have been in constant use for hundred years. Indian pile carpets are made by same proce as those of Persia, and the early ones have similar designs; modern Indian carpets are le beautiful, owing to Western influence, which has debased the patterns. In regard to carpets of Brit. make, ‘reference must first be made to Kidder- ‘Iinster carpets, which were the first Machine-made carpets. They have no ile, and are reversible, the yarn threads | g flat upon the surface. Bru els carpet is made by a proce of interweaving threads in the warp with a linen network: ‘Will on, or ‘velvet pile’, is made in a i i manner, but the loops are cut and so form a yielding surface; Tapestry ‘carpet, invented at Edinburgh, 1832, is similar to Bru els in that its surface is ‘Composed of looped worsted yarn; and the two makes of Axminster are pro- ‘duced by the use of wool chenile upon a ‘basement of hemp, linen, or cotton. In ember of a licentious sect who claimed to have only true knowledge of religion; ‘personal actions, good or bad, were ‘matters of indifference, according to thelr creed, and the cultivation of the ons was to be commended; said to have been a Jew of Alexandria, q