el schools, where the
classes are limited to ten, or sometimes fewer children, with one
teacher and several assistants, this idea, if carried out, is ideal, and
perhaps practical. But what shall be said of the public-school teacher
who has fifty children and no assistants; or, which is even more
objectionable, and which is the case in many of our crowded schools,
what of the teacher with two sessions of fifty children each? It was the
effort to solve a problem of this kind that led to the invention of the
Todd adjustable hand loom.

[Sidenote: _Description of the Todd loom_]

[Illustration: _The Todd adjustable hand loom, Style b_]

[Sidenote: _The needle_]

[Sidenote: _Finishing the work_]

[Sidenote: _Removing the work_]

The full size of the loom is 10 x 13 inches, upon which a rug 9 x 12
inches can be woven. It is made adjustable to innumerable smaller square
and oblong sizes, by two devices. To regulate the length, the head
piece, which is movable, can be let down on brass buttons, which are
disposed along the sides at intervals of an inch. Perforations are
placed half an inch apart in the head and foot pieces so that the side
rods can be moved inward to regulate the width. They also insure
straight edges, since the woof threads are passed around them as the
work progresses. The rods also serve another important function as
fulcrums upon which the needle may be pressed up and down, so that it
passes more easily over and under the successive warp strings. The
notches are one-sixteenth inch and the teeth one-eighth inch apart,
giving opportunity for warp one-half, three-eighths, and
three-sixteenths inches wide. The loom has an easel support, so that the
pupil need not bend over it--an important consideration in school
classes, and in home work as well. This support makes it possible to use
the loom for an easel in the painting lessons, by resting a piece of
pasteboard against it. The needle, which is longer than the warp is
wide, serves also as a heddle in pressing the woof threads together
evenly. It is furnished with an eye for worsted, chenille, carpet
ravelings, or rope silk, and three slits for rags. To thread the needle
with rags, pass the strip up and down through the slits and _back_ again
_under_ the strip through the first slit. This binds the strip securely.
In finishing the work weave the last few woof threads with a large tape
needle, putting it up and down, over one thread at a time, as you woul