the yarn on the ruler. There was a hook on the old-time
spindle. Instead of the hook, hold the wound yarn in place by an
elastic band. Draw out several inches again and repeat.

9. With the spindle a _distaff_ was used. It held the roving which you
now hold in your left hand. (See picture of distaff and spindle.)

10. Define spinning; see _Textiles_, page 4, footnote. The early use
of the spindle was the same as its use of to-day. In what two ways is
the spindle of use?

11. The improvement on the distaff and spindle was the spinning wheel.
Now the spinning frame in the mill has replaced both.

_Questions_

1. After shearing, through what two processes does wool pass?

2. Why is it necessary to oil wool?

3. What is the work of the _card_?

4. Explain the process called _drawing_. Why is it necessary to repeat
the operation several times?

5. What followed the distaff and spindle in the development of
spinning?

6. On what is the spinning done now in the mill? See _Textiles_,
picture, pages 135, 137.

=Experiment 15--Gilling and Combing=

Apparatus: Coarse comb, fine comb.
Material: Small quantity of scoured wool.
Reference: _Textiles_, pages 39-44.

_Directions_

1. Open up the wool a little with the fingers. Do this in place of
carding, as you need but a small quantity.

2. You comb your hair to make the hairs lie parallel, side by side, in
place. Combs are used on wool for just the same purpose, but the first
process of combing is not known as such. It is called _gilling_, and
the combs themselves are called _fallers_. The machines are known as
_gill boxes_. See _Textiles_, page 43.

3. Hold the carded wool in the left hand in the middle of the strand.
With the coarse comb in the right hand, comb and thus straighten the
fibers first at one end then at the other. This is _gilling_. The
principle of gilling is to comb the fibers more and more nearly
parallel and to draw them out into more even strands.

4. The coarse comb causes the hairs to lie parallel. A fine comb will
further straighten the hairs, but it will also remove the snarled,
tangled, short hairs. Again wool is to be treated like hair. Hold the
strand in the middle as before. Comb each end with the fine comb.
Notice that the fine comb is removing the short fibers and leaving the
long fibers between the fingers. This is the second process of
combing, and is called _combing_.

5. The long fibers are called _tops_ and