ellow. In the
second process they use the large, fleshy root of a plant which, as I
have never yet seen it in fruit or flower, I am unable to determine.
The fresh root is crushed to a soft paste on the _metate_, and, for a
mordant, the almogen is added while the grinding is going on. The cold
paste is then rubbed between the hands into the wool. If the wool does
not seem to take the color readily a little water is dashed on the
mixture of wool and paste, and the whole is very slightly warmed. The
entire process does not occupy over an hour and the result is a color
much like that now known as "old gold."
The reddish dye is made of the bark of _Alnus incana_ var. _virescens_
(Watson) and the bark of the root of _Cercocarpus parvifolius_; the
mordant being fine juniper ashes. On buckskin this makes a brilliant
tan-color; but applied to wool it produces a much paler tint.
Sec. III. Plate XXXVIII and Fig. 42 illustrate ordinary blanket-looms.
Two posts, _a a_, are set firmly in the ground; to these are lashed
two cross-pieces or braces, _b c_, the whole forming the frame of the
loom. Sometimes two slender trees, growing at a convenient distance
from one another, are made to answer for the posts, _d_ is a
horizontal pole, which I call the supplementary yarn-beam, attached to
the upper brace, _b_, by means of a rope, _e e_, spirally applied. _f_
is the upper beam of the loom. As it is analogous to the yarn-beam of
our looms, I will call it by this name, although once only have I seen
the warp wound around it. It lies parallel to the pole _d_, about 2 or
3 inches below it, and is attached to the latter by a number of loops,
_g g_. A spiral cord wound around the yarn-beam holds the upper border
cord _h h_, which, in turn, secures the upper end of the warp _i i_.
The lower beam of the loom is shown at _k_. I will call this the
cloth-beam, although the finished web is never wound around it; it is
tied firmly to the lower brace, _c_, of the frame, and to it is
secured the lower border cord of the blanket. The original distance
between the two beams is the length of the blanket. Lying between the
threads of the warp is depicted a broad, thin, oaken stick, _l_, which
I will call the batten. A set of healds attached to a heald-rod, _m_,
are shown above the batten. These healds are made of cord or yarn;
they include alternate threads of the warp, and serve when drawn
forward to open the lower shed. The upper shed is kept patent by
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