Excerpt from Catalogue of the Horner Collection of Spinning Wheels and Accessories The original Spindle consisted of two parts, the Spindle and the whorl this latter was a piece of wood, stone, clay, or other material which gave momentum to the Spindle when twirled between the fingers, or between the palm of the hand and the leg, as universally practised in Southern Italy. The distati upon which the material to be Spun was wound, was carried under the left arm, or placed in the belt or breast of the operator; the spindle was notched at the top to receive the end of the material; so long as the Spindle re volved the yarn twisted, and when it ceased the yarn was wound on the Spindle, the last twisted portion placed in the notch, and the Operation continued. It would appear natural that the revolving motion given to the Spindle by means of the operator's fingers could be arrived at by a mechanical method if the spindle were mounted in bearings and revolved by means of a band over a driving wheel. The idea occurred to someone, and thus the first Spinning wheel was made. It was a Simple evolution; on the Spindle was fastened a small pulley, called in these countries a whirl, derived from the whorl of the ancient spindle; motion was conveyed to the Spindle by a band running over the wheel and the whirl, as in modern Spinning to-day in the latter this whirl is called a wharve, evidently derived from the older word. The Spindle bearings were fastened in a framework of wood, which also supported the bearings in which the wheel revolved by means of the Operator's hand. We here find the Spindle of the ancients placed horizontally, and re volved from the motion of the wheel, instead of being twirled between the fingers. When about a yard in length was Spun it was allowed to wind itself upon the Spindle, and the Operation was repeated in a manner similar to that employed in the older opera tion. It is not known definitely whence the spinning wheel originated; it is generally, and with some reason, supposed that India was its birthplace; such wheels have been known there for centuries past (no. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.