Excerpt from Catalogue of the Horner Collection of Spinning Wheels and Accessories The arrangement of a Catalogue descriptive of spinning wheels must of necessity comprise some short description of the simple spindle and distaff, the precursor of the spinning wheel, which from remote ages, far beyond historic times, served the nations of the world as a spinning medium. Its use to-day is still very extensive, not merely amongst uncivilized peoples, but in Europe generally. In Italy, for example, especially in the South, this primitive mode of spinning is still in practice by nearly every peasant woman (No. 64). Some 40 years ago an attempt was made to introduce the more modern wheel into the Province of Solerno, but the sedentary occupation did not appeal to the vivacious, lively southern, who wanted a gossip with her neighbours while she worked. In Italy south of Rome the spinning wheel is not in use. The spindle and distaff persist to-day in many parts of Germany, Austria, Russia, France, Spain, and Portugal, and even in the North of Scotland are still in use for the spinning of wool. In the Balkan States the wheel has never penetrated, and there to-day the peasant woman works by the primitive method. Needless to say, this method is still in active use amongst uncultivated tribes in all parts of Africa, as well as amongst the cultured peoples of Asia. Reference will be made later on to some specimens in the Collection. The spindle in use to-day and those which were employed remote ages ago embody exactly the same principle, a principle which has been carried through the spinning wheel stage, and is to-day the twisting agency in the modern spinning frame. 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.