counting the stitches. It is manufactured both limp and stiffened, and, like the French, may be procured of all sizes and widths; but in texture, it is not so strong as either the English or French canvas. It should not be used with light or white grounds, as the yellow thread will show through the work: nor should we advise it where much tension is required in the mounting.

A cotton canvas, in imitation of silk, has been made in Germany, but it soon soils, loses its colour, and is otherwise very inferior.*

THREAD CANVAS.

Thread canvas, manufactured from hemp, is now seldom employed, except for carpets and rugs, for which purpose its greater strength and durability peculiarly adapt it; it is made of the usual sizes and widths. A fine thread canvas formed of flax is sometimes to be procured.

PENELOPE CANVAS.

Penelope canvas (so called from its having the appearance of a canvas from which the work has been unpicked) is much used. it is considered by some persons to be easier to work upon, each four threads being ready for the needle; by others, however, it is thought dazzling to the sight. For very fine cross stitch, it is certainly unobjectionable and more easily seen; but generally speaking, the work produced upon it has not the

A canvas has been made purposely for tapestry-stitch, but it is not suitable for copying Berlin patterns.

even pearly appearance, of that done over the usual canvas. Penelope canvas has as yet only been manufactured of cotton.

FLATTENED CANVAS.

Flattened canvas, both of thread and cotton, is much used in France, and differs only from the others, by its having been passed through the cylinders of a flatting machine; it does not possess any superior qualities, if we except the greater facility with which designs can be drawn upon it,-an object of some importance, where the old method of working with the pattern drawn is still adhered to; but the work, when finished, is not equal to that executed on round thread canvas. This plan, however, is still continued by one house in Paris, where the patterns are all drawn on the canvas, and afterwards traced with a fine silk or cotton, of the colours in which they are intended to be worked, a process rendering the work more expensive, and which does not appear to be productive of any beneficial result.

WOOLLEN CANVAS.

Woollen canvas is an article of German manufacture, and may be employed, where the labour of grounding is sought to be avoided, but it is far from presenting the same rich appearance as grounded work. Claret, black, white, and primrose, are the colours generally used, but others may be procured.

BOLTING.

Bolting is a very fine description of woollen canvas, principally manufactured in England, but now seldom used except for chil

dren's samplers.

An inferior kind of canvas, generally of a yellow colour, called sampler canvas, is also made for the same purpose both are limited in width, but they are too well known to need further description.*

Bolting is woven after the manner of gauze, of fine spun woollen yarn. It was originally made for the sifting or bolting of meal or flour, whence it derives its name.

CHAPTER IX.

Berlin Patterns.

"Learn hence to paint the parts that meet the view,

In spheroid forms, of light and equal hue;
While from the light receding or the eye,
The working outlines take a fainter dye,
Lost and confused progressively they fade,
Not fall precipitate from light to shade.
This Nature dictates, and this taste pursues,
Studious in gradual gloom her lights to lose;
The various whole with soft'ning tints to fill,
As if one single head employ'd her skill."

DU FRESNOY.

ERLIN patterns have contributed more towards the advancement of needlework of the present day, than any improvement that has of late years been introduced into the art,-not simply from the assistance they yield the needlewoman, but from the demand they have occasioned for improved and superior materials. Hence the beautiful wools we now possess, which would never probably have been manufactured, had they not been imperatively called for by the invention of these designs. We are indebted to Germany, for both these advantages; and it is

not a little singular, that the country which produces them ap pears to be the least capable of appreciating their value, as is evident from the greater portion of the needlework exposed for sale throughout Germany. The work of German ladies is of course an exception to this, as when taste and talent direct the needle, it will be equally beautiful wherever it may be found. England, and next to her, perhaps Russia, have profited most by these auxiliaries. The ladies of Sweden and Denmark work a great deal from them; the French, as yet, have used them but little, the old method of drawing the subject on canvas being still much in vogue. Great numbers of these patterns are exported

to America, and to the various countries of the Continent.*

Berlin patterns, although a production of recent date, have become an article of considerable commerce in Germany, where a large amount of capital is employed in their manufacture. They are either copied from celebrated pictures, or (as is more frequently the case) from the newest and most favourite engravings published either in England, France, or Germany. Many subjects, such as flowers and arabesques, are designed expressly. They are first drawn in colours on quadrille or point paper,† and as the excellence of the pattern depends principally on the first design, it may readily be imagined that artists of considerable talent are required for their execution. From this drawing, an engraving or etching is made on a copper-plate, which has previously been ruled in squares of the required size, corresponding to the threads of the canvas: various marks and hieroglyphics are engraved on each check or square, which are to serve as guides

* The proportionate demand in other countries may be stated according to the following order of their respective names:-Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, and Portugal.

+ Paper marked out into squares of a regular size.