the hand, usually upon the bare thigh or calf of the leg. (The peculiar slit skirt of the Algonkin and Iroquois is regarded as a hand spinner's costume by Parker.[1] A twisting appliance has, however, been noted for the Eskimo.[2]
But to return to our subject. The methods of preparing fibers for spinning differ with the materials, but after they are separated and cleaned, all must be carded, or extended
Fig. 14. Ancient Mexican and Egyptian Drawings of Spinners. The first shows the prevailing New World method. There is some doubt as to what part of the process is represented in the Egyptian figure, but the draft, or tension, is supplied according to the Old World method
in the same direction. No aboriginal appliance for this has come to light, but with the introduction of the sheep, the European card was also introduced and has been in use ever since. The difference between hand and whorl-twisting is merely a matter of machinery. In either case, the native first arranges the roving by hand. The only twisting machine in use for true textile fibers was the whorled or rolled spindle, but there was nothing like the wheel of the Old World. Further, we are told that it is only bast fiber that can be twisted by rolling under the palm upon the thigh. Neither cotton nor wool can be economically handled that way because of
