Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 3, 1802).djvu/146

126] LOO LOOM, a machine, by means of which several distinct threads are combined into one piece, or contexture. Looms are of various forms, according to the different materials to be woven ; and the various me- thods of weaving- — As our limits do not permit us to detail them, and as they would be unintelligible, without the aid of engi-a ng3, we shall brietly mention Mr. Samuel Sholl's improved Silk Loovi, for which the Society for the Encou- ragement of Arts, &c. ill l/po, conferred on him a silver medal. His ingenious contrivance is pecu- liarly calculated for the lighter branches of silk-wenving : by its construdion, it admits more hght to h.z workmen, and may be placed in almost any low gjrret, without breaking the wails ; — the porni may be made of any length, by only screwing the cane-rcd posts nearer or farther from the breast- roll ; and it is, on the whole, more portable, and fixe 1 with less trouble, than any loom hitherto invented. Another advantage is its ci-;eap- ness ; the price being one-third less than that of the common looms ; beside which, ti:e most valuable parts of the old materials may be still preserved, and adapted to the new machinery. — For a more mi- nute account of Mr. S.'s contri- vance, the reader w'ill consult the 8th volume of the Transactions of the patriotic Society above-men- tioned. LOOSE- STRIFE, the Creep- ing, or Lysimachia nummularia, L. an inJigenous, perennial plant, growing in moist, shady meadows j and flowering in the n^mths of June and July. — This vegetable afturds a wholesome food lor cat- tle, and especially for sheep. On LOO account of its sub-acid and mildljT astringent properties, it is consider- ed as one of the most efficacious vulnerary herbs. — Bechstein as- sert.-^, that the leaves and flowers of this plant, steeped in oil, fur- nish an excellent remedy for de- stroying the worms and in seiSts in- festing the floors of granaries. LOOSE-STRIFE, the Hyssop- LE.WED, or Lytlirum. hyssopi- folium, L. an indigenous annual plant, wlilch grows in stagnant waters, and marshy grounds : in the month of August, it produces bright purple flowers, from which a very beautiful pigment may be extraded. in the manner pointed out vol. ii. p. 38, under the head of CoLOURING-MATTER. LOOSE-STRIFE,the Purple, or Pur rLE- SPIKED Willow-herb, Grass-poly, Lythrum Saiicaria, L. an indigenous perennial plant, growing in marshes, and on the banks of rivers ; flowering in the months of June and July. — This p.egle6fed vegetable is remarkable, as eveiy part of it acquires a rtdi colour, when it begins to decay. Mo RAND observes, in the Memoirs of tile French Academy, for 1/09, that he found roots and branches of the purple loose-strife buried under ground, between the rind of which were deposited several par- ticles of a beautiful blue colour ; and that, by chemical analysis, they proved to be a true native Prussian hbic. — SucKow obtained from the flowering stalks, on ihe addition of g.-^een vitriol, a deep black dye ; and Dameourney, on preparing the cloth in a diluted solution of bis- muth, a very flue chesnut tinge. — In tanning, likewise, the whole plant, while in blossom, has been employed with advantage ; so that, according to Gleditsch, excel- lent