or Ribbon, a narrow sort of silk, chiefly used for head-ornaments, badges of chivalry, &c.

In order to give our readers an idea of the manner in which this curious and valuable branch of manufactures is managed, a view of the ribbon-weaver at his loom is represented in plate CCLVIII. fig. 2, where, 1, Is the frame of the loom. 2, The castle, containing 48 pulleys. 3, The branches, on which the pulleys turn. 4, The tires, or the riding-cords, which run on the pulleys, and pull up the high-lifts. 5, The lift-sticks, to which the high-lifts are tied. 6, The high-lifts, or lifts, are a number of long threads, with platines, or plate-leads, at the bottom; and ringlets, or loops, about their middle, through which the cords or cross-threads of the ground-harness ride. 7, The plate-leads, or platines, are flat pieces of lead, of about six inches long, and three or four inches broad at the top, but round at the bottom; some use black flutes instead of them: their use is to pull down those lifts which the workman had raised by the treadle, after his foot is taken off. 8, The branches or cords of the ground-harness, which go through the loops in the middle of the high-lifts: on the well-ordering of these cords chiefly depends the art of ribbon-weaving, because it is by means of this contrivance that the weaver draws in the thread or silk that makes the flower, and rejects or excludes the rest. 9, The batton; this is the wooden frame that holds the reed, or shuttle, and beats or closes the work: where observe, that the ribbon-weaver does not beat his work; but as soon as the shuttle is passed, and his hand is taken away, the batton is forced, by a spring from the top, to beat the work close. 10, The shuttle, or reed. 11, The spring of the batton, by which it is made to close the work. 12, The long-harnesses are the front-reeds, by which the figure is raised. 13, The linguas are the long pieces of round or square lead, tied to the end of each thread of the long-harness to keep them tight. 14, The broad piece of wood, about a foot square, leaning somewhat forward, intended to ease the weaver as he stoops to his shuttle; it is fixed in the middle of the breast-beam. Some weavers, instead of this, have a contrivance of a cord or rope that is fastened to the front-frame, and comes across his breast; this is called a stopfall. 15, The seat-bench; this leans forward very much. 16, The foot-leap to the treadles. 17, The breast beam, being a cross bar that passes from one of the standards to the other, so as to front the workman's breast: to this breast-bar is fixed a roll, upon which the ribbon passes in its way to be rolled upon the roller, that turns a little below. 18, The clamps, or pieces of wood, in which the broaches that confine the treadles rest. 19, The treadles are long narrow pieces of wood, to the ends of which the cords that move the lifts are fastened. 20, The treadle-cords are only distinguished from the riding-cords by a board full of holes, which divide them, in order to prevent the plate-leads, which are tied to the high-lifts, from pulling them too high when the workman's foot is off the treadle; which stop is made by a knot in the treadle-cord, too big to be forced through that hole in the board. 21, The lames are two pieces of thin narrow boards, only used in plain works, and then to supply the place of the long-harness. 22, The knee-roll, by which the weaver rolls up his ribbon as he sees proper, or by bit and bit as it is finished. 23, The back-rolls, on which the warp is rolled. It is to be observed, that there is always as many rolls as colours in the work to be woven. 24, The clamps, which support the rollers. 25, The returning-sticks, or, as others call them, the returns, or the tumblers, or pulleys, to which the tires are tied, to clear the course of cords through the high-lifts. 26, The catch-board for the tumblers. 27, The tire-board. 28, The buttons for the knee-rolls and treadle-board, described in number 20.

Ribbons of all sorts are prohibited from being imported.