a wam raised but slightly above the river level. A "raghza" differs from in being on a higher level and often beyond the reach of irrigation. Pasture is found abundantly in the hills, but cultivation only on the borders of the main streams. Passing up and down these main water-courses, there is an appearance of great fertility and wealth, which is entirely due to these thriving strips of verdure, their restricted and narrow limits being hardly visible from the river beds. From above, when viewed from the flanking ridges, the vast extent of hill country, neither high, nor imposing, nor difficult of access, but invariably stony and rough, compares strongly with the narrow bands of enclosed cultivation winding about like green ribbons, and marking the course of the main streams from the snowcovered peaks to the plains. The physiography of Waziristan is that of the Kurram to the north rather than that of the Suliman hills to the south. and difficult, separates the Mahsuds from the Tochi. The Tochi Valley is inhabited by a degraded Pathan tribe, known as Dauris, who have voluntarily placed themselves under British protection since 1895. In dealing with the Mahsuds it must be remembered that from Wana to Tank, from Tank to Bannu, and from Bannu to Datta Khel, or for a distance of over 200 m., British territory is open to Mahsud depredations, This length of frontier is equal to the whole Thal-Kohat-Peshawar-Malakand line, covering the eight or ten tribes that took part in the frontier risings of 1897. So that the Mahsuds should really be compared with the whole of those ten tribes, and not with any single one. British expeditions were needed against various sections of the Waziris in 1852, 1859, 1860, 1880, 1881, 1894, 1897 and 1902. The success of Sir Robert Sandeman in subduing the wild tribes of Baluchistan had led to a similar attempt to open up Waziristan to British civilization; but the Pathan is much more democratic and much less subject to the influence of his The Waziris are the largest tribe on the frontier, but their state of civilization is very low. They are a race of robbers and murderers, and the Waziri name is execrated even by the neighbouring Mahommedan tribes. Mahommedans from a settled district often regard Waziris as utter barbarians, and seem inclined to deny their title to belong to the faith. They have been described as being "free-born and murderous, hot-maliks than is the Baluchi to the authority of his chiefs; and headed and light-hearted, self-respecting but vain." The poverty of their country and the effort required to gain a subsistence in it have made the Waziris a hardy and enduring race. Their physique is uncommonly good, and though on the average short of stature, some extremely tall and large men are to be found amongst them. They are generally deep-chested and compact of build, with a powerful muscular development common to the whole body, and not confined to the lower limbs as is the case with some hill tribes of the Himalayas. As mountaineers the Waziris would probably hold their own with any other Pathan tribe of the frontier. Except in a few of the highest hills, which are well-wooded, the Waziri country is a mass of rock and stones, bearing a poor growth of grass and thinly sprinkled with dark evergreen bushes; progress in every direction except on devious paths known to the natives is obstructed by precipices or by toilsome stony ascents; and knowledge of the topography, a mere labyrinth of intricate ranges and valleys, comes only as the result of long acquaintance. Broken ground and tortuous ravines, by making crime easy and precaution against attack difficult, have fostered violence among the people and developed in them an extraordinary faculty of prudence and alertness. In consequence of his isolation the Waziri has become independent, self-reliant and democratic in sentiment. Through the inaccessibility of his own country to lowlanders, combined with the proximity of open and fertile tracts inhabited by races of inferior stamina, he has developed into a confirmed raider; and the passage through his country of mountain footpaths, connecting India with Afghanistan, has made him by frequent opportunity a hereditary highwayman as well. The women enjoy more freedom than amongst most Pathan tribes, and are frequently unfaithful. The ordinary punishment of adultery is to put the woman to death, and to cut off half the right foot of the man. Amongst Waziris also, as amongst other Pathans, the blood-feud is a national institution. the policy finally broke down in 1894, when the Waziris made a night attack upon the camp of the British Delimitation Commission at Wana. The Commission had been appointed to settle the boundary with the Afghans, and the Waziris regarded it as the final threat to their independence. The attack was delivered with such determination that the tribesmen penetrated into the centre of the camp, and it was only with the greatest difficulty that friend could be distinguished from foe. A large force of 11,000 British troops subsequently traversed the tribal country, destroyed their towers and dictated terms, one of which was that the Tochi Valley should be occupied by British garrisons. But still there was trouble, which led to the Tochi expedition of 1897; and, in spite of the further lessons taught the Waziris in two expeditions in 1902, the attempt to "Sandemanise" Waziristan was given up by Lord Curzon. The British garrisons in the Tochi and Gomal valleys were withdrawn, and two corps of tribal militia, from 1300 to 1500 strong, were gradually formed to replace the British troops. See Grammar and Vocabulary of Wasiri Pashto, by J. G. Lorimer (Calcutta, 1902): Paget and Mason's Frontier Expeditions (1884); Mahsud Waziri Operations (1902), Blue-book. WAZZAN, a small hillside town, 60 m. N.W. by N. of Fez, Morocco. It has a considerable trade with the country round, and manufactures a coarse white woollen cloth with rough surface from which the hooded cloaks (called jellábs) are made. Its proudest name is Dár D'manah-House of Safety-as it is sanctuary for any who gain its limits, on account of the tomb of a sainted Idrisi Sharif, who lived there in 1727. It is the headquarters of his descendants. WEALD, THE, a district in the south-east of England. It includes the portions of Sussex, Kent and Surrey which are enclosed between the North and South Downs-a district of Lower Cretaceous rocks encircled by Upper Cretaceous hills. It extends from Frensham and Petersfield on the Hampshire borders to the English Channel between Folkestone and Eastbourne. With the exception of the easternmost part, it drains by rivers running northward and southward through gaps in the Downs, the origin of which is considered under that heading. The Weald was formerly covered by the forest of Andredesleah or Andredsweald ("the wood or forest without habitations "), which was 120 m. in length and about 30 in greatest breadth. About 1660 the total area under forest was estimated at over 200,000 acres. The chief remains of the ancient forests are Ashdown, St Leonards and Tilgate, and the nomenclature often indicates the former extent of woodland, as in the case of Hurstpierpoint (hurst meaning wood), Midhurst, Fernhurst, Billings The Waziris, who number some 40,000 fighting men altogether, are divided into two main sections, the Darwesh Khel (30,000) and the Mahsuds (8000), with two smaller sections. The Darwesh Khel, the more settled and civilized of the two, inhabit the lower hills bordering on Kohat and Bannu districts, and the ground lying on both sides of the Kurram river, between Thal on the north and the Tochi Valley on the south. The Mahsuds, who inhabit the tract of country lying between the Tochi Valley on the north and the Gomal river on the south, have earned for themselves an evil name as the most confirmed raiders on the border; but they are a plucky race, as active over the hills as the Afridis, and next to them the best-armed large tribe onhurst, Ashurst and many others. The forests were interspersed the frontier. The Mahsud country, especially that part within reach of British posts, is more difficult even than Tirah. To the south and east it is girt by an intricate belt of uninhabited, generally waterless hills and ravines. To the north a zone of Darwesh Khel territory, not less than 20 m. in width, hilly with lagoons; and the rainfall being very great caused marshes, but it abated in consequence of the cutting down of the Wealden forests for fuel in the extensive ironworks that formerly existed in the district. The locality best preserving the ancient character of the Weald is the hilly district in the centre, forming a forms such as Ostrea, Exogyra and Mytilus. An interesting series of England and the continent of Europe, of which Iguanodon is the of dinosaurs and pterodactyles has been obtained from the Wealden best known-a large number of almost entire skeletons of this genus were discovered in some buried Cretaceous valleys at Bernissart in Belgium; other forms are Heterosuchus, Ornithocheirus, Ornithopsis, Cimoliosaurus and Titanosaurus. Among the plant remains are Chara, Bennettites, Equisitites, Fittonia, Sagenopteris and Thujites. The fishes, plants and reptiles of these formations possess a decidedly Jurassic aspect, and for this reason several authorities are in favour of retaining the Wealden rocks in that system, and the close reboth in England and in Germany, tends to support this view. lationship between this formation and the underlying Purbeckian, See CRETACEOUS, NEOCOMIAN, PURBECKIAN; also W. Topley, "Geology of the Weald," Mem. Geol. Survey (London, 1875). (J. A. H.) picturesque broken range running east and west under the name of the Forest Ridges. This forms the main water-parting of the Weald, dividing the Vale of Sussex from the Vale of Kent; and was also the seat of the iron industry which was prosecuted by the Romans and probably earlier, reached its highest importance in the 16th and 17th centuries, and was maintained even till the early years of the 19th century. The Andredesleah had an early historical interest as forming a physical barrier which kept the South Saxons isolated from other Saxon kingdoms. Descending from over sea upon the coastal district of Sussex, to which they gave name, towards the close of the 5th century, they populated it thickly, and maintained independence, in face of the accretions of the West Saxon kingdom, for upwards of a hundred years. WEALDEN, in geology, a thick series of estuarine and freshWEALTH, etymologically the condition of well-being, proswater deposits of Lower Cretaceous age, which derives its name perity in its widest sense. The word does not appear in Old from its development in the Weald of Kent and Sussex. In the English, but is a Middle English formation, welthe, on the O. Eng. type area it is exposed by the denudation of a broad anticlinal wela, well-being, from wel, well, cognate with Dan. vel, Ger. fold from which the higher Cretaceous beds have been removed. wohl. The original meaning survives in the Prayer for the King's The Wealden rocks lie in the central part of this anticline between Majesty of the English Bock of Common Prayer, "Grant him in the escarpments of the North and South Downs; they extend health and wealth long to live," and in " commonwealth," eastwards from the neighbourhood of Haslemere and Ellandi.e. good of the body politic, hence applied to the body politic Chapel to the west between Pevensey and Hythe. This forma- itself. tion is divisible into two portions, the Weald Clay above and the Hastings Sands below. The Weald Clay which occupies the central, upland part of the area from Horsham to the sea coast consists of dark brown and blue clays and shales, occasionally mottled in the neighbourhood of sandy lenticles, which together with calcareous sandstones, shelly limestones and nodular ironstones take a subordinate place in the series. About Horsham the Weald Clay is 1000 ft. thick, but it decreases in an eastward direction; at Tunbridge it is only 600 ft. Certain subordinate beds within the Weald Clay have received distinctive names. "Horsham stone" is a calcareous flaggy sandstone, often ripple marked, usually less than 5 ft. thick, which occurs at about 120 ft. above the base of the Clay. "Sussex marble" is the name given to more than one of the high limestone beds which are mainly composed of a large form of Paludina (P. fluviorum); some of the lower limestone layers contain a small species (P. sussexiensis). The Sussex marble (proper) occurs about 100 ft. below the top of the clays; it is the most important of the limestone bands, and its thickness varies from 6 ft. to 2 in.; it is known also as Bethersden marble, Petworth marble, Laughton stone, &c. It has been widely used in the Weald district in church architecture and for polished mantelpieces. The ironstones were formerly smelted in the western part of the area. The Hastings Sands are divisible into three main subdivisions: the Tunbridge Wells Sand, the Wadhurst Clay and the Ashdown Sand. Like the overlying Weald Clay this series thickens as a whole towards the west. In the west, the Tunbridge Wells Sand is separated into an upper and lower division by the thickening of a bed of clay-the Grinstead Clay-which in the east, about Rye, &c., is quite thin; at Cuckfield a second clay bed 15 ft. thick divides the upper division. The upper beds of the lower Tunbridge Wells Sand cause good landscapes around West Hoathly and near East Grinstead. The Wadhurst Clay is very constant in character; near the base it frequently contains clay-ironstone, which in former times was the main source of supply for the Wealden iron industry. Much of the higher portion of the Hastings Sand country is made of the Ashdown Sands, consisting of sand, soft sandstones and subordinate clay bends; in the east, however, clay is strongly developed at the base of this group, and at Fairlight is more than 360 ft. thick, while the sandy portion is only 150 ft. These clays with sandy layers are known as the Fairlight Clays. Beds of lignite are found in these beds, and a calcareous sandstone, called Tilgate stone, occurs near the top of the Ashdown Sands and in the Wadhurst Clay. The old town of Hastings is built on Ashdown Sand, but St Leonards is mainly on Tunbridge Wells Sand. Wealden beds occur on the southern side of the Isle of Wight and in the Isle of Purbeck in Dorsetshire. The Wealden anticline can be traced across the Channel into the Bas Boulonnais. A separáte Wealden area exists in north Germany between Brunswick and Bentheim, in the Ostervald and Teutoberger Wald, where the Deister Sandstone (150 ft.) corresponds to the Hastings Sands and she Wälderthon (70-100 ft.) to the Weald Clay. The former contains valuable coal beds, worked in the neighbourhood of Obernkirchen, &c., and a good building stone. The fossils of the Wealden beds comprise freshwater shellfish, Unio, Paludina, Melanopsis, Cyrena; and estuarine and marine On In economics, wealth is most commonly defined as consisting of all useful and agreeable things which possess exchange value, and this again is generally regarded as coextensive with all desirable things except those which do not involve labour or sacrifice for their acquisition in the quantity desired. analysis it will be evident that this definition implies, directly, preliminary conceptions of utility and value, and, indirectly, of sacrifice and labour, and these terms, familiar though they may appear, are by no means simple and obvious in their meaning. Utility, for the purposes of economic reasoning, is usually held to mean the capacity to satisfy a desire or serve a purpose (J. S. Mill), and in this sense is clearly a much wider term than wealth. Sunshine and fresh air, good temper and pleasant manners, and all the infinite variety of means of gratification, material and immaterial, are covered by utility as thus defined. Wealth is thus a species of utility, and in order to separate it from other species some differentia must be found. This, according to the general definition, is exchange value, but a little reflection will show that in some cases it is necessary rather to contrast value with wealth. "Value," says Ricardo, expanding a thought of Adam Smith, "essentially differs from riches, for value depends not on abundance but on the difficulty or facility of production." According to the well-known tables ascribed to Gregory King (1648-1712), a deficiency of a small amount in the annual supply of corn will raise its value far more than in proportion; but it would be paradoxical to argue that this rise in value indicated an increase in an important item of national wealth. Again, as the mines of a country are exhausted and its natural resources otherwise impaired, a rise in the value of the remainder may take place, and as the free gifts of nature are appropriated they become valuable for exchange; but the country can hardly be said to be so much the wealthier in conAnd these difficulties are rather increased than sequence. diminished if we substitute for value the more familiar concrete term money-price "-for the contrast between the quantity of wealth and its nominal value becomes more sharply marked. Suppose, for example, that in the total money value of the national inventory a decline were observed to be in progress, whilst at the same time, as is quite possible, an increase was noticed in the quantity of all the important items and an improvement in their quality, it would be in accordance with common sense to say that the wealth of the country was increasing and not decreasing. So great are these difficulties that some economists (e.g. Ricardo) have proposed to take utility as the direct measure of wealth, and, as H. Sidgwick has pointed out, if double the quantity meant double the utility this would be an easy and natural procedure. But even to the same individual the increase in utility is by no means simply proportioned to the increase in quantity, and the utility of different commodities to different individuals, and a fortiori of different amounts, is proverbial. The very same things may to the same individual be productive of more utility simply owing to a change in his tastes or habits, and a different distribution of the very same things, which make up the wealth of a nation, might indefinitely change the quantity of utility; but it would be paradoxical to say that the wealth had increased because it was put to better uses. We thus seem thrown back on value as the essential characteristic, allowance being made for any change in the standard of value; but there are still difficulties to be overcome. Some things that undoubtedly possess value or that can command a price are immaterial, e.g. the advice of a lawyer or physician or the song of a prima donna, and, although perhaps the skill of a workman (in any grade of the social scale) might be considered as attached to the man, as a coal mine is attached to a place, it is more in accordance with popular usage to consider skill as immaterial, whilst at the same time it seems equally natural prima facie to confine the term wealth to material things in the common sense. Again, the credit system of a country is a product of great labour and sacrifice, it is most closely connected with the production of its material wealth in the narrowest sense, and it certainly commands a pecuniary value, and yet credit is more generally held to be a representative rather than a part of wealth, owing apparently to its insubstantial character. Apart from the question of materiality some writers have insisted on relative permanence and possibility of accumulation as essential attributes of wealth, and have thus still further narrowed the scope of the definition. There can be no doubt that it is on many grounds desirable in economics to use terms as far as possible in their popular acceptations; but this rule must always be subordinate to the primary object in view. In nearly every department of knowledge in which popular terms have been retained it has been found necessary either constantly to use qualifying adjectives where the context is not a sufficient guide, and in some cases, when analysis discloses very different elements, to make a selection. Sometimes it has been found convenient to use a term with some variation in the definition according to the branch of the subject in hand. Applying these rules to the definition of wealth, perhaps the best solution is that which is generally connected with German economists (e.g. Adolf von Held). Wealth consists of utilities, and in the first great department of economicsthe consumption of wealth- it is utility with which we are principally concerned-the idea of value, for example, being overshadowed. The most general law of the consumption of wealth is that successive portions of any stock give a diminishing amount of utility when consumed. Then in the department of the production of wealth the most important characteristics are the labour and sacrifice necessary to put the utilities desired into the things and to place the things where they are wanted. The idea of value is again secondary and subordinate. We can readily see the part played by nature, labour and capital respectively in the production of any commodity without considering the effects on its value of the various factors; we can understand the principles of division of labour and of the relative productiveness of large and small industries without entering into questions of value except in the most general manner. In the department of the distribution of wealth the fundamental conception is the right of appropriation; and accordingly J. S. Mill very properly commences this part of his subject by an account of the relative advantages of the socialistic and individual systems of property. It is quite possible under the former to conceive of all the distribution being made without any exchange and with reference simply to the wants or the deserts of the members of the society. Thus it is not until we arrive at the department of the exchange of wealth that the characteristic of value becomes predominant, although of course value is closely connected with utility and labour and sacrifice. 1 On the uses and difficulties of definitions in political economy compare H. Sidgwick's Principles of Political Economy, bk. i. ch. ii., and J. N. Keynes's Scope and Method of Political Economy. Usually, however, it will be found that in most cases anything which can fairly be classed as wealth in one department is also wealth in the others, and thus the definition is reached that wealth in general consists of all "consumable utilities which require labour for their production and can be appropriated and exchanged." It only remains to add that "utilities" may be divided into "inner" and "outer " (to translate the German literally)-the "inner" being such as are simply sources of personal gratification to their possessor, e.g. a good ear for music; the "outer" utilities again may be divided into “free " and "economic," the former, as a rule, e.g. sunlight, not being the result of labour and not capable of appropriation or exchange, and the latter as a rule possessing each of these marks. It is these "economic utilities" which constitute wealth in the specific sense of the term, although its use may be extended by analogy to include almost all utilities. See A. Marshall, Principles of Economics (1907); J. B. Clark, Philosophy of Wealth (1886) and Distribution of Wealth_(1899); W. E. Hearn, Plutology (1864); F. A. Walker, Political Economy (1888); and J. S. Nicholson, Principles of Political Economy (1903). (J. S. N.), WEAPON (O. Eng. wapen, cf. Du. wapen, Ger. Wappe, also Wappen, a coat of arms, heraldic shield), any instrument of offence or defence, more usually a term confined to offensive or attacking instruments. The general sketch of the history and development of weapons of offence and defence is given under ARMS AND ARMOUR; particular weapons, are treated under such heads as HALBERD, LANCE, SPEAR, Sword, Gun, PISTOL, RIFLE, ORDNANCE AND MACHINE-GUNS. WEAR, a river of Durham, England, rising in the Pennine chain near the Cumberland border, and traversing a valley about 60 m. in length to the North Sea, with a drainage area of 458 sq. m. A series of streams draining from the hills between Killhope Law and Burnhope Seat (2452 ft.) are collected at Wearhead, up to which point the valley is traversed by a branch of the North-Eastern railway. Hence eastward, past the small towns of St John's Chapel and Stanhope, and as far as that of Wolsingham, Weardale is narrow and picturesque, sharply aligned by high-lying moorland. Below, it takes a south-easterly bend as far as Bishop Auckland, then turns northward and northeastward, the course of the river becoming extremely sinuous. The scenery is particularly fine where the river sweeps round the bold peninsula which bears the cathedral and castle of the city of Durham. The valley line continues northerly until Chesterle-Street is passed, then it turns north-east; and soon the river becomes navigable, carrying a great traffic in coal, and having its banks lined with factories. At the mouth is the large seaport of Sunderland. WEASEL (Putorius nivalis), the smallest European species of the group of mammals of which the polecat and stoat are well-known members (see CARNIVORA). The weasel is an elegant little animal, with elongated slender body, back much arched, head small and flattened, ears short and rounded, neck long and flexible, limbs short, five toes on each foot, all with sharp, compressed, curved claws, tail rather short, slender, cylindrical, and pointed at the tip, and fur short and close. The upper-parts, outside of limbs and tail, are uniform reddish brown, the under-parts white. In cold regions the weasel turns white in winter, but less regularly and only at a lower temperature than the stoat or ermine, from which it is distinguished by its smaller size and the absence of the black tail-tip. The length of the head and body of the male is usually about 8 in., that of the tail 2 in.; the female is smaller. The weasel is generally distributed throughout Europe and Northern and Central Asia; and is represented by a closely allied animal in North America. It possesses all the active, courageous and bloodthirsty disposition of the rest of the genus, but its diminutive size prevents it attacking and destroying any but the smaller mammals and birds. Mice, rats, water-rats and moles, as well as frogs, constitute its principal food. It is generally found on or near the surface of the ground, but it can not only pursue its prey through holes and crevices of rocks and under dense tangled herbage, but follow it up the stems and branches of trees, or even into the water, swimming | the genus Vidua with its allies, so as to make of them a subwith perfect ease. It constructs a nest of dried leaves and herbage, placed in a hole in the ground or a bank or hollow tree, in which it brings up its litter of four to six (usually five) young ones. The mother will defend her young with the utmost desperation against any assailant, and has been known to sacrifice her own life rather than desert them. (R. L.) WEATHER (O. Eng. weder; the word is common to Teutonic languages; cf. Du. weder, Dan. veir, Icel. vedr, and Ger. Wetter and Gewitter, storm; the root is wa- to blow, from which is derived "wind "), the condition of the atmosphere.in regard to its temperature, presence or absence of wind or cloud, its dryness or humidity, and all the various meteorological phenomena (see METEOROLOGY). The term "weathering" is used in geology of the gradual action of the weather upon rocks, and is also applied, in architecture, to the inclination or slope outwards given to cornices, string courses and window sills, to throw off the rain. WEAVER, JAMES BAIRD (1833- ), American lawyer and political leader, was born at Dayton, Ohio, on the 12th of June 1833. He studied law at Cincinnati, Ohio, and served on the Federal side in the Civil War, becoming colonel in November 1862; he was mustered out in May 1864, and in March 1865 was breveted brigadier-general of volunteers. He was districtattorney for the second Judicial District of Iowa in 1866-1870 and an assessor of internal revenue in Iowa in 1863-1873; and was a representative in Congress in 1879-1881 and in 1885-1889, being elected by a Greenback-Democratic fusion. In 1880 he was the candidate of the Greenback party for president and received a popular vote of 308,578; and in 1892 he was the candidate of the People's party, and received 22 electoral votes and a popular vote of 1,041,021. WEAVER-BIRD, the name1 by which a group of between 200 and 300 species are now usually called, from the elaborately interwoven nests that many of them build, some of the structures being of the most marvellous kind. By the older systematists such of these birds as were then known were distributed among the genera Oriolus, Loxia, Emberiza and Fringilla; and it was G. L. Cuvier who in 1817 first brought together these dissevered forms, comprising them in a genus Ploceus. Since his time others have been referred to its neighbourhood, and especially 1 First bestowed in this form apparently by J. F. Stephens in 1826 (G. Shaw's Gen. Zoology, xiv. pt. i. p. 34); but in 1782 I. Latham (Synopsis, i, p, 435) had called the Troupiale du Sénégal" of Buffon the weever oriole," from its habit of entwining the wires of the cage in which it was kept with such vegetable fibres as it could get, and hence in 1788 Gmelin named it Oriolus textor. In 1800 F. M. Daudin used the term "Tisserin" for several species of the Linnaean genus Loxia, and this was adopted some years later by Cuvier as the equivalent of his Ploceus, as mentioned in the text. family Ploceinae, which in 1847 was raised by J. Cabanis to the rank of a family Ploceidae-a step the propriety of which has since been generally admitted, though the grounds for taking it are such as could not be held valid in any other order than that of Passeres. The Ploceidae are closely related to the Fringillidae (see FINCH), and are now divided into two subfamilies, the Ploceinae and Viduinae, the former chiefly found in Africa and its islands, the latter in the Ethiopian, Australian and Indian regions. Perhaps the most typical Ploceine weaver-bird is Hyphantornis cucullata, an African species, and it is to the Ethiopian Region that by far the greatest number of these birds belong, and in it they seem to attain their maximum of development. They are all small, with, generally speaking, a sparrow-like build; but in richness of colouring the males of some are very conspicuous -glowing in crimson, scarlet or golden-yellow, set off by jetblack, while the females are usually dull in hue. Some species build nests that are not very remarkable, except in being almost invariably domed--others (such as the most typical Indian weaver-bird, Ploceus baya) fabricate singular structures of closely and uniformly interwoven tendrils or fine roots, that often hang from the bough of a tree over water, and, starting with a solidly wrought rope, open out into a globular chamber, and then contract into a tube several inches in length, through which the birds effect their exit and entrance. But the most wonderful nests of all, and indeed the most wonderful built by birds, are those of the so-called sociable grosbeak, Philhetaerus socius, of Africa. These are composed wholly of grass, and are joined together to the number of 100 or 200-indeed 320 are said to have been found in one of these aggregated masses, which usually take the form of a gigantic mushroom,3 affording a home and nursery to many pairs of the birds which have been at the trouble of building it. These nests, however, have been so often described and figured by South African travellers that there is no need here to dilate longer on their marvels. It may be added that this species of weaver-bird, known to French writers as the Républicain, is of exceptionally dull plumage. The group of widow-birds, Viduinae, is remarkable for the extraordinary growth of the tail-feathers in the males at the breeding-season. In the largest species, Vidua (sometimes called Chera) progne, the cock-bird, which, with the exception of a scarlet and buff bar on the upper wing-coverts, is wholly black, there is simply a great elongation of the rectrices; but in V. paradisea the form of the tail is quite unique. The middle pair of feathers have the webs greatly widened, and through the twisting of the shafts their inferior surfaces are vertically opposed. These feathers are comparatively short, and end in a hair-like filament. The next pair are produced to the length of about a foot-the bird not being so big as a sparrow-and droop gracefully in the form of a sickle. But this is not all: each has attached to its base a hair-like filament of the same length as the feather, and this filament originally adhered to and ran along the margin of the outer web, only becoming detached when the feather is full grown. In another species, V. principalis, the middle two pairs of rectrices are equally elongated, but their webs are convex, and the outer pair contains the inner, so that when the margins of the two pairs are applied other birds, whose nests may be compared to pensile pockets, while ? These differ from those built by some of the ORIOLES (q..) and those of these weaver-birds can best be likened to a stocking hung up by the "toe," with the "heel" enlarged to receive the eggs, while access and exit are obtained through the "leg." 3 But at a distance they may often be mistaken for a native hut, with its grass-roof. It has been ingeniously suggested that this name should be more correctly written Whydah bird-from the place on the West Coast of Africa so named; but Edwards, who in 1745 figured one of the species, states that he was informed that " the Portuguese call this bird the widow, from its colour and long train" (Nat. Hist. Birds, i. p. 86). This curious structure was long ago described by Brisson (Ornithologie, iii. p. 123), and more recently by Strickland (Contr. Orni thology (1850), pp. 88 and 149, pl. 59) a sort of cylinder is formed.1 The females of all the widow-birds differ greatly in appearance from the males, and are generally clothed in a plumage of mottled brown. INDUSTRIAL TECHNICOLOGY All weaving schemes are reducible to a few elementary principles, but no attempted classification has been quite successful, for fabrics are constantly met with that possess characteristics supposed to be peculiar to one class, but lack others which are deemed equally typical. Nevertheless, since some classification is essential, the following will be adopted, namely: Group 1, to include all fabrics made from one warp and one weft, provided both sets of threads remain parallel in the finished article and are intersected to give the requisite feel and appearance. Group 2, to include (a) fabrics constructed from two warps and one weft, or two wefts and one warp, as in those that are backed, reversible and figured with extra material; (b) two or more distinct fabrics built simultaneously from two or more warps and wefts, as in two, three and other ply cloths; (c) fabrics built by so intersecting two or more Usually classed with the weaver-birds is a vast group of small seed-cating forms, often called Spermestinae, but for which Estreldinae would seem to be a more fitting name. These comprehend the numerous species so commonly seen in cages, and known as amadavats, Estrelda amandava, nutmeg-birds, Munia punctularia, waxbills, Pytelia melba and phoenicoptera, cutthroats, Amadina fasciata, the Java sparrow, Munia oryzivora and many others. Many of these genera are common to Africa and India, and some also to Australia. (A. N.) WEAVING. The process of weaving consists in interlacing, at right angles, two or more series of flexible materials, of which the longitudinal are called warp and the transverse weft. Weaving, therefore, only embraces one section of the textile industry, for felted, plaited, netted, hosiery and lace fabrics lie outside this definition. Felting consists in bringing masses of loose fibres, such as wool and hair, under the combined influences of heat, moisture and friction, when they become firmly inter-warps and wefts that only one texture results, as in loom-made locked in every direction. Plaited fabrics have only one series of threads interlaced, and those at other than right angles. In nets all threads are held in their appointed places by knots, which are tied wherever one thread intersects another. Hosiery fabrics, whether made from one or many threads, are held together by intersecting a series of loops; while lace fabrics are formed by passing one set of threads between and round small groups of a second set of threads, instead of moving them from side to side. Notwithstanding the foregoing limitations, woven fabrics are varied in texture and have an enormous range of application. The demands made by prehistoric man for fabrics designed for clothing and shelter were few and simple, and these were fashioned by interlacing strips of fibrous material and grasses, which in their natural condition were long enough for the purpose in hand. But, as he passed from a state of savagery into a civilized being, his needs developed with his culture, and those needs are still extending. It no longer suffices to minister to individual necessities; luxury, commerce and numerous industries must also be considered. The invention of spinning (q.v.) gave a great impetus to the introduction of varied effects; previously the use of multicoloured threads provided ornament for simple structures, but the demand for variety extended far beyond the limits of colour, and different materials were employed either separately or conjointly, together with different schemes of interlacing. Eventually the weaver was called upon to furnish articles possessing lustre, softness and delicacy; or those that combine strength and durability, with diverse colourings, with a snowy whiteness, or with elaborate ornamentation. In cold countries a demand arose for warm clothing, and in hot ones for cooler materials; while commerce and industry have requisitioned fabrics that vary from normal characteristics to those that exceed an inch in thickness. In order to meet these and other requirements the world has been searched for suitable raw materials. From the animal kingdom, wool, hair, fur, feathers, silk and the pinna fibre have long been procured. From the vegetable kingdom, cotton, flax, hemp, jute, ramie and a host of other less known but almost equally valuable materials are derived. Amongst minerals there are gold, silver, copper, brass, iron, glass and asbestos. In addition, strips of paper, or skin, in the plain, gilt, silvered and painted conditions are available as well as artificial fibres. All of the foregoing may be used alone or in combination. From such varied raw materials it is not surprising that woven fabrics should present an almost endless variety of effects; yet these differences are only in part due to the method of weaving. The processes of bleaching (q.v.), mercerizing (q.v.), dyeing (q.v.), printing (see TEXTILE PRINTING) and finishing (q.v.) contribute almost as much to the character and effect of the resultant product as do the incorporation in one fabric of threads spun in different ways, and from fibres of different origin, with paper, metal, beads or even precious stones. 1 Both these species seem to have been first described and figured in 1600 by Aldrovandus (lib. xv. cap. 22, 23) from pictures sent to him by Ferdinando de' Medici, duke of Tuscany. tapestries and figured repps. Group 3, to include fabrics in which work of a finished piece, as in velveteens, velvets, plushes and a portion of the weft or warp rises vertically from the groundpiled carpets. Groups 4, to embrace all fabrics in which one portion of the warp is twisted partially, or wholly, round another portion, as in gauzes and lappet cloths. Although some fabrics do not appear to fall into any of the above divisions, and in others the essential features of two or more groups are combined, yet the grouping enumerated above is sufficiently inclusive for most purposes. The fabrics included in Group I are affected by the nature and closeness of the yarns employed in their construction, by colour, or by the scheme of intersecting the threads. The most important section of this group is Plain Cloth, in which the warp and weft threads are approximately equal in thickness and closeness, and pass over and under each other alternately, as in fig. 1, which shows a design, plan and two sections of plain cloth. Such a fabric would, therefore, appear to admit of but slight ornamentation, yet this is by no means the case, for if thick and thin threads of warp and weft alternate, the resultant fabric may be made to assume a corrugated appearance on the face, while beneath it remains flat, as in poplins, is shown at fig. 2. Colour may also be employed to ornament plain repps and cords. A plan and a longitudinal section of a repp cloth fabrics, and its simplest application produces stripes and checks. But colour may convert these fabrics into the most artistic and costly productions of the loom, as is the case with tapestries, which are at once the oldest and most widely diffused of ornamented textiles. Tapestries only differ from simple plain cloth in having each horizontal line of weft made up of numerous short lengths of parti-coloured thread. Many fine specimens of this art have been recovered from ancient Egyptian and Peruvian tombs, and many are still produced in the Gobelins and other celebrated manufactories of Europe. Twills are next in importance to plain cloth on account of their wide range of application and great variety of effects; in elabor ately figured goods their use is as extensive as where they provide the only ornament. Twills invariably form diagonal ribs in fabrics, and these are due to the intervals at which the warp and weft are intersected; thus two or more warp threads are passed over or under said to be equal when similar quantities of warp and weft are upon one or more than one weft thread in regular succession. Twills are the face of a fabric, unequal when one set of threads greatly preponderates over the other set, as in figs. 3, 4, which require four warp and weft threads to complete the scheme of intersections. inch are about equal in number, but for an unequal twill the material If the ribs form angles of 45 degrees, the warp and weft threads per most in evidence should be closest and finest. The angle formed may be greater or less than 45 degrees, as in figs. 5, 6; if greater, the warp preponderates, if less, the weft preponderates. Twills are simple and fancy; both terms refer to the schemes of intersecting. In the |