LACE, from lacinia, the guard hem or fringe of a garment, is a plain or ornamented network, consisting of threads of gold, silver, silk, flax, or cotton, tastefully interwoven so as to form a beautiful texture. This delicate fabric has no doubt claims to high antiquity, but its origin is involved in considerable obscurity. That it was worn by Grecian females is certain, and the derivation of the word lace affords presumptive evidence that it was also in use amongst the Romans. In Venice, and the neighbouring states of Italy, it was very early worn; and Mary of Medicis is supposed to have been the first who introduced its use into France; but as early as 1483 we find it included in a list of articles prohibited to be imported into England. The inference which maybe drawn from this circumstance is, that it had begun to be made in this country prior to the period above mentioned, and that this prohibition, like many other subsequent acts, was for the protection and encouragement of home manufactures. Butins, which are indispensable in the process of lace-making, were not known till long afterwards; so that it is probable the fabric made was neither very fine in texture, nor produced to any great extent. It is uncertain by whom the manufacture of lace was originally introduced into this country, nor is it of great importance to know. About themiddle of the seventeenth century, the lace trade was a flourishing concern in Buckinghamshire; and so greatly had it advanced in England, that, by a royal ordonnance in France, passed in 1660, a mark was established upon the thread lace imported from this country and from Flanders, and upon point-lace from Genoa, Venice, and other countries.

Pillow-lace, the original manufacture, is worked upon a hard-stuffed pillow, with silk, flax, or cotton threads, according to a parchment pattern placed upon it, by means of pins, bobbins, and spindles, which are placed and displaced, twisting and interweaving the threads, so as to imitate the pattern designed. This manufacture has been long pursued in many counties in England, and at various places on the Continent. Of the number of persons employed on the Continent no estimate can be formed; but at Brussels alone no less than 10,000 individuals are said to be engaged in the manufacture. It is supposed that the first lace ever made in this country was that called Brussels point, in which the network is "made by bone bobbins on the pillow, and the pattern and sprigs are worked with the needle. This, from different portraits now in existence, appears to have been the kind worn in the time of Charles I. and during the reigns of several subsequent sovereigns. Various improvements have from time to time taken place in the manufacture of this article; but, about the year 1778, the point-ground was introduced by the inhabitants of Buckingham and its neighbourhood, which quickly superseded all the others. The origin of the modern pillow-lace may be dated from this period; but the most striking improvements did not take place till the commencement of the present century, and since then, for several years, they were astonishing and unprecedented. - During the war, veils of this lace sold at a very high rate; but their value has been greatly depreciated by the introduction of the new manufacture, which is the product of machinery. Since 1815, the competition in this article has been very great, and the manufacture of pillow-lace has consequently declined so much as to be now in a very languishing condition.

The first who made lace by machinery was a framework knitter of Nottingham, about the year 1768. This individual employed his common stocking-frame in the manufacture; but, about the same time, another person in the same place introduced a machine ostensibly for lace, called a pin-machine. Single-press point-net, in imitation of the Brussels ground, was the article produced. In 1782 the warp-frame was introduced, and is still in use for making warp-lace. In 1809, Mr Heathcoat of Tiverton succeeded in discovering the correct principle of the bobbin-net frame, and obtained a patent for fourteen years for his invention. The expiration of this patent, combined with the application of steam-power, which had now become general, gave a great stimulus to the trade. The demand became immense, arid prices fell in proportion as production increased. The Nottingham lace-frame became the organ of general supply, rivalling and supplanting in plain nets the most finished productions of France and the Netherlands. In a work relative to this manufacture, published in 1833, the state of the trade is given as follows:

Total capital employed in the trade L.1,932,000

Total number of hands employed 159,300

The annual produce in 1831 was estimated at 23,400,000 square yards, worth L. 1,891,875. In 1834, above 7,000,000 square yards more were annually produced, an increase which is understood to have arisen from the new and improved machinery introduced into the manufacture. A considerable increase has also taken place in bobbin-net machinery on the Continent, particularly at Calais, where, in 1823, there were not thirty-five machines, and probably not one hundred on the Continent altogether. According to the authority above mentioned, there are now above 700 machines at Calais alone; and the total number on the Continent has been estimated at 1850. The produce of these machines has been calculated at 9,824,000 square yards of net, of the value of L.570,250. The manufacture is nowbeginning to be established in different parts of Europe, where it has hitherto been unknown; and even from some places in Persia orders have been received in this country for bobbin-net frames; but government has restricted the exportation of machinery. The English manufacture from machinery is now confined to point-net, warp-net, and bobbin-net, so called from the peculiar construction of the machines by which they are produced. There were various other descriptions made, but they are now discontinued. Nottingham is the depot of the lace trade; and the supplies collected from all the surrounding villages, and even from the more distant counties where it is manufactured, are thence distributed to various quarters of the world. The Nottingham trade is by no means in so prosperous a condition as it once was; a result which may probably be attributed to the great influx of capital and hands into the trade, which a successful novelty is at all times calculated to attract. An extraordinary increase in the powers of production followed; and as the demand for some time kept pace with the supply, the latter became a question of quantity rather than of quality, and a great depression of price was the consequence, l· rom becoming cheap and common, lace lost its attractions in the fashionable circles, and has to a considerable extent been superseded by other kinds of manufacture. The natural result of the increase in power machinery, and the application of speedier machines, is to depress the condition of the workmen, and for some [7:13:7]time they have suffered much; nor is any immediate amelioration likely to take place. The following observations on the importance of the trade to Britain are extracted from M‘Culloch’s Dictionary of Commerce : “By comparing the value of 1,270,000 lbs. of Sea Island cotton, worth L.148,000, and about L.10,000 worth of thrown silk, which appears to be annually used in this manufacture, with the manufactured value of the same, worked into 30,771,000 square yards of bobbin-net, the estimated value of which is L.1,850,650, the great national utility of this trade becomes at once evident. A clear surplus of more than a pound sterling is realized upon every pound avoirdupois of the raw material, which is distributed over the trade in rent, profit, and wages; and this is altogether independent of the profits arising from embroidering, in itself a most extensive and important branch. About half, or perhaps three fourths, of this production is supposed to be exported in a plain state, chiefly to Hamburg, the Leipsic and Frankfort fairs, Antwerp and the rest of Belgium, to France (contraband), Italy, Sicily, and North and South America. Of the remainder, three fourths are sold unembroidered, and the remaining fourth embroidered, in this country.”

“The most celebrated laces are,—1. Brussels, the most valuable. There are two kinds: Brussels ground, having a hexagon mesh, formed by platting and twisting four threads of flax to a perpendicular line of mesh: Brussels wire ground, made of silk; meshes partly straight and partly arched. The pattern is worked separately, and set on by the needle. 2. Mechlin: a hexagon mesh, formed of three flax threads twisted and platted to a perpendicular line or pillar. The pattern is worked in the net. 3. Valenciennes: an irregular hexagonal, formed of two threads, partly twisted and platted at the top of the mesh. The pattern is worked in the net similar to Mechlin lace. 4. Lisle: a diamond mesh, formed of two threads platted to a pillar. 5. Alençon, called blond: hexagon, of two threads, twisted similar to Buckingham lace; considered the most inferior of any made on the cushion. 6. Alençon point: formed of two threads to a pillar, with octagon and square meshes alternately.

“The French nets made by machinery are,—1. Singlepress point, called, when not ornamented, tulle, and when ornamented, dentelle, made of silk; is an inferior net, but is attractive, from the beautiful manner in which it is stiffened: 2. TricoBerlin; so called from being invented at Berlin, and the stitch being removed three needles from its place of looping; is fanciful and ornamented in appearance, but not in demand in England: 3. Fleur de Tulle, made from the warp-lace machine; mesh of two descriptions, which gives a shaded appearance to the net: 4. Tulle Anglais is double-pressed point-lace: 5. and 6. Bobbin-net and warp-net, principally made by English emigrants, who have settled in France.”

Mr Babbage gives the following account of lace made by the phaelenapandilla or caterpillar. The invention is by a gentleman of Munich. He makes a paste of the leaves of the plant which is the usual food of the species of caterpillar he employs, and spreads it thinly over a stone or other flat substance; then, with a camel-hair pencil dipped in olive oil, he draws upon the coating of paste the pattern he wishes the insects to leave open. The stone being placed in an inclined position, a species of caterpillar which spins a strong web is laid at the bottom, and the animals, commencing from that point, eat and spin their way up to the top, carefully avoiding every part touched by the oil, but devouring all the rest of the paste. These veils have not a great deal of strength, but they are surprisingly light. One of them, measuring twenty-six inches and a half by seventeen inches, weighed only 1∙51 grain; a degree of ligntness which will appear more strongly by contrast with other fabrics. One square yard of the substance of which these ve'lsare made weighs four grains and three fourths, whilst one square yard of silk gauze weighs 137 grains, and one square yard of the finest patent net weighs 262∣ grains.

Method of Cleaning Gold Lace and Embroidery when tarnished. — For this purpose alkaline liquors are by no means to be used; because, whilst they clean the gold, they corrode the silk, and change or discharge its colour. Soap also alters the shade, and even the species of certain colours. But spirit of wine may be employed without any danger of its injuring either the colour or quality of the subject; and in many cases it proves as effectual, for restoring the lustre of the gold, as the corrosive detergents. A rich brocade, flowered with a variety of colours, after being disagreeably tarnished, had the lustre of the gold perfectly restored by washing it with a soft brush dipped in warm spirit of wine; and some of the colours of the silk, which were likewise soiled, became at the same time remarkably bright and lively. Spirit of wine seems to be the only material adapted to this purpose, and probably the boasted secret of certain artists is no other than this spirit disguised. Amongst liquids, Dr Lewis says, he doesnot knowof any other that is of sufficient activity in discharging the foul matter, without being hurtful to the silk. As to powders, however fine, and however cautiously used, they scratch and wear the gold, which here is only superficial, and of extreme tenuity. But though spirit of wine is the most innocent material that can be employed for this purpose, it is not in all cases proper. The golden covering may be in some parts worn off, or the base metal with which it had been iniquitously alloyed may be corroded by the air, so as to leave the particles of the gold disunited, whilst the silver underneath, tarnished to a yellow hue, may continue of a tolerable colour; in which cases it is apparent that the removal of the tarnish would be prejudicial to the colour, and make the lace or embroidery less like gold than it was before. A piece of old tarnished gold lace, cleaned by spirit of wine, was deprived, with its tarnish, of the greater part of its golden hue, and looked almost like silver lace.

Method of separating the Gold and Silver from Lace without burning it. — Cut the lace in pieces, and, having-separated the thread from it by which it was sewed to the garment, tie it up in a linen cloth, and boil it in soap ley diluted with water, till it becomes diminished in bulk, which will require but little time, unless the quantity of lace be very considerable. Next take out the cloth, and wash it several times in cold water, squeezing it pretty hard with your foot, or beating it with a mallet, to clear it of the soap ley; then untie the cloth, and you will have the metallic part of the lace pure, and nowhere altered in colour or diminished in weight. This method is much more convenient and less troublesome than the common way of burning; and as a small quantity of the ley will be sufficient, the expense will be trifling, especially as the same ley may be used several times, if cleared of the silky calcination. The ley may be had at the soapboilers, or it may be made of pearl ash and quicklime boiled together in a sufficient quantity of water. The reason of this sudden change in the lace will be evident to those who are acquainted with chemistry. For silk, on which all our laces are woven, is an animal substance, and all animal substances are soluble in alkalies, especially when rendered more caustic by the addition of quicklime; but the linen in which it is tied, being a vegetable, will remain unaltered.

P>lond Lack, a lace made of fine linen thread or silk, much in the same manner as that of gold and silver.