derived from the same word. Besides the
favoured holder of the umbrella over the
sacred head of the Chinese emperor, the
officers of state in China have each his
umbrella-holder; and in Chinese drawings it
is very customary to see ladies attended by
servants similarly provided with umbrellas.
All Bey, in describing the entrance of the
Emperor of Morocco into Fez, says, that by
the side of the monarch rode an officer holding
an umbrella over the Emperor's head.
Niebuhr tells us that, when in the south of
Arabia, he saw the Imaum of Saná going to
mosque in great state, with an umbrella over
him.

In Europe we find the distinction between
the umbrella and the parasol more marked.
The French have their parapluie and their
parasol; the Italians their ombrello and their
parasole; the Germans their regenschirm and
their sonnenschirm,—all "rain-guards" or
"sun-guards." It is probable that Italy
was the first European country to adopt these
conveniences, originally as a sun-shade only,
but afterwards as a rain-shade likewise.
Horsemen sometimes carried with them ombrellos
made of leather, hooped in the inside,
so as to expand to a pretty large size. Robinson
Crusoe's umbrella was, as we all know, made
of skins, with the hair outwards; and Defoe
probably derived his idea of it from the sun-
shades used at that time in South America.

The umbrella as a sun-shield was certainly
known and used in England more than two
centuries ago, for it is mentioned in that
capacity by Ben Jonson and by Beaumont and
Fletcher; but its use as a wet weather companion
commenced much later. Gay, writing
his " Trivia," about 1712, speaks thus:—

"Good housewives all the winter's rage despise,
Defended by the riding hood's disguise;
Or underneath th' umbrella's oily shed,
Safe through the wet in clinking pattens tread.
Let Persian dames th' umbrella's ribs display
To guard their beauties from the sunny ray;
Or sweating slaves support their shady load,
When Eastern monarchs show their state abroad;
Britain in winter only knows its aid,
To guard from chilling showers the walking maid."

But, alas! for Gay's theory, the "walking
maid" has become more afraid of the sun's
beams; not only does the well-to-do lady
carry a parasol, but the damsel of low degree
now looks out among "Tremendous Sacrifices,"
for parasols at thirteen-pence halfpenny each.
And the oily shed of which Gay speaks seems
to denote a kind of sou'wester material, less
dainty than the neat gingham or the soft silk.

Jonas Hanway, celebrated for much more
important things, has the celebrity of being
the first man to use an umbrella in England.
With respect to Scotland, Creech tells us that
"in 1763 there was no such thing known or
used as an umbrella: but an eminent surgeon
of Edinburgh, who had occasion to walk a good
deal in the course of his business, used one
about the year 1780; and in 1783 umbrellas
were much used." Glasgow seems also, from
the "Statistical Account" of that city, to
have become possessed of its first umbrella
about the same time, much to the astonishment
of the citizens. All very well, this, for
the abundant rains in the touns of Scotland;
but it is difficult to admire a full-dressed
kilted Highlander walking under an umbrella,
a sight which Queen Victoria has more than
once witnessed. Before umbrellas were used
by pedestrians in England, it became
customary to provide one in the halls of genteel
mansions, to hold over persons when entering
or leaving their carriages. In those days
umbrellas were weighed by the pound, and not
by the ounce, as at present.

The making of umbrellas and parasols is a
very curious art, as we learn abundantly from
that same Exhibition Jury which has told the
world more about walking-sticks than the
world ever knew before. It appears that in
forty years there have been no fewer than
eighty patents taken out in France alone for
improvements in umbrella making. An
umbrella consists, as a slight examination will
show, of a large number of distinct parts, and
there has been room for untiring ingenuity
in devising means of fastening these several
pieces together; so that those which are to
be fixed may be firm in their fixedness, and
those which are to move may move smoothly
and quietly. And there has been no want of
change in the materials employed—cane, for
whalebone; iron, for wood; and alpaca for
silk or gingham.

The putting together of umbrella and
parasol frames with cane and whalebone ribs
is, it seems, chiefly done by small masters in
London, who employ lads to assist them; the
covering with woven material is the work of
women and girls at their own humble homes;
while the fixing of the handles and ferules is
often done at the warehouses. There are
thus no umbrella factories, properly so called;
the system resembles that of the Clerkenwell
watch trade, in which the component elements
of a watch travel about from one small master
to another, before being finally put together.
The metal work, however—the Birmingham
portion—especially since the increased use of
iron in the frames, is conducted much more
on the factory system; the number of persons
so employed is very large, and the manufacture
is an important element in Birmingham
industry.

The amount of work which the putter-
together performs for three farthings is
scarcely credible, were it not stated on
authority beyond all dispute. The workman
receives stick, ribs, stretchers, and runners from
the warehouse; he provides iron wire and
sheet brass; his workshop is supplied at his
own charge with lathes, saws, rose-cutters,
drills, paring-knives, a vice, pliers, and other
tools; and he and his lads—two to four in
number—set to work. First, the stick goes