Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary/Alveolus

Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary, and Greek Lexicon (Rich, 1849)

ALVE'OLUS. A diminutive of ALVEUS, generally; but in a special sense of its own, a weaver's shuttle, which was used for conveying the threads of the woof (subtemen) through the warp (stamen). (Hieron. Ep. 130. ad Demetr. n. 15. ad torquenda subtemina in alveolis fusa volvantur.) From this passage, and the name by which the instrument was called, we may safely infer that it was a flat piece of wood rounded or pointed off at each end, and scooped into the shape of a boat, with a cavity in the centre, into which the pin of the bobbin was inserted; precisely like the figure here introduced (Alveolus/1.1) which represents a common kind of shuttle used in some parts of this and other countries, but which corresponds so exactly with the words above quoted, that it may be justly looked upon as an ancient model unchanged by time. There is a small hole in its side, through which the thread is drawn, and as the shuttle is thrown, the bobbin and pin revolve (fusa volvantur) and deliver out the thread.

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  Alveolus/1.1