INSECT
Insect is a small, six-legged animal. Bees, ants, wasps,
butterflies, cockroaches, ladybugs, fireflies, termites, and
moths are insects. So are houseflies, dragonflies, mosquitoes,
silverfish, grasshoppers, lice, crickets, walking sticks, and
fleas. The list could go on and on. If the scientific names of
all the kinds of insects were printed in The World Book
Encyclopedia it would take more than 6,000 pages to list them.
Scientists have described and named more than 11/2 million
species of animals. Of these, about 1 million are insects.
Scientists discover from 7,000 to 10,000 new species of insects
every year. They believe there may be from 1 million to 10
million species still undiscovered.
Insects live almost everywhere on earth--from steamy tropical
jungles to cold polar regions. They live high on snow-capped
mountains, and in deserts below sea level. They can be found in
caves deep in the earth, or flying high in the sky. Only in the
oceans are few insects found.
We are constantly at war with some insects. They annoy us, bite
us, and infect us with deadly diseases. They attack our crops,
our pets, and our domestic animals. They invade our homes, eat
our food, and damage our property. But insects also have great
value to us. They pollinate many of our crops, provide us with
honey and other products, and serve as food for fish, birds, and
many other animals. In fact, life as we know it could not exist
if all the insects were to disappear.
Insects are among the most fascinating animals on earth. They
smell chiefly with their antennae, and some taste with their
feet. Many insects hear by means of hairs on their bodies.
Others have "ears" on their legs or on the sides of their
bodies. Insects have no voices, but some make noises that can be
heard 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) away. Insects have no lungs, but
breathe through holes in their sides. Some insects have no eyes,
and others have five eyes or more. Many insects have enormous
strength. An ant can lift a weight 50 times as heavy as its
body. If a 175-pound (79- kilogram) man could do as well, he
could lift more than 4 short tons (3.6 metric tons)--with his
teeth. A flea can broad-jump about 13 inches (33 centimeters).
If a human being could do as well, he or she could jump 700 feet
(210 meters).
Many insects do the same things we do. They build bridges and
apartment houses. Some raise crops, and others keep "cattle"
that they "milk." There are also insect carpenters, papermakers,
guards, soldiers, nurses, slaves, hunters, trappers, thieves,
and undertakers. Some insects even go to war against one
another. Many people think that such animals as spiders,
centipedes, mites, and ticks are insects. But these animals
differ from insects. For example, spiders have eight legs, and
insects have six. A spider's body is divided into two main
parts, but an insect's body has three. Most insects have wings
and antennae, but spiders do not.
INSECT/The world of insects
The story of insects is a tremendous success story. Insects
first appeared on earth at least 400 million years ago. Down
through the ages, they have struggled endlessly to survive.
During this struggle, insects have gradually developed an
incredible variety of body forms and ways of life. They have
adapted themselves to almost all types of living conditions.
Insects have been so successful in their fight for life that
they are often said to be the only rivals of humans for control
of the earth.
Today, there are at least four times as many kinds of insects as
all other kinds of animals combined. The total number of
individual insects is astonishing. Scientists estimate that the
average number of insects for each 1 square mile (2.6 square
kilometers) of land equals the total number of people on the
earth.
PEACE
Peace is the state of being calm, quiet, and free of
disturbance. From a military and political point of view, peace
means freedom from such violent disturbances as wars and riots.
It does not mean total harmony among people. Even in peacetime,
people take part in such forms of conflict as debates, lawsuits,
sports contests, and election campaigns.
Throughout history, most people have wanted lasting peace.
Religions and philosophers have called for the peaceful
settlement of disagreements. The Bible declares, "Thou shalt not
kill" and "Blessed are the peacemakers." Philosophers in ancient
Greece and Rome taught brotherhood and nonviolence.
Yet since earliest times, the world has seldom had a long period
of unbroken peace. Through the centuries, people have probably
spent at least as much time at war as at peace. This article
discusses past and present attempts to achieve lasting freedom
from war.
Peacemaking efforts through the years
Ancient Greece and Rome - Ancient Greece consisted of many
independent regions called city-states. The city-states
frequently waged war on one another. As a result, several of
them banded together and formed an organization that made one of
the first attempts to limit warfare. This organization, called
the Amphictyonic League, prohibited any member from destroying
another or cutting off another's water supply. Once every four
years, the Olympic Games united the city-states. A truce created
temporary peace throughout Greece so the games could take place.
For a month, no one could bear arms or make war.
The Roman Empire maintained peace throughout a large part of the
world during a period known as the Pax Romana (Roman peace).
This peace lasted more than 200 years, from 27 B.C. to A.D. 180.
During the Pax Romana, the Roman Empire extended over much of
Europe, the Middle East, and northern Africa. At that time, no
other nation was powerful enough to attack the Romans.
The Middle Ages - After the Roman Empire weakened during the
A.D. 400's, small wars raged throughout Europe. The Christian
church became the greatest force for peace. A church custom
called the Truce of God limited fighting in private disputes to
certain days of the week. A ruling called the Peace of God
forbade fighting in such holy places as churches and shrines.
But the church permitted "just" wars, such as those in defense
of Christianity or a people's homeland.
From the 1400's to the 1700's, many people proposed various
plans to achieve lasting peace. In the early 1600's, for
example, the French statesman Maximilien de Bethune, Duke of
Sully, developed a "Grand Design" for peace in Europe. Sully's
plan called for the formation of a council of representatives of
all European countries. The council would settle disagreements
between nations.
In 1625, the Dutch statesman Hugo Grotius proposed international
rules of conduct in a book called On the Law of War and Peace.
For example, nations should guarantee certain rights to neutral
nations, which took no part in a war. Grotius' ideas formed the
basis of international law. The Thirty Years' War ended in 1648
with the Peace of Westphalia. This treaty tried to ensure peace
by establishing a balance of power. Such a plan maintains an
even distribution of military and economic power among nations.
As a result, no nation or group of nations is strong enough to
conquer any other nation or group of nations.
About 1647, the English religious leader George Fox founded the
Society of Friends, most commonly known today as the Quakers.
This group believed that the teachings of Jesus Christ
prohibited war. Throughout their history, the Quakers have
opposed war and supported peace movements. The Quaker leader
William Penn, who founded the colony of Pennsylvania, proposed a
peace plan similar to Sully's "Grand Design." Penn wrote a book
called An Essay Towards the Present and Future Peace of Europe
(1693). In it, he called for an international council to settle
disputes between nations.
WAR
War is any struggle in which two large groups try to destroy or
conquer each other. Since the dawn of history, there have been
many kinds of wars. Families have fought against families,
tribes against tribes, followers of one religion against
followers of another. In modern times, wars have been fought
between nations or groups of nations. Armies and navies once
were almost the only factors in deciding the outcome of wars.
Today, civilians must join in the war effort if it is to
succeed.
Wars have always caused great suffering and hardship. Most
people hate war, yet for hundreds of years war has been going on
somewhere in the world nearly all the time. Earthquakes and
floods happen to people, but people make war themselves. To
understand why wars continue to go on when nearly everyone wants
to have peace, we must look into the nature of war.
Causes of war - In modern times, no nation or group chooses war
if it can get what it wants peacefully. The fighting starts when
a nation wants something so badly that it is willing to go to
war to get it. Sometimes war results from a disagreement between
two nations, and sometimes from a desire for conquest. Some of
the basic causes of war may be a desire for more land, more
wealth, more power, or security.
War for land to live on - In ancient times, people often fought
so that they could get enough to eat. When the pasturelands in
Central Asia dried up, hungry tribes would make war on their
neighbors in order to get new lands. The neighbors fought back
or tried to seize the lands of a still weaker tribe. Much of the
fighting that went on between early American pioneers and
American Indians from the early 1600's through the 1800's was
this kind of war. The Indians wanted to roam freely over the
land, hunting, trapping, or fishing. The pioneers wanted to
clear the land and plant it in crops.
Indian fighting was dangerous, and no one who already had a good
farm was likely to go out and fight the Indians for another. But
landless people from abroad preferred the dangers of war to the
horrors of poverty.
War for wealth - The peoples of ancient empires fought many wars
for wealth. The decision to fight was made by the ruler of the
empire and his or her advisers. The fighting was often done by
hired armies. A ruler who sought to conquer new lands did not
intend to drive the people out of the lands. Generally, he or
she just wanted to collect taxes from them.
When Alexander the Great led his armies against the Persian
Empire in 334 B.C., the common people of the invaded lands paid
little attention, except to hope their own property would not be
destroyed. It usually made little difference to them which ruler
collected taxes. Wars were fought solely by rulers and their
armies. From the A.D. 400's to the 1500's, people fought
numerous wars for wealth. Frequently, one nobleman would try to
seize the property of another. He would use his own soldiers and
perhaps hire other leaders and their soldiers to help him.
Sometimes the conqueror of a city would take a large money
payment in return for leaving the city in peace.
War for power - The great European nations fought wars
throughout the world to gain or increase their power. These wars
united the people and strengthened the governments. Wars of
conquest based on the ideas of a super-race or of a superior
economic system are often wars to extend the power of a
government.
War for security - Most countries fear the possibility of
attack, and maintain armed forces to defend themselves.
Sometimes this fear may be directed toward a particular country.
In that case a nation may decide to choose its own time and
strike the first blow. Or it may decide to conquer some weaker
neighbor, and thus increase its own resources as a defense
against attack.
MURDER
When one person intentionally kills another without legal
justification or excuse, the crime is called murder. The
clearest example of this is a case where one person deliberately
kills another because of hatred, envy, or greed. But there are
also situations where a killing is considered murder even when
no specific intent to kill exists. For example, a person who
accidentally kills someone while committing a robbery is guilty
of murder. The fact that the person is committing a serious
crime indicates that he or she has a reckless disregard for
human life and safety. This takes the place of intent to kill.
The penalty for murder is a long prison sentence or death. But
many national, state, and provincial governments have done away
with the death penalty.
A killing that has legal justification is called justifiable
homicide. For example, a killing in self-defense would be a
justifiable homicide. The law regards a purely accidental
killing as an excusable homicide. For example, if a pedestrian
steps in front of a carefully driven automobile and is killed,
the accident would be considered an excusable homicide. When a
person in a fit of anger intentionally kills another person
after the victim has provoked the attack, the killing is called
voluntary manslaughter. When a person's death results from
reckless driving or other extreme negligence on the part of the
killer, the offense is called involuntary manslaughter. The
penalties in most cases of manslaughter are less severe than
those for murder.
CHAPLIN, CHARLIE
Chaplin, Charlie (1889-1977), became one of the most famous
stars in motion-picture history. During the era of silent
comedies, he was often called "the funniest man in the world."
Chaplin also gained complete control over production of his
films. He wrote and directed nearly all his films, and he
composed the music scores for all his sound pictures.
Chaplin's stardom began in 1914, when he first appeared as "the
Tramp" or "the Little Fellow." Looking undersized and
undernourished, Chaplin wore a battered derby hat, a coat too
small for him, and pants much too large. He walked in a
shuffling manner that suggested he had never worn a pair of
shoes his own size. But this figure of poverty also wore gloves
and carried a bamboo cane that seemed to reflect a spirit that
bounces back from the most crushing defeats. The last shot in
many of Chaplin's early silent films shows him walking down a
road into the distance. The Tramp was homeless and penniless
once more, but with hat tilted and cane flourishing, he again
was ready for whatever adventure lay around the corner.
In 1919, Chaplin formed the United Artists film corporation with
actor Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., actress Mary Pickford, and
director D. W. Griffith. He made fewer pictures, and those he
made were longer and more serious. He continued to create
laughter, but he also seemed to be commenting on why the world
of respectability and authority offered so little to the human
soul. His films during this time included The Kid (1920) and The
Gold Rush (1925). Chaplin played the Tramp in these films and in
his first two sound films, City Lights (1931) and Modern Times
(1936). In The Great Dictator (1940), he played two roles, a
humble Jewish barber and a tyrant based on the German dictator
Adolf Hitler. Chaplin played a murderer in Monsieur Verdoux
(1947) and an elderly music hall comedian in Limelight (1952).
Charles Spencer Chaplin was born into a poor London family. He
became a variety and music hall performer and began touring the
United States in 1910. He lived in the United States for more
than 40 years but never became a citizen.
In 1943, Chaplin married Oona O'Neill, the daughter of American
playwright Eugene O'Neill. It was Chaplin's fourth marriage.
In the 1940's and early 1950's, Chaplin was a center of
controversy. Some people criticized Chaplin's personal life as
immoral and accused him of supporting Communism. In 1952,
Chaplin traveled to Europe. The U.S. government announced that
Chaplin could not reenter the United States unless hearings were
held on his personal life and political views. Chaplin decided
not to return, and he and his family settled in Switzerland.
In 1972, Chaplin took part in ceremonies in his honor in New
York City and Los Angeles. Chaplin received an honorary Oscar at
the annual Academy Award ceremonies in April. The award praised
Chaplin "for the incalculable effect he has had in making motion
pictures the art form of this century."
In 1975, Chaplin was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
GLUE
Glue is an adhesive made from the skins, connective tissues, or
bones of animals. Many people use the term glue for all types of
adhesives, including those made from plants or plastics. This
article deals only with glues made from animal tissues.
Glue is an impure form of gelatin, a protein substance obtained
by boiling bones or other animal parts. Glue makes objects stick
together by penetrating pores in their surfaces and then drying
to form a hard bond. People have made glue for many centuries,
and it is one of the most widely used adhesives today.
Types of glue - There are three types of glue: (1) hide glue,
(2) bone glue, and (3) fish glue. Most hide and bone glues are
sold in the form of powder or small grains and must be dissolved
in hot water before they can be used. These glues can be stored
for any length of time if they are kept dry. Fish glue is a
concentrated liquid that contains about 45 per cent solids. If
unused, fish glue begins to lose its strength as an adhesive
about two years after it is made.
How glue is made - Manufacturers obtain glue from animal parts
by cooking them in water. Cooking breaks down the protein in the
animal tissue and dissolves it. The resulting solution may be
filtered and concentrated before being sold as glue. The
preparations for cooking and the final manufacturing steps vary
with the type of glue.
Manufacturers of hide or bone glue obtain their raw materials
from meat packing houses or tanning factories. Hide glue is made
by first washing the hides in water. The skins are then soaked
in water containing lime to remove non-glue proteins. Next, they
are treated with a mild acid and rinsed with water. The rinsed
hides are cooked in water in large kettles or tubs. The
resulting glue is drained off, filtered, and evaporated. The
glue then cools and, in most cases, turns solid. Machines grind
the solid glue into grains or powder and then package it for
shipping. If the glue is to be sold as a liquid, substances
called anti-gelling agents are added while it is still hot. The
anti-gelling agents keep the glue from solidifying as it cools.
Bone glue is made by first washing the bones in water or dilute
acids and crushing them. Next, the bones are cooked in water.
The rest of the process resembles that used for hide glues.
Most fish glue is made from washed fish skins. The skins are
cooked to form a concentrated broth, which is then cooled and
packaged.
Uses of glue - Industries consume most glue. Many manufacturers
of wood products use glue to hold together such items as
furniture, toys, and musical instruments. Other manufacturers
coat paper, cloth, or plastic with glue to make adhesive tape.
Makers of sandpaper use glue to hold the scratchy particles to
the paper backing. In the textile and paper industries, glue
serves as sizing, a preparation used to stiffen cloth and glaze
paper. Many book manufacturers hold pages to bindings with glue.
JOYCE, JAMES
Joyce, James (1882-1941), an Irish novelist, revolutionized the
treatment of plot and characterization in fiction. Many critics
consider William Shakespeare his only rival as a master of the
English language.
Joyce was born in Dublin and wrote all his works about that
city, though he lived outside Ireland from 1904 on. He lived and
wrote in Paris; Rome and Trieste, Italy; and Zurich,
Switzerland. He returned to Ireland only twice, briefly in 1909
and 1912. Joyce suffered a painful eye disease for most of his
adult life and became almost blind despite many operations.
Joyce's first major work was Dubliners (1914), a collection of
stories that reflects his concern with life among the Irish
lower middle class. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
(1916) is a largely autobiographical novel. Joyce appears as the
character Stephen Dedalus. Like Joyce, Stephen finds himself in
conflict with his family, the Roman Catholic Church, and the
nationalistic zeal of the Irish people. And like Joyce, Dedalus
leaves Ireland and wishes to become a writer. In tracing
Stephen's growth to young manhood, Joyce mixed conventional
realist prose with passages using techniques known as interior
monologue and stream of consciousness. These techniques give the
reader the illusion of following the character's thoughts.
Joyce lived in poverty and obscurity until 1922, when the
publication of Ulysses made him one of the most celebrated
novelists of the 1900's. Ulysses takes its title from parallels
Joyce established between the adventures of his main character,
Leopold Bloom, and those of Ulysses.
Ulysses (Odysseus in Greek) was the hero of the Odyssey, a Greek
epic poem. Bloom suffers ridicule because he is Jewish and has
peculiar sexual tastes and because his wife, Molly, is
unfaithful. He survives the pain and sorrow of his life by a
remarkable capacity to absorb suffering--and even to enjoy it.
Ulysses has had an enormous impact on modern world literature.
Finnegans Wake (1939) is probably Joyce's greatest work. In this
novel, Joyce portrayed one family and at the same time all
families, everywhere, at all times in history. The hero's
initials, HCE, stand for Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker, a Dublin
innkeeper. But they also stand for Here Comes Everybody. In the
story, Dublin symbolizes all cities. Joyce crammed the book with
topical and historical names, events, myths, songs, jokes, and
gossip. His goal was to make all people, places, things, and
times repeat and resemble each other.
Joyce's technique can be studied from the first sentence of
Finnegans Wake: "riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of
shore to bend of bay, brings us by commodius vicus of
recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs." The book's
last sentence breaks off in the middle but is completed by the
book's first sentence. The device is a grammatical
representation of the cyclic theory of history that Joyce
borrowed from the Italian philosopher Giambattista Vico. The
theory also provides the structure for Finnegans Wake.
The above sentence traces the flow of the River Liffey through
Dublin, past the Church of Adam and Eve, out into Dublin Bay and
the Irish Sea. From there, by evaporation and recirculation, the
water returns to the physical starting point of the book, Howth
Castle. The reference to Adam and Eve introduces a major theme
of the book, the Fall of Man. In Irish-Gaelic, the river is
called Anna Liffey, meaning River of Life. The river becomes
interchangeable with Joyce's major female character, Anna Livia
Plurabelle. She symbolizes the mother of humanity.
Joyce's other works include two collections of poems, Chamber
Music (1907) and Pomes Penyeach (1927); and a play, Exiles
(1918).
KAFKA, FRANZ
Kafka, Franz, (1883-1924), was a Czech writer who gained
worldwide fame only after World War II. Only a few of his short
stories were published during his lifetime. Kafka wanted his
unpublished manuscripts to be burned after his death, but his
friend Max Brod edited and published them anyhow.
Kafka's highly imaginative works have been associated with such
intellectual movements as expressionism, surrealism, and
existentialism. But he could not identify himself with any
particular creed, class, or ethnic group, and his writings do
not belong to any particular literary school. Kafka wrote in
German.
Kafka's writings uniquely combine a realistic, sometimes
grotesquely exact description of details with an overall
atmosphere of fantasies, dreams, and nightmares. He portrays
objects and events with precision, but they appear to have no
purpose or meaning.
Kafka presents a world in which people are deprived of spiritual
security, and tortured by anxiety and loneliness. Kafka's
characters repeatedly are frustrated in attempts to gain their
goals, such as knowledge, social acceptance, or salvation. They
represent typical human conditions and attitudes.
Their lives are marked by patterns of hope and despair, attempt
and failure. They painfully experience their remoteness from a
divine authority. This alienation is rooted in personal guilt
and at the same time appears as an inescapable destiny.
Kafka wrote three novels and many short stories. In his novel
The Trial (1925), a man is arrested, convicted, and executed by
a mysterious court. His attempts to learn the nature of his
guilt and of the secret court fail, and he dies in ignorance.
Another novel, The Castle (1926), presents the futile struggle
of a newcomer to win acceptance in a village and gain entry to a
castle, home of an unknown supreme authority. Amerika (1927) is
a comic novel about the adventures of an adolescent European
immigrant in America. Kafka's best-known short stories include
"The Judgment," "The Metamorphosis," "In the Penal Colony," and
"A Hunger Artist."
Kafka was born in Prague of German-speaking Jewish parents. He
spent most of his life as a state insurance lawyer. He died of
tuberculosis.
TCHAIKOVSKY, PETER ILICH
Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilich, (1840-1893), was the first Russian
composer whose music became part of the standard concert program
in western Europe. Tchaikovsky had a gift for creating memorable
lyric melodies and for contrasting instrumental sounds,
particularly those of wind instruments, in his orchestrations.
Tchaikovsky combined native Russian materials with western
European influences. His scores contain quotations and
transformations of Russian folk melodies. Tchaikovsky's music
contains varied and contrasting moods. The last movement of
Symphony No. 6 (1893) projects a dark and melancholy atmosphere.
This symphony is also known as the Pathetique (Pathetic).
However, his Slavonic March (1876) and the 1812 Overture (1882)
are spirited and colorful examples of nationalism in Russian
music. Some of Tchaikovsky's most original orchestral textures
and appealing melodies appear in his ballet scores, from which
he arranged concert suites.
His life - Tchaikovsky was born in Votkinsk, Russia. He entered
a law school in St. Petersburg in 1850. From 1862 through 1865,
he studied music at the St. Petersburg Conservatory with Anton
Rubinstein, a Russian pianist and composer. At the conservatory
Tchaikovsky became the first Russian composer to receive
systematic Western-style academic training in the fundamentals
of music.
In 1866, Tchaikovsky began teaching at the Moscow Conservatory
of Music. During the next several years, his early emotional
sensitivity developed into long periods of depression. But he
wrote some of his most optimistic music during this time.
Tchaikovsky was married briefly in 1877. However, he and his
wife separated after a few weeks, and he left Russia to travel
in Switzerland and Italy.
In 1876, Tchaikovsky began his correspondence with Nadezhda von
Meck, a wealthy widow who admired his music. She offered
financial support so he could devote himself to composition. She
insisted that they never meet, but for years they exchanged
letters. Assured of a steady income, Tchaikovsky left the Moscow
Conservatory in 1877 to concentrate on composition. He also
began to travel widely and in 1891 conducted some of his works
in concerts in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City.
His music - Tchaikovsky's six numbered symphonies and his
Manfred Symphony (1886) are landmarks in his artistic
development. His first three symphonies (written 1866, revised
1874; written 1872, revised 1880; and 1875) are performed less
often than the last three. His Symphony No. 4 (1878) is his
first success in the symphonic form, and Symphony No. 5 (1888)
is excellent from the standpoint of formal construction.
Symphony No. 6 departed from tradition through its tragic final
movement. Other important orchestral works include Italian
Capriccio (1880), the fantasy-overture Romeo and Juliet (3rd
version, 1886), the symphony fantasy Francesca da Rimini(1877),
and four orchestral suites (1879, 1884, 1885, and 1887).
Tchaikovsky is remembered today outside Russia primarily for his
orchestra works. However, he devoted equal attention throughout
his career to opera. Of his nine completed operas, only Eugene
Onegin (1879) and The Queen of Spades (1890) have gained
popularity in the West. Both are based on works by Alexander
Pushkin, a Russian writer who died in 1837. Tchaikovsky's other
music for the stage includes three ballets: Swan Lake (1877),
The Sleeping Beauty (1890), and The Nutcracker(1892).
EMBROIDERY
Embroidery is the art of stitching decorations on a fabric or
similar material with a needle and thread. Stitches can be
combined to make an unlimited variety of designs, including
flowers, animals, people, and abstract patterns. The design is
drawn on the fabric and then embroidered, or it is created
during the embroidering process.
Since prehistoric times, most cultures have developed their own
embroidery styles. People embroider clothing and use embroidered
furnishings to decorate their homes and public buildings.
Embroidered clothing ranges from simple undergarments to royal
robes decorated with gold and silver threads. Embroidered
furnishings include bed linens, chair covers, tablecloths, and
wall-hangings. Thousands of hours may be needed to richly
embroider a garment or furnishing with millions of tiny
stitches. Traditionally, craft-workers and hobbyists embroider
by hand. Today, however, machines do most embroidering of
factory products. Home sewing machines can be equipped with
special attachments for embroidery.
Materials - Fabric used for embroidery is called backing fabric.
It can be any fabric through which the embroiderer can pull
embroidery thread without damaging the fabric or thread. Common
backing fabrics include cotton, linen, silk, and wool. Some
people use cardboard, leather, and other materials. Embroidery
threads range from thin strands to thick yarns. The most widely
used threads include embroidery floss, linen, pearl cotton, and
yarn. Various sizes of sewing needles are used for embroidery.
The size chosen depends on the kind of backing fabric and thread
being used. Embroiderers select materials that are best suited
for the finished product. For example, embroidered chair covers
that get heavy use are made from durable fabrics and sturdy
threads. Wall-hangings are exposed to less wear than chair
covers and can be made from any materials. Some people attach
buttons, shells, or other objects to their embroidery.
Embroiderers often stretch their backing fabric tightly across a
stretcher frame or hoop before starting to stitch. This method
is especially helpful for embroidering fine, detailed work. When
working with large stitches on heavy fabrics, the embroiderer
can spread the fabric loosely.