this has drawn one all into itself. The number of its needles sent abroad is perfectly incredible, and I wonder the manufacturers can believe the totals of their own bills. The history of the needle runs as parallel with the history of civilization as any other implement used by man or woman. It has had its wooden, bone, brass, iron, and steel age. Thorns hardened in the fire served the earliest generations doubtless, who were not very elaborate in their tailoring, and had not cultivated a fancy for fine embroidery. Fish-bones probably followed, and had their day and use; then brass and perhaps gold needles became known and used in the higher ranks of society. As most of the implements and appurtenances of civilization were brought into Europe by the Moors, they first introduced the steel needle. The first man who made it in England was doubtless a Moor, who set up the trade in London in 1545, although he was called an "Indian." The secret of the manufacture died out with him, and a considerable interval elapsed before it was revived. The Spaniards, who were indebted to the Moors for nearly all they knew, learned this art of them and taught it to the French and Germans. A German, by the name of Elias Krause, revived the manufacture in England in Elizabeth's time. The trade gradually emigrated from London to its present seat, Redditch, without any ostensible reason for this
