When an engineer has to construct a railway up a hill having a still steeper slope, he must secure practicable gradients by laying out the line in ascending spirals, if necessary tunnelling into the hill, as on the St Gothard railway, or in a series of zigzags, or he must resort to a rack or a cable railway.
By the application of a pointed iron hook, while the glass is still ductile, the parallel coils can be distorted into bends, loops or zigzags.
Threads of coloured molten glass were spirally coiled round the body, and, whilst still viscid, were dragged into zigzags with a metal hook.
The system of decorating vases and vessels by means of strands of glass trailed upon the surface in knots, zigzags and trellis work, was adopted by the Moors and is characteristic of Roman craftsmanship. Glassmaking was continued at Pinar de la Vidriera and at Al Castril de la Pena into the 17th century.
This paved road is easily recognized as it zigzags up the hill, with treasuries and the bases of various offerings facing it on both sides.
