Larina Cole, age 13, of Biloxi, Miss., for her question:

WHY DO WE CALL THIN CLOTH GAUZE?

Gauze is a thin, open cloth made of cotton, silk, rayon or synthetic fibers. The name probably comes from the ancient city of Gaza in Palestine, where this type of cloth was first made.

The threads of gauze are woven into a special way called leno. In leno weave, the warp threads, or the threads running lengthwise on the loom, are always in pairs. The pairs of lengthwise threads are twisted together each time they are crossed by the weft or crosswwire yarns.

In this way, the threads are kept at an equal distance apart, but they are held in place.

Leno weave is also used in making mosquito netting, marquisettes and the bolting cloth with which flour is sifted in mills.

Surgical or hospital gauze is a cheesecloth in a plain weave.

The name gauze is also given to various sheer curtain fabrics of silk, rayon or nylon.

Mosquito netting is also called mosquito bar. It is a rough, stiff cotton gauze made with a leno weave. The best quality netting has 14 meshes per inch while the poorer netting has 12 per 'inch. Mosquito netting is used to screen windows, beds and baby carriages.