54 
for them to consume at least four pounds of raw material in the forma- 
tion of each pound of their product. 
Before reeling the cocoons must be cleaned by the removal of the 
outer system of threads which, under the name of floss, is one of the 
waste products of the industry. 
In the filature the ‘‘cocoons are first plunged into boiling water, 
whereby their gluten is softened in such amanner as to render the un- 
winding of the filaments an easy matter. This done, they are brushed 
with a small broom, to the straws of which their fibers become attached. 
The bundle of filaments is then taken and they are unwound until each 
cocoon hangs by but one clean thread. These three operations are 
called ‘cooking,’ ‘brushing,’, and ‘purging. The first two can be ac- 
complished mechanically, and are currently so performed in Italy and 
largely in France. But purging is a process to which the accuracy of 
the human eye and the delicacy of the human touch have so far been 
found necessary.” The thread unwound in these processes is also a 
waste product, called ‘‘frisons,” and has about one-fifth the value of 
reeled silk. In good working about four times as much silk as frisons 
is produced. 
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Fic. 1.—Elements of the mechanism of a modern silk reel. 
“The elements of the mechanism of all modern silk reels are essentially 
the same. They are shown in Fig. 1, and consist, in general, of a basin, 
A, in which is a perforated steam-pipe, P, by means of which the water 
in the basin may be heated. A few inches above the surface of the 
water is placed a perforated agate, B. The cocoons having undergone 
the three operations mentioned, the ends of the filaments of four or more 
of them are twisted together into a thread, which is passed through the 
hole in the agate. From this it runs through the “‘croisure” M, which 
will be hereafter explained, and over the guide E to the reel at F, Be- 
tween EK and F the thread passes a guide, G, moving to and fro (in a 
line perpendicular to the plane otf the paper), which distributes it in a 
