SILK MANUFACTURE . 787 



of some cocoons to compensate for the termination of others. The quality of raw silk 

 depends, therefore, very much upon the skill and care bestowed upon its filature. 



The quality of the raw silk is determined by first winding off 400 ells of it, equal 

 to 475 meters, round a drum one ell in circumference, and then weighing that 

 length. The weight is expressed in grains, 24 of which constitute one denier ; 24 

 deniers constitute one ounce ; and 16 ounces make one pound, poids de marc. This is 

 the Lyons rule for valuing silk. The weight of a thread of raw silk 400 ells long, 

 is two grains and a half, when five twin filaments have been reeled and associated 

 together. 



Haw silk is so absorbent of moisture, that it may be increased ten per cent, in 

 weight by this means. This property has led to falsifications ; which are detected 

 by enclosing weighed portions of the suspected silk in a wire-cloth cage, and exposing 

 it to a stove heat of about 78 Fahr. for twenty-four hours, with a current of air. 

 The loss of weight which it thereby undergoes, demonstrates the amount of the fraud. 

 There is an office in Lyons called the Condition, where this assay is made, and by the 

 report of which the silk is bought and sold. The law of France requires, that all the 

 silk tried by the Condition must be worked up into fabrics in that country. It has 

 been lately noticed that a still more serious falsification of silks has been made in 

 France. The silks are treated with astringent vegetable decoctions, and then with 

 salts of iron the cyanides and, in some cases, iodides being also used. It is stated 

 that the weight of the silk can be, by this process, more than doubled. At the same 

 time it is considerably deteriorated in quality ; and if a flame is applied to it, it burns 

 like tinder. It is found also, in some cases, to be spontaneously combustible. 



Switzerland. There are silk-stuff factories in the canton of Bale : but the trade of 

 this town lies in the manufacture of silk-ribbons. In this and the neighbouring 

 canton of Bale-Champagne there are about 4,000 looms, which give employment 

 to 16,000 workmen, as weavers, dyers, &c. Manual labour is extremely cheap, 

 enabling the manufacturer to sell at a very low rate. The greater number of the 

 manufacturers of this canton employ their own capital, and have not to surmount 

 those difficulties and disadvantages inseparable from the employment of borrowed 

 principal. The chief articles of manufacture are plain taffeta, ribbons, plain satin, 

 and figured ribbons: in all these articles, Bale maintains an incontestable supe- 

 riority. 



The silk trade in Switzerland has grown and prospered without the aid of protec- 

 tive duties, and it is a remarkable fact that the difficulties occasioned by the high 

 prohibitive customs, instead of being prejudicial, have been of advantage, by increasing 

 the active genius and emulation of the manufacturers, and inducing them to seek more 

 distant and more favourable outlets for their goods. The morality, activity, and 

 commercial knowledge of the Swiss may be considered the basis of their success. 



The production of silk is conducted on the most important scale in the Lombardo- 

 Venetian States ; next in order of importance comes the Tyrol : the same business 

 is also carried on in the military frontier, Gorz and Gradiska, and also in Istria and 

 Trieste, in Dalmatia and south of Hungary. Trials have likewise been made in Lower 

 Austria, Bohemia, and Carniola. 



The cocoons are prepared at the reeling establishment into raw silk. From the 

 result of inquiries, it would appear that Lombardy comprises 3,060 reeling establish- 

 ments. The entire production amounts to 2,512,000 Vienna Ibs. ; and since 12 Ibs. 

 of cocoons yield 1 Ib. of raw silk, there are required for this aggregate of raw silk 

 300,400 cwts. of cocoons. The quantity of cocoons required in excess of the quantity 

 produced, an excess of nearly 50,000 cwts., is covered by the production of the Vene- 

 tian provinces, chiefly by that of Verona. 



Within the province of Venice, the reeling establishments are also numerous, The 

 nearest approximation in reference to this matter is obtained by taking the extent of 

 the production at one-half of that in Lombardy. The remainder of the cocoons pro- 

 duced in the province undergo further preparation in Lombardy, and partly in the 

 Tyrol also ; whilst a portion of those obtained in Gorz and Gradiska, as well as in 

 Istria, are prepared in Venetian reeling establishments. 



The whole production of raw silk obtained in the Austrian monarchy is about 

 4,108,700 Ibs. The number of working hands employed in the reeling establishments 

 is not less than 160,000. Besides the products already enumerated, about 900 cwts. 

 of cocoons are annually imported into Lombardy, principally from Switzerland and 

 the neighbouring Italian States, and are prepared in the Lombardy reeling establish- 

 ments. 



The raw silk undergoes further preparation in the throwing mills ; but the whole 

 mass of the production is not thus worked up within the monarchy, for the exports 

 of raw silk are found considerably to exceed the imports. 



There are in the Tyrol above 55 throwing mills, with 125,047 spindles; 85,583 



3 E 2 



