798 



SILK MANUFACTURE 



to be wound on in a cross direction, b and c are the "wire-guides, and d are little 

 levers lying upon the cloth-covered guide-bar E. The silk in its way from the block 

 to the reel, passes under these levers, by which it is cleaned from loose fibres. 



1790 



fciiiiiii 



1791 



On the other end of the shaft of the reel, the spur-wheel 1 is fixed, which derives 

 motion from wheel 2", attached to the shaft of the steam-pulley F. Upon the same 

 shaft there is a bevel-wheel 3, which impels the wheel 4 upon the shaft e ; to whose 



end a plate is attached, to which the crank / is 

 screwed, in such a way as to give the proper 

 length of traverse motion to the guide-bar E, 

 connected to that crank or excentric stud by 

 the jointed rod g. Upon the shaft of the 

 steam-pulleys F, there is a worm or endless 

 screw, to the left of /, fig, 1790, which works 

 in a wheel 5, attached to the short upright 

 shaft h (Jiff. 1791). At the end of k there is 

 another worm, which works in a wheel, 6 ; 

 on whose circumference there is a stud, i, which 

 strikes once at every revolution against an arm 

 attached to a bell, seen to the left, o; thus 

 announcing to the reel-tenter that a measured 

 length of silk has been wound upon her reel. 

 e, is a rod or handle, by which the fork /, with 

 the strap, may be moved upon the fast or loose 

 pulley, so as to set on or arrest the motion at 

 pleasure. 



Throwsters submit their silk to scouring and 

 steaming processes. They soak the hanks, as 

 imported, in lukewarm soap-water in a tub ; 

 but the bobbins of the twisted single silk from 

 the spinning mill are enclosed within a wooden 

 chest and exposed to the opening action of 

 steam for about ten minutes. They are then 

 immersed in a cistern of warm water, from 

 which they are transferred to the doubling- 

 frame. 



The wages of the work-people in the silk-throwing mills of Italy are about one-half 

 of their wages in Manchester ; but this difference is much more than counterbalanced 

 by the superior machinery of our mills. 



