800 



SILVEE 



Silk manufactures imported in 187 & from countries in Europe. 



Broad stuff's 



r From France . . of the value of 4,940,309 

 Belgium . 2,271,902 



Other countries 116,863 



Total 



7,329,074 



Bibbons, silk and satin 



Kibbons, other kinds . 



From France . . of the value of 1,829,039 

 Other countries 246,843 



Total 



2,075,882 



{From Belgium . of the value of 200,130 

 Other countries 239,619 



Total 



Of countries out of Europe of the value of 237,735. 

 Silk manufacture, Exports in 1874. 



Wholly of silk 



Broad stuffs of silk or satin 

 Thrown, twist or yarn 

 Handkerchiefs, scarfs and shawls 

 Ribbons of all sorts . . . 

 Of silk and other materials 



Yards 

 2,311,345 



439,749 



Value 



458,422 



1,029,682 



387,509 



207,256 



362,442 



1792 



SILXWORMC GUT, for angling, is made as follows : Select a number of the best 

 and largest silkworms, just when they are beginning to spin ; which is known by their 

 refusing to eat, and having a fine silk thread hanging from their mouths. Immerse 

 them in strong vinegar, and cover them closely for twelve hours, if -the weather be 

 warm, but two or three hours longer, if it be cool. When taken out, and pulled 



asunder, two transparent guts will be 

 observed, of a yellow-green colour, as 

 thick as a small straw, bent double. 

 The rest of the entrails resembles 

 boiled spinage, and therefore can occa- 

 sion no mistake as to the silk-gut. If 

 this be soft, or break upon stretching 

 it, it is a proof that the worm has not 

 been long enough under the influence 

 of the vinegar. When the gut is fit to 

 draw out, the one end of it is to be 

 dipped into the vinegar, and the other 

 end is to be stretched gently to the 

 proper length. When thus drawn out, 

 it must be kept extended on a thin 

 piece of board, by putting its ex- 

 tremities into slits in the end of the 

 wood, or fastening them to pins, and 

 then exposed in the sun to dry. Thus genuine silk-gut is made in Spain. From the 

 manner in which it is dried, the ends are always more or less compressed or attenuated. 

 In fig. 1792, a is the silkworm ; b, the worm torn asunder ; c, c, the guts ; d,d,& board 

 slit at the ends, with the gut to dry; /,/, boards with wooden pegs, for the same 

 purpose. 



SILVER (Argent, Fr. ; Silber, Ger.) was formerly called a perfect metal, because 

 heat alone revived its oxide, and because it could pass unchanged through trials by 

 fire, which apparently destroyed most other metals. The distinctions, perfect, im- 

 perfect, and noble, are now rejected. 



When pure and polished, silver is the brightest of the metals. Its specific gravity 

 in the ingot is 10'47 ; but, when condensed under the hammer or in the coining-press, 

 it becomes 10'6. It melts at a bright red heat, at a temperature estimated by some as 

 equal to 1873 Fahr. It is exceedingly malleable and ductile, affording leaves not 

 more than ioo5j^ of an inch thick, and wire far finer than a human hair. 



By Sickingen's experiments, its tenacity is, to that of gold and platinum, as tho 

 number 19, 15, and 26$; so that it has an intermediate strength between these two 



