SILK MANtTFACTTOW. 



MI.K MANUFACTURE. 



in hot water until the gum i* di**olved. The 

 ,_r (. woman or girl), with a kind of whiik or bnuh, deUche* the 

 end* of ten or twenty filament* from M many cocoons. wind* them 

 two or three together on a red, then two or three at these group* 

 together, and n on until all form on* thread, very much thicker than 

 the original filament, but *till exceedingly fine. New ooooon* an 

 thrown into the Tend of hot water a* fact a* the old onee are ex- 

 hausted, 10 that the thread i. made continuum ; and the temperature 

 of the water i Mich at will enable the cocoon* to give off the filament* 

 jot as fart a* the reeler can wind them. In mm* district* the reeling 

 u done in a quicker and better way. by aid of the apparatus *hown in 

 Ha 1 (plan), and tg. 8 (etiooV from the reel the silk U made np 

 'into Ami*, which preerot different appearance*, according to the 

 countrie* whence they are obtained. Broiuaa and China hank* are 

 whiter than the other*; Bengal hank* are mallj Italian are larger; 

 and Penian are the large* and coaraest of all 



Such i* the simple operation of reeling. It ha* been a conventional 

 opinion that thi* can only bo done in the silk rearing countries: 

 becau** the ooeooo* cannot be conveyed long diitanoe* safely, and 

 became a clear ami warm climate is Decenary. The comctnea* of thin 

 opinion U now disputed. Mr. Dickins, a silk dyer at Middleton, and 

 MrTchadwick, a *ilk manufacturer at Manchester, have invented and 

 net to work a ayitem of apparattu for reeling silk in England, and 

 throwing or twisting the silk o reeled. The cocoona are placed for a 

 few in in u to* in lint map and water ; and then ladled to a trough of clean 

 warm water. The principal end of the silk of each cocoon i* drawn 

 out by the fingers ; several cocoon*, thus treated, are placed in a basin, 

 with the end* of the filament* banging over the edge ; and they are 

 thus taken to the reeling frame when wanted. The machine consists 

 of an iron framework. 12 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 4 feet high. At 

 each side i* a row of 30 bobbins, each with a flyer, and with a separate 

 rotary motion. Over the 60 bobbins are 60 copper basins, containing 

 water at 130* Fahr. Into each basin are put 6 cocoon*, the filaments 

 front which are wound off by the motion of the bobbins, to which their 

 end* are attached. AUmt 12 inches above each basin is a piece of wire, 

 covered with some *oft substance ; the filament* pass over these wires 

 on their way from the basins to the bobbins, to cleanse and partially 

 dry them. By thi* arrangement the winding into hanks, as performed 

 by the silk grower* abroad, the windinp .if Iwbliin* from the hanks, 

 and the usual cleansing process as performed by the throwster, are 

 entirely dispensed with : a twisted thread of silk being furnished at 

 one operation. Threads of different thicknesses may thus be produced, 

 simply by increasing the number of cocoons in each basin. One girl 

 can attend to the cocoons in 30 basins. Whenever a cocoon breaks 

 or come* to an end, a new fantening is instantly made. By an adjust- 

 ment of the bobbins and flyers, any amount of twist can be imparted 

 to the thread, according to the purpose for which it is intended. The 

 regularity of the movements leads to the production of a thread more 

 free from knots than the ordinary reeled nilk. There i* no reeling, no 

 hank ; the silk is spun at once from the cocoons. The bobbins rotate 

 3000 times per minute. The principle of the cotton-spindle and flyer 

 being adopted, there is a power of adapting the apparatus to the pro- 

 duction of many different kind* of thread ; it can either be Kto|.|,,.d 

 at the tram stage, or advanced to that of argonaut terms that will be 

 explained presently. There is said to be a more complete extraction 

 of the ilk from the cocoon*, a greater regularity in the thread, a 

 thorough extraction of lumps and knots, an avoidance of waste, and a 

 saving in wages. These machine* are gradually coming into use in 

 Lancashire and on the continent ; but there ha* not yet been organised 

 an extensive importation of cocoon* into England without which, of 

 course, the machines cannot work. 



Throwing and Weaving. Except under the system just de- 

 scribed, silk is imported in hanks, not in the cocoons. The silk in the 

 hanks has Hiinply been reeled, without regular twisting. In China 

 and India the silk i* reeled very unequally ; there may be as few aa 

 five, or a* many as fifteen filament* in each thread, without any regard 

 to uniformity. Italian silk is better reeled. In the thruirin;i mills, 

 situated chiefly in Lancashire and Derbyshire, the silk is doubled, 

 twilled, and hardened. John and Thomas Lam bo introduced the art 

 from Italy early in the last century. The silk is made into dumb 

 tinylrt, for weaving into gauze and other light fabrics ; into throw* 

 nnglet, which, when wound, cleaned, and thrown, is used for weaving 

 into ribbons and common silks ; into /ram, which is doubled as well as 

 thrown, and is used for the weft of the best kinds of goods ; into 

 onjaitzinr, used for the warp ; and into utriui/ rilk, which is the thickest 

 and beet of all. These kinds are produced by the processes of tn//< .</, 

 rlraminy, dmiUing, and twitting, carried to a greater or leas extent. The 

 the transference of the silk to bobbins. The hank* are 



opened, and put upon light frames called iwiftt ; and while these are 

 rotating, a aerie* of rotating bobbins draw off the silk from the swift*. 

 fig. 3 show* one form of apparatus for effecting this transfer. The 

 ehaming i* effected by passing the filament through a cleft in a piece of 

 steel. whereby impurities and irregularities are removed. The </ 

 and iwuttwj are processes in which two or more thread* are twisted 

 round each other; the machinery for effecting thi* i* very varied ; but 

 a reference to COTTO.I M AXCFACTCKI: will afford mean* for judging of 

 the general principle, although the detail* are different. Fig. 4 will 

 illustrate the action of one form of twitting or throwing machine. 



When mlk i* required to be made very thick, strong, and densely 

 twitted, it i* sometimes twisted in the manner of r ;-. in a long alley 



Fit;. S. 8ilk Engine or - 



Fig. 4. Twining or Throwing Machine. 



or avenue (.';/. M. Silk larutively a modern process. 



It is a i -ilk. nnd ai';. 



rr jirores-rs. However unfitted nilk may be to be thrown ami 

 twisted in the usual way, it may be KJHIII into a continuous thread by 

 eardiiie;, drawing, roving, and K|>inning, almost in tin 



The thread produced is of inferior character, nnd 

 the cheaper kinds of p. 



( )f the subsequent processes in the i-ilk inaniif.ii'tnre, little mv,l I,,. 

 saiil here. A reference to the articles ( 



. KIHBOX. and \\ !\ the 



requisite detu'la. Brocade and damask, the most smii|.: 

 of .-ilk nriiiniaetmv a rentiiry ago, arc now comparatively unknown. 

 Persian, sonnet, groe-de-Napli 



name* given to plain silks, \vlii, !> i only in 



texture, quality, or softness, s lit* Inatre from the great 



]>rtion of the threads of the warp being let 1 



afterward* passed over heated cylinders. Other varieties of silk good* 

 are produced by mechanical arrangements in the loom, such as using 



