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corn, or sharp twigs, cut sharp at the points ; and being 

 seated behind the basin, previously tilled with hot soft 

 water, and placed upon a furnace, containing burning 

 charcoal, she must throw into the water a handful of the 

 cocoons, and press them gently under the water for two 

 or three minutes, in order to soften the gum of the silk, 

 and thereby to loosen the ends of the filaments. She is 

 then to stir the cocoons with the end of the whisk as light- 

 ly as possible, until one or more of the fibres or filaments 

 adhere to it; when, disengaging it, and laying aside the 

 whisk, she is to draw the filament towards her, until it 

 come off quite clean from the floss which always sur- 

 rounds 1 he cocoon, and the fine silk begins to appear ; 

 then breaking off the thread, and collecting the floss first 

 taken off, she must put it aside ; the whisk is then to be 

 applied again to get hold of the firm fibres, and again, 

 until a sufficient number are procured to form the thread 

 of silk required to be wound off. This done, she is to 

 unite a number of the fibres, according to the fineness of 

 the intended thread, and deliver the compound thread to 

 the reeler, who puts it through the guides ; another thread 

 is in like manner to be prepared and passed through the 

 other guides, when two skeins are to be wound, and 

 they may be crossed ; the threads are then raised for- 

 ward and made fast to one of the arms of it. Both threads 

 being fastened to the reel, it is to be turned with a regular, 

 even motion, at first slowly, until the threads are found to 

 run freely and easily ; tor it will happen that some of the 

 ends which were taken to compose the thread were 

 false, because on taking off the floss there may be two 

 or three breaches made in the beginning of the fibres, 



