SILK. 171 



through the guides and fastened to an arm of the reel 

 The ingenious machinest of Lisbon, Connecticut, 

 Mr. Gay, who is now disseminating information on 

 the silk culture through the Middle States, has in- 

 vented a machine, which takes the silk from the co- 

 coon, and immediately winds it on spools, thus saving 

 the trouble and time of reeling, and then taking the 

 silk from the reel to the spools. His machine has a 

 fly wheel to it, which fans and dries the silk before it 

 reaches the spool. 



On Mr. Cobb's reel, two skeins can be reeled at the 

 same time. At the first the reel should be turned 

 with a slow and regular motion, until it is found that 

 the silk runs well, when the reel may be turned ra- 

 pidly. As fast as the cocoons run off, or the thread 

 breaks, new ones must be attached, which is done 

 simply by placing the fibre smoothly along, side of 

 the others, and giving it a gentle twist with the wet 

 fingers. Some recommend crossing the threads, but 

 according to my experience this is not a good plan. 

 The cocoons after being wound off in part, and the 

 chrysalis of those that are entirely unwound should 

 be taken out of the water ; otherwise there is a like- 

 lihood of the silk being stained. So soon as there is 

 discovered the least tinge in the water, it should be 

 changed. 



It would be useless to go any further into a detail, 

 of the art of reeling silk. I might write a dozen fo- 

 lios on the subject,, and still practice would be neces- 



