O F S 1 L K. 235 



flioiild be about a foot or more diftaiit 

 from the furface of the water, and fliould 

 be made of brafs wire, as lliould every 

 loop through which the filk pafles ; for 

 iron wire, though mentioned by mod wri- 

 ters, wlien it takes rufl, becomes a fort of 

 file, and would fret and break the thread j 

 but brafs wire doth not take ruft by being 

 wetted. 



From the flop-wire C. the filk-thread 

 was formerly conduced ovc]- a fmall pully 

 faftened to a piece of wood about three 

 inches high, wliich Rood in the front of 

 the reel's bench dire6lLy over the rod, which 

 holds the ftop-wire. The intention of this 

 little pully, or bobbin, was to prefs the 

 moiflure out of the filk-thread before it 

 came to the reel, but a better contrivance 

 has been fubftituted for it. 



From this pully the filk-thread pafles 

 through a loop of wire E. which I call 

 the guide-wire 5 this loop is formed in the 

 fame manner as the loop of the flop-wire 

 before defcribed , the wire is fixed in a 

 fmall flick F. G. called the guide-flick, the 

 ufe of it being to guide and fpread the 

 thread E. t. in fuch a manner on the reel, 

 that it niay not always fall in the fame 



place. 



