54 



among fresh cocoons, of which such a quantity must be 

 occasionally thrown into the basin as will suffice to supply 

 the threads which are reeling, but not more. 



The cocoons thrown in must be often forced under 

 water that they may be equally soaked, for as they swim 

 with their greater part above water, that part would 

 remain hard and stubborn, while the part which is un- 

 der water would be too much soaked ; some hot water 

 may be thrown upon them frequently with a brush, and 

 also on the cocoons which are reeling, when they grow 

 dry at the top and yield the fibres with difficulty. The 

 supplying fresh ends when the cocoons are exhausted, or 

 diminished or the fibres break, is performed by taking 

 one end of a fibre and throwing it lightly on the one that 

 is winding, and rolling them between the thumb and fin- 

 ger, or gently pressing them. 



As often, therefore, as the cocoons, partially wound, 

 are exhausted, or the fibres break, fresh ones must be 

 joined to keep up the number requisite, or the proportion ; 

 thus three new ones may be wound and two half wound, 

 or four new ones, and ^the silk will then be a thread 

 of four to five cocoons. The adroitness in adding fresh 

 ends can only be acquired by practice. The difficulty of 

 keeping the thread even is so great, owing to the increased 

 fineness of the fibre inside, that we do not say a silk 

 of three or of four or of six cocoons, but a silk of three 

 to four, of four to five, and of six to seven. 



In coarser silk we do riot calculate so nicely as one co- 

 coon more or less ; we say for example from twelve to 

 fifteen, from fifteen to twenty cocoons. In beginning a 

 thread often cocoons, from sixteen to twenty will some- 

 times be required to preserve a uniform thread, after a 



