Q2 HOW I KILLED THE TIGER. 



remained in the water for a few minutes the reeler 

 gently stirs up or brushes the cocoons with a short 

 birch rod, and to this the loose threads of the 

 cocoons adhere, and are thus drawn out of the 

 water. They are then taken, four or five together, 

 twisted with the fingers into one thread (as many 

 as thirty can be wound together) and passed 

 through a metal loop, which rubs off dirt and 

 impurities ; it then passes on to the reel, which has 

 a slight lateral motion, so that the thread of one 

 revolution does not overlay the other. If it were 

 allowed to do so, the threads would be glued 

 together before the gum had time to harden by 

 exposure to the air. When any single thread breaks 

 or comes to an end its place is supplied by a new 

 one, that the united thread may be of equal thick- 

 ness throughout. The new thread is merely laid on, 

 and adheres to the rest by its native gum, and as 

 the filaments are finer near their termination than 

 at the commencement, it is necessary to add other 

 cocoons before the first set is quite exhausted. 

 The cocoons are not entirely wound off, but the 

 husk containing the chrysalis is used, together with 

 the floss silk, under the name of waste. 



The length of filament yielded by a single cocoon 

 is three hundred yards, though some have yielded 

 upwards of six hundred yards. Eleven or twelve 

 pounds of cocoons yield one pound of silk, from 



