REELING. 89 



opinion of good judges, fully pay for all the expense of 

 raising and of reeling well, leaving the whole amount of 

 silk as clear profit. 



Mr. Nouaille, according to Mr. Cobb, has stated, 

 "that at Novi (Italy) a woman experienced in the busi- 

 ness, with the assistance of a girl to turn the wheel and 

 attend the fires under the cauldron, can with ease reel 

 off one pound of silk, consisting of four or five cocoons, 

 of the most perfect quality, in a day. These reels carry 

 two threads each, two skeins being reeled on the same 

 instrument at the same time. But where silk of ordi- 

 nary quality is wound, one person may with equal ease 

 attend to the reeling of five, or six, or even more skeins, 

 all which are wound at the same time on a reel of more 

 extended dimensions. Mr. D'Homergue says a woman 

 may now reel three pounds a day with the aid of her 

 attendant. The Americans will be able to dispense 

 with the labor of this attendant, and to substitute a 

 cheaper species of laborers than even are those of any 

 part of Europe, I refer to our abundant natural re- 

 sources. At Mansfield, and at various other places, 

 reels are now moved by water power, or by steam. 



The filaments of the cocoon are cemented together 

 by a gum ; to dissolve this gum requires the aid of hot 

 water. This gum is very important, and is not separa- 

 ted till the silk is twisted into tram or organzine ; the 

 gum serves to unite and combine the individual fibres, 

 while winding, and as a cement uniting the ends of the 

 continuous thread which is formed by the continual ad- 

 ditions of new filaments to replace those of the exhaust- 

 ed cocoons. It is important, also, that the reel should 

 be moved with a suitable degree of speed, that the fila- 

 ment may unite while warm arid adhesive. Also, it is 

 an essential requisite to the production of good silk, 

 that before the silk touches the bars of the reel, it 

 should have lost by drying and by cooling, a good part 

 of this adhesive quality. For this reason, the reelers of 



