REELING, 



91 



reel, instead of cog wheels, as is the case in the Pied- 

 mont reel. 



Mr. Dale's Red is an improvement on Mr. Cobb's 

 reel, from which it only differs in receiving its motion by 

 having the handle affixed to the drum wheel, which is 

 placed near the basin, by which means the same person 

 who attends to the reeling may at the same time turn 

 the reel. In the other reels the handles are usually 

 affixed to the reel itself. 



Gay's machine for reeling has much simplified the 

 process, winds at once the silk from the cocoons upon 

 the spool, instead of a reel, and is stated to be so simple iu 

 its construction, and so easy in its management, that any 

 woman will acquire sufficient knowledge of its use in 

 two hours' instruction, to become tolerably expert in the 

 art of reeling. 



On the spools on which it is thus wound, it can never 

 get entangled, as in skeins, and it is wound in one con- 

 tinuous thread, and may be transported to any distance, 

 and kept for any length of time without injury, and as 

 is the case of the spools of cotton thread, it may be 

 wound off entire and without injury. 



The machine of Mr. Gay occupies but little space, 

 and may be used without inconvenience, by the fireside, 

 and although, in. nearly all cases, before the silk is to be 

 manufactured it will still be necessary to reel it from the 

 bobbins or spools, into hanks or skeins, yet the other 

 advantages in reeling, and keeping, and preserving the 

 silk or spools, are stated to overbalance the trouble of 

 two windings. This, as well as all other reels, and the 

 loom, may be moved by water power. 



In Piedmont, silk of the best quality has long been 

 produced ; to this high character which they have so long 

 maintained, they are indebted to the Piedmontese Reel. 

 This reel has served as the foundation of numerous im- 

 proved reels, and is formed of four bars, or arms, and is 

 usually a yard in circumference. One of these bars is 

 provided with hinges that it may fold inwards towards 



