104 



bin, it is transferred into skeins of a prescribed length 

 upon the reels. It is now called hard silk, arid this name 

 it retains until the gum is extracted. But were the gum 

 extracted from the silk by boiling, before being twisted, 

 it would become at best a downy or woolly substance, 

 unfit for the purpose of manufacture. These observa- 

 tions have led us to doubt the utility of employing spir- 

 its of wine in destroying the chrysalides, inasmuch as 

 pure alcohol may have a tendency not only to dissolve, 

 but also utterly to destroy the tenacity of the gum ; 

 while pure water, in which the cocoons are immersed 

 when reeled, can do no more than simply to dissolve the 

 gum, without destroying its adhesive quality, which it 

 recovers again when dry. 



Previous to taking the silk from the reel, and to pre- 

 vent it from crinkling in consequence of the twisting it 

 has received, the reels are subjected to the action of 

 steam for two or three minutes. This is a modern dis- 

 covery which has been found effectually and permanently 

 to set the twist. Formerly, the reels were steeped in 

 boiling water, a troublesome and much less effectual 

 mode. 



The silk is now boiled for about two hours in a good 

 proportion of water, in which soap has been dissolved 

 in the proportion of one-third of the weight of silk to 

 be prepared. This aids in dissolving the gum, and in 

 rendering the silk soft and glossy. Particular care is 

 necessary to prevent the silk from adhering to the bot- 

 tom of the copper kettle, a circumstance to which it 

 will be liable by reason of the viscid gum which is con- 

 tained in the silk, which in this case will become car- 

 bonized and spoiled in that part. This though not al- 

 ways so perceptible at first, will infallibly be discovered 

 when put into the loom, and will then cause infinite 

 trouble. 



After thus boiling, the silk is well washed in a cur- 

 rent of pure water to purify and to free it from the soap ; 

 it is afterwards dried. It has now assumed that pecu- 



