(38 



SILK MANUAL, AND 



mode to preserve them is to put them into hollow 

 reeds, or canes, perfectly dry, and closed at the 

 two extremities with athin |iicce of flaxen or cot- 

 ton linen well fastened. It is also the best means 

 to transport them from one place to another. 



VII. OF COCOONS INTENDED FOR SALE. 



In order to prevent the cocoons from being per- 

 forated by the moths escaping from them, which 

 greatly lessens their value, it is necessary to kill the 

 moths. This is generally done by baking in an oven 

 or by steam, but the best mode, which is peculiarly 

 well adapted to warm climates, is to lay the cocoons 

 on linen or cotton sheets, but not too close, or one 

 upon another, and to expose them thus to the heat 

 of the Sim in open air, when it is perfectly dry, 

 during four days, from 11 A. M. to 4 P. M. taking 

 great care in handling them not to crush or flatten 

 them, which is of the highest importance. In that 

 time there is no doubt that the moths will be 

 killed. The processes of steaming and baking 

 are not always safe, because they n)ay be overdone 

 and the silk greatly injured. I have seen instan- 

 ces of it in this country. Yet, if the weather 

 should prove obstinately damp or rainy, those pro- 

 cesses must be recurred to ; but not in dry sun- 

 shiny weather, when they can be avoided. 



The last thing to be spoken of is the packing of 

 the cocoons to send to market. They should be 

 put in boxes with great care, not pressed too close 

 lest they should be flattened, and close enough 

 that they should not suffer in like manner by strik- 

 ing hard upon each other in consequence of the 

 motion of carriages or stages. The boxes being 

 dry and well conditioned may be transported b}'' 

 steam boats ; if transported by sea, they should 

 not remain longer than fifteen (fays on salt water, 

 lest they should become mouldy. On river water 

 and particularly by steam boats, there is not the 

 same danger. The boxes in every case should be 

 covered with a tarpaulin or good oiled cloth, that 

 they may in no case suflx;r from dampness or 

 rain. 



The price of good cocoons in France is from 

 twentyfive to thirtyfive cents per pound of sixteen 

 ounces — I mean of perfect cocoons. Perforated 

 cocoons, from which the moth has escaped, those 

 ^vhich are spotted, and the imperfect ones, called 

 chiques, mentioned in the essay No. V. command 



no price, and are generally given away by the silk 

 culturists. There are but few of them, because, 

 those who raise silk worms being experienced in 

 the business, produce hardly any but good cocoons. 

 When these are sold, the bad ones are thrown in- 

 to the bargain. 



The price of cocoons in this country cannot 

 yet be settled ; but it will be the interest of the 

 silk culturist to sell them in the beginning as cheap 

 as possible, to encourage the silk manufacturers, 

 which alone can procure them regular purchasers, 

 and without which their produce must lie upon 

 their hands. J. D'Homergue. 



MEDICAL AND OTHER VALUABLE PROPERTIES OF 

 SILK. 



In the British Annual Register, for 1829, vol. 

 Ixxi. it is stated, that " A silk covering of the tex- 

 ture of a common handkerchief, is said to possess 

 the peculiar property of resisting the noxious in- 

 fluence, and neutralizing the effects of malaria 

 (foul air from marshes). If, as is supposed, the 

 poisonous matter is received into the system 

 through the lungs, it may not be difiicult to ac- 

 count for the action of this very simple preventive : 

 it is well known that such is the nature of malaria 

 poison, that it is easily decomposed by even feeble 

 chemical agents. Now it is probable that the 

 heated air proceeding from the lungs may form 

 an atmosphere within the veil of silk, of power 

 sufficient to decompose the miasma in its passage 

 to the mouth ; although it may be equally true 

 that the texture of the silk covering may act me- 

 chanically as a non-conductor, and prove an im- 

 pediment to the transmission of the deleterious 

 substance." 



If a silk veil will presefve against the deleteri- 

 ous effec*^ of those exhalations, which, on the bor- 

 ders of our western lakes, and in many other parts 

 of our country, produce ague and fever, silk would 

 be worth more for that use alone than all the gold 

 and jewels that ever glistened. Besides, if silk 

 coverings for the head are efficacious to ])reserve 

 against malaria, the presumption is, that they 

 would guard against the foul air of sick chambers, 

 where patients suffer under contagious diseases, 

 and indeed against bad air of every kind and de- 

 scription. The more we examine the nature and 



