96 REELING AND MANUFACTURING SILK. 



water a handful of the cocoons, and press them gently under the 

 water for two or three minutes, in order to soften the gum of the 

 silk, and thereby to loosen the ends of the filaments. She is 

 then to stir the cocoons with the end of the whisk as lightly as 

 possible, until one or more of the fibres or filaments adhere to it ; 

 when, disengaging it, and laying aside the whisk, she is to draw 

 the filament towards her, until it come ofi:' quite clean from the 

 floss which always surrounds the cocoon, and the fine silk begins 

 to appear ; then breaking off the thread, and collecting the floss 

 first taken off, she must put it aside ; the whisk is then to be 

 applied again to get hold of the firm fibres, and again, until a 

 sufficient number are procured to form the thread of silk required 

 to be wound off". This done, she is to unite a number of the 

 fibres, according to the fineness of the intended thread, and de- 

 liver the compound thread to the reeler, who puts it through the 

 guides ; another thread is in like manner to be prepared and 

 passed through the other guides, when two skeins are to be 

 wound, and they may be crossed ; the threads are then raised 

 forward and made fast to one of the arms of it. 



" Both threads being fastened to the reel, it is to be turned 

 with a regular, even motion, at first slowly, until the threads are 

 found to run freely and easily ; for it will happen that some of 

 the ends which were taken to compose the thread were false, 

 because on taking off" the floss there may be two or three breach- 

 es made in the beginning of the fibres, which, in winding, will 

 soon end, and must be added anew to make up the number de- 

 signed for the thread. 



" It is proper, therefore, in the beginning of the thread, to put 

 a few more cocoons than it is intended to continue, as they will 

 soon be reduced to the proper number. The crossing of the 

 threads is considered an improvement, though it is sometimes 

 reeled without crossing. 



" As soon as the pods begin to give the threads freely, the 

 reel is turned with a quicker motion. If the pods leap up often 

 to the guide, the reel must be slackened, and the spinner may 

 let the thread pass between the thumb and finger before it 

 reaches the guide. If the thread comes off" in burrs, it must be 



