REELING AND MANUFACTURING SILK. 97 



turned quicker. The fire may at any time be increased or 

 diminished, as found necessary, that the reel may be allowed a 

 proper motion, which ought to be as quick as possible without 

 endangering the breaking of the thread, or hurrying the spinner, 

 so that she cannot add fresh cocoons, as fast as the old ones are 

 ended. The quicker the motion of the wheel is, the better the 

 silk winds off and the better the end joins to the thread. One 

 might imagine that the rapidity of the motion might overstrain 

 and break the thread ; but from constant experience it has been 

 found that the thread never breaks from the rapidity of the mo- 

 tion ; but on the contrary, the quicker the motion is, the more 

 advantageous it is for winding the silk. 



" While the reel is turning, the spinner must continually add 

 fresh fibres to each thread as fast as she can find the ends, not 

 waiting till some of the number she began with are ended, be 

 cause the internal fibres are much thinner than those constituting 

 the external layers, but must constantly prepare fresh ends by 

 dipping the whisk among fresh cocoons, of which such a quantity 

 must be occasionally thrown into the basin as will suffice to sup- 

 ply the threads which are reeling, but not more. 



" The cocoons thrown in must be often forced under water that 

 they may be equally soaked, for as they swim with their greater 

 part above water, that part would remain hard and stubborn, 

 while the part which is under water would be too much soaked ; 

 some hot water may be thrown upon them frequently with a 

 brush, and also on the cocoons which are reeling, when they 

 grow dry at the top and yield the fibres with difficulty. The sup- 

 plying fresh ends when the cocoons are exhausted, or diminish- 

 ed, or the fibres break, is performed by taking one end of a fibre 

 and throwing it hghtly on the one that is winding, and rolling 

 them between the thumb and finger, or gently pressing them. 



" As often, therefore, as the cocoons partially wound, are ex- 

 hausted, or the fibres break, fresh ones must be joined to keep 

 up the number requisite, or the proportion ; thus three new ones 

 may be wound and two half wound, or four new ones, and the 

 silk will then be a thread of four or five cocoons. The adroit- 

 ness in adding fresh ends can only be acquired by practice. The 



