REELING AND MANUFACTURING SILK. 99 



cocoons, viz. being ill formed, (as they will be when the wornis 

 were disturbed and interrupted during their spinning,) or the 

 fibres may break by iniproper regulation of heat in the water ; 

 first, when it is not suflicient to make the silk come off easy, or 

 second, when it is too great and occasions burrs, which may stop 

 at the holes through which the thread runs ; cocoons also which 

 have two worms inclosed will perpetually break ; the whole 

 thread may also break, by burrs stopping at the holes of the 

 guides, or by the reel being turned by jerks. It may be fastened 

 like the fibres, by laying the parts on one another, and giving 

 them a little twist. 



" A sharp fork may be conveniently made use of to draw 

 away the spent cocoons, or such as being nearly spent, stick at 

 the holes in the guides; and as the whisk will frequently take 

 up more ends than are immediately to be added, and as the 

 spinner will sometimes have occasion to employ both her hands, 

 t^e brush may at that time be conveniently hung up by the ba- 

 sin, while the cocoons which are attached to it remain in the 

 water, and the ends will be in readiness as they are wanted. If 

 the spinner be under the necessity of leaving off work for any 

 length of time, the cocoons should all be raised with a skimming 

 dish out of the water till her return, otherwise by oversoaking 

 they would wind off in burrs ; but it is best to continue the 

 reeling without interruption, and to let fresh, but equally experi- 

 enced persons, succeed those who are tired. The person who 

 turns the wheel should have an eye to the threads and to the 

 guide wires through which they pass, that he may apprise the 

 spinner when any thing is wrong ; for her eyes will be sufficient- 

 ly employed about the cocoons. The reeler may also rectify 

 anything discovered to be amiss in those parts of the thread 

 which are near the reel, for one hand will always be employed, 

 and a stop must occasionally take place. 



" As the heat of the water in the basin will require to be 

 varied according to the ease or difficulty with which the different 

 sorts of cocoons give off their silk, the spinner should always 

 have some cold water within reach, in order to cool that in the 

 basin quickly, when the silk comes off too easily and in burrs. 



