57 



not be laid down, because that, in a great measure, 

 must depend upon the composition of the silk of the co- 

 coons, which cannot be nscertained until the reeling has 

 commenced. Such is the difference in cocoons, that while 

 some can be reeled from water heated from 160 B and 

 indeed less, others will require a temperature of 200. 

 Some point between 150 and 190 is probably the right 

 one, but what that point is can easily be ascertained, 

 as whenever the cocoons yield /reefy, it has been already 

 found, and the heat of the water should be maintained 

 at it. By immersing the thermometer in the water at 

 any time, the precise required heat can be determined, 

 and may be preserved at that by submitting the water 

 repeatedly to the test of the instrument. The water 

 should never exceed 200 P , and never that or any thing 

 like it, unless absolutely required by the condition of 

 the cocoons, and in order to arrive at the exact heat 

 wanted, the increase should be gradually carried for- 

 ward. There is no mystery at arriving at this point 

 all that is requisite is attention : with this the person 

 engaged in reeling will be able to graduate the tern- 

 perature with the least difficulty. 



When the spent cocoons leap up and adhere to the 

 iron plate, they must be immediately taken away, else 

 by choking the passage, they will endanger the break- 

 ing of the thread. 



When the reel hag remained any time idle, the thread 

 between the basin and the wires or Yampins, must be 

 vfet to cause the thread to run easily. Keep also the 

 teeth of the wheels, and the mortises in which the 

 traversing bar plays, wet, to ensure regularity and ease 

 to their movements. In winding the good cocoons, some 

 defective ones will be found among them, which will 

 not wind off, or are full of knots. These must be taken 

 out of the copper, and be kept by themselves ; they are 

 called bassinats, and are to be wound apart as coarse as 

 possible : they make afoul silk. 



The breaking of the fibres is principally owing eithrr 

 to bad cocoons, viz: being ill formed owing to the 

 worms being disturbed during their spinning : or the 

 fibres may break by an improper regulation of heat in 

 the water : first, when it is not sufficient to make them 

 wind off easy ; or, second, when it is too great, and oc- 

 casions burrs, which may stop at some of the holes 

 through which the thread runs. Cocoons also which 

 have two worms enclosed, will perpetually break. The 

 whole thread may also break, by burrs stopping at the 

 holes of the plate or by the reels being turned by jerks. 

 It may be fastened like the fibres, by laying the parts 

 on one another, and giving them a little twist. To 

 avoid the breaking, occasioned by burrs, the rampins 

 should be just so wide as to let them easily pass. 



It would be convenient for the spinner to have a lit- 

 tle stick erected close to the side of the basin, to hang 

 her wisk on, and also a sharp fork, with which she 

 may draw away the spent cocoons, or such as being 

 near spent, stick in the holes in the plate : and as the 

 whisk will frequently take up more ends than are im- 

 mediately to be added, and as the spinner will some- 

 times have occasion to employ both her hands, the brush 

 will, at that time, conveniently hang by the basin, 

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

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

 wanted. When the cocoons rise to the iron plate, they 

 are to be drawn down between the fingers of the snread 

 hand. 



If the spinner be under the necessity of leaving off 

 work for any length of time, the cocoons should all be 

 raised with a skimmer out of the water, till her return, 

 otherwise by oversoaking they would run off in burrs ; 

 but it is best to continue the reeling without interrup- 

 tion, and let fresh, but equally experienced persons 

 succeed those who are tired. 



As the heat of the water of the basin will require to 

 be varied according to the ease or difficulty with which 



8 



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. The water 

 is also necessary for the woman managing the cocoons, 

 to cool her fingers, and to sprinkle the iron bar when it 

 becomes heated. Some light wood, chips or shavings, 

 should also be at Hand to increase the heat quickly, 

 when the cocoons do not yield their silk readily. The 

 water in which the cocoons are heated must be pure, 

 soft nnd clear of sand or settlings. 



When the cocoons are first put in the water, if the 

 silk rises thick upon the brush, or gets in lump^, it 

 is a eign the water is too hot : if the thread cannot be 

 caught, the water is too cold. When the cocoons are 

 in play, if they rise often to the holes in the iron plate, 

 the water is too hot , if the cocoon do not follow the 

 threads, it is too eoW. 



Keep nn equal number of cocoons working at each 

 end of the hasin in order to preserve the thread of silk 

 to an equal size. When there are fewer on one side 

 than the other, the silk becomes smaller at that side, 

 and the thread will break. Therefore, throw in the co- 

 coons one by one, and never throw two at a time. 



It will be seen by observing the position of the thread 

 upon the reel, that the ditlerent layers do not lie paral- 

 lel to, nor upon, but across one another. This is owing 

 to the mechanism of the apparatus, and is particularly 

 contrived to effect this object ; which is essential to the 

 perfection of the process, and one to which the ac- 

 knowledged superiority of the Italian silk is to be as- 

 cribed. It is effected by the seesaw or horizontal mo- 

 tion of the traversing bar, and is produced by the dif- 

 ferent number of the teeth in the pinion of the axle, 

 and in the wheels at the ends of the shaft, and in the 

 pinions on the top of the post, which catch and work 

 upon one another. Without this crossing, the thread", 

 from their gummy nature, would inevitably adhere, and 

 render the subsequent windings and twistings of the 

 silk very difficult ; causing the threads frequently to 

 break, and when joined to form knots, which, in weav- 

 ing, cannot pass through the reed*, apd hence injure the 

 beauty of the stuffs. But the mechanism mentioned of 

 the traversing bar, prevents the threads lying over 

 each upon the other, upon the reel, until after it has 

 made many revolutions. It is stated by Borgnis in the 

 Traite de Mechanique, that the silk fibres of the cocoons 

 are spun in zigzags, like those formed by the silk reel, 

 and, consequently, the operation of the reel is an imita- 

 tion of nature, of which the industry of the catterpillar, 

 instructed by her, is the prototype. 



Count Dandolo, says, that it is a well known fact, that 

 of two reelers, each reeling 7 1-2 pounds of cocoons of 

 the same quality, one will obtain only six ounces and 

 a half, or, perhaps still less, while another will turn off 

 eight ounces. 



A woman experienced in the business, with a girl to 

 turn the wheel and attend the fire under the cauldron, 

 can, with ease, reel off one pound of silk per day, con- 

 sisting of four or five cocoons of the most perfect.quali- 



*y- 



When a desired quantity of silk has been wound on 

 the reel, pick off all the loose silk; then take a little 

 handful of the coarse silk, and after washing nn.5 

 squeezing it, dip it in cold water, and rub over the silk 

 on the reel, stroking up also the silk with the palm of 

 the hand : then turn the wheel with a II possible veloci- 

 ty, with open windows, if the reeling has been done in 

 a room for eight or ten minutes to dry the silk pffertiv 

 ally; which done, take it off the reel, put it i,n a Hry, airy 

 place, but not in the sun. This is done to clear the 

 silk and give it a gloss. 



When one reel is taken off, another should be p"t on, 

 that the work may not be delayed. Every winding ap* 

 paratus must have two reels. 



