94 THE CALIFORNIA 



animal begins its work in a state of vigor, to the center, 

 where it finishes it in a state of debility and exhaustion, 

 because it can receive no food from the moment of its 

 beginning to spin by spouting forth its silky substance. 

 The winder is attentive to this progressive attenuation, 

 and introduces the commencement of some cocoons to 

 compensate for the termination of others. The quality 

 of raw silk depends therefore very much upon the skill 

 and care bestowed upon the filature. The softest and 

 purest water should be used in the cocoon kettle. 



The quantity of the raw silk is determined by first 

 winding off 400 ells of it, equal to 47 metres, round a 

 drum one ell in circumference, and then weighing that 

 length ; the weight is expressed in grains, 24 of which 

 constitute one denier ; 24-deniers constitute one ounce, 

 and 16 ounces, one pound, poid de marc. This is the 

 Lyons' rule for valuing silk. The weight of a thread 

 of silk four hundred ells long is two grains and a half. 

 When five twin filaments have been reeled and associ- 

 ated together, raw silk is so absorbent of moisture that 

 it may be increased ten per cent, in weight by this 

 means; this property has led to falsifications, which 

 are detected by including weighed portions of the sus- 

 pected silk in a wire cloth cage, and exposing it to a 

 stove heat of about 78 Fahrenheit for twenty-four 

 hours, with a current of air ; the loss of weight it 

 thereby undergoes demonstrates the amount of the 

 fraud. There is an office in Lyons called the " Con- 

 dition," where this assay is made, and by the report 

 of which the silk is bought and sold. The laws in 



