31 



and coarser threads, she reeled the thread of four cocoons 

 into one, almost without a break, much to her own delight 

 and to the surprise of my friends and myself. 



The next day, the resulting Tusser raw silk was taken 

 to the throwing mill, and there made into Organzine and 

 Tram, of such fineness as to surprise my friends, who said 

 they had no idea that Tusser silk could be made of so fine 

 a thread, and that they should think seriously about seuding 

 a person to India to collect Tusser cocoons, that their work- 

 people might wind them after their mulberry crop had 

 been finished. 



The usual size — that is, thickness — of thread of thrown Tus- 

 ser silk of commerce was, up to this time, 152 to 255 deniers ; 

 that is, skeins, of 1,000 yards long, weighing 9 to 15 drams. 

 From some of the finer raw silk a size of G to 7 drams 

 was obtained, but it was generally coarser. From the 

 cocoons the reeling of which I superintended I obtained a 

 size of 51 deniers, or three drams, per 1,000 yards. (See 

 No. 15 in the collection.) 



In 1878 I met M. H. Meyer, a silk manufacturer at 

 Milan and one of my colleagues in the silk jury at the 

 Paris Exhibition. He took much interest in my work 

 and its results. From cocoons I afterwards sent him he 

 obtained raw silk of 23-27 deniers, or 1J drams, per 1,000 

 yards. From this he produced Organzine and Tram (warp 

 and weft threads) of 50 to 55 deniers or 3 drams, results 

 agreeing with my own ; which, are also in the collec- 

 tion. He found some of my cocoons very difficult to 

 reel, no doubt owing to their age, and to not having been 

 reeled before weather exposure. Fourteen pounds and 

 a half yielded one pound of raw silk. He informs me that 

 some cocoons he has just purchased in Marseilles were 

 larger in size than those I sent him ; they are darker in 

 colour, but reel much better. He is obtaining from ten 

 pounds of them one pound of raw silk. 



Even a finer thread might be obtained ; but as the fibre 

 is only the y-fo-th P ar t of arL inch, or three times as thick as 

 ordinary silk, I think 51 deniers is a good and practicable 

 limit when native reelers can have proper appliances, and 

 be taught to be as handy as the reelers of Italy or the 

 south of France. I daresay some of my readers may 

 remember the improvements which took place in reeling 

 the mulberry silks of Bengal and Brutia, when superior 

 skill and machinery were introduced, a good many years 

 ago. Before that time, Bengal silks were held in very low 

 estimation, and were very difficult to work, but after the 



