&ilk Manufacture. 277 



yet infinitely more than he could reckon ; so that he believed him- 

 self to be far within the limit of truth in computing that the tip of each 

 of the five papillae furnished 1000 separate fibres: thus supposing 

 that one slender filament of a spider's web is made up of 5000 fibres. 



' The threads produced by spiders are of two kinds. The first, 

 which serves only to form the web which the insect spreads to intrap 

 its prey, is very fragile ; while the second, which is used to inclose 

 the eggs of the female, is much stronger, thus affording to them shel- 

 ter from cold, and protection from other insects which might other- 

 wise destroy them. The threads are, in this operation, wound very, 

 loosely round the eggs, in a shape resembling that of the cocoon of 

 the silkworm, after it has been prepared and loosened for the distaff. 



' When first formed, the color of these spiders' bags is gray, but, 

 by exposure to the air, they soon acquire a blackish hue. Other spi- 

 der bags might probably be found of other colors, and affording silk 

 of better quality, but their scarcity would render any experiment with 

 them difficult of accomplishment ; for which reason M. Bon con- 

 fined his attention to the bags of the common sort of the short-legged 

 kind. 



' These always form their bags in some place sheltered from the 

 wind and rain, such as the hollow trunks of trees, the corners of windows 

 or vaults, or under the eaves of houses. A quantity of these bags 

 was collected by M. Bon, from which anew kind of silk was made, 

 said to be in no respect inferior to the silk of the bombyx. It took 

 readily all kinds of dyes, and might have been wrought into any de- 

 scription of silken fabric. M. Bon had stockings and gloves made 

 from it, some of which he presented to the Royal Academy of Pa- 

 ris, and others he transmitted to the Royal Society of London. 



' This silk was prepared in the following manner : — Twelve or thir- 

 teen ounces of the bags were beaten with the hand, or by a stick, un- 

 til they were entirely freed from dust. They were next washed in 

 warm water, which was continually changed, until it no longer became 

 clouded or discolored by the bags under process. After this they 

 were steeped in a large quantity of water wherein soap, saltpetre, and 

 gum arabic had been dissolved. The whole was then set to boil 

 over a gentle fire during three hours, after which the bags were rins- 

 ed in clear warm water to discharge the soap. They were finally 

 set out to dry, during £ome days previous to the operation of card- 

 ing, which was then performed with cards differing from those usual- 

 ly employed with silk in being much finer. By these means silk of 

 a peculiar ash color was obtained, which was spun without difficul- 

 ty. M. Bon affirmed that the thread was both stronger and finer 

 than common silk, and that therefore fabrics similar to those made 

 with the latter material might be manufactured from this, there being 



