Chap. XVIII. 



REELING PROCESS. 



373 



instances small charcoal fires were lighted and 

 placed under the frame inside the cloth, in order 

 to afford further warmth. In some of the cottages 

 the straw covered with spinning worms was laid 

 in the sun under the verandahs in front of the 

 doors. 



In a few days after the worms are put upon the 

 straw they have disappeared in the cocoons and 

 have ceased to spin. The reeling process now 

 commences, and machines for this purpose were 

 seen in almost every cottage. This apparatus 

 may be said to consist of four distinct parts, or 

 rather, I may divide it into these for the purpose 

 of describing it. There is, first, the pan of hot 

 water into which the cocoons are thrown ; second, 

 the little loops or eyes through which the threads 

 pass ; third, a lateral or horizontal movement, in 

 order to throw the silk in a zigzag manner over 

 the wheel ; and lastly the wheel itself, which is 

 square. Two men, or a man and woman, are 

 generally employed at each wheel. The business 

 of one is to attend to the fire and to add fresh 

 cocoons as the others are wound off. The most 

 expert workman drives the machine with his foot 

 and attends to the threads as they pass through 

 the loops over on to the wheel. Eight, ten, and 

 sometimes twelve cocoons are taken up to form 

 one thread, and as one becomes exhausted, another 

 is taken up to supply its place. Three, and some- 

 times four, of such threads are passing over on to 

 the wheel at the same time. The lateral or zig- 

 L 2 c 2 



