302 



ORIENTAL COMMERCE. 



[Ca lent to. 



To judge if silk be clean, the best mode is to open the skein, and stand 

 with your back to a window, so that you look down the extended silk in * 

 the same direction that the light falls; by this means you will easily perceive 

 any foulness that exists, and a very little practice wlU enable any person by 

 a mere coup tTcdl to judge accurately upon this most essential quality of 

 Bengal raw silk. The skein being well shaken, should not exhibit any dust 

 or loose ends. 



The different degrees of fineness and coarseness are denoted by the 

 letters A. B. C. — Silk of 4-5 cocoons is called A. No. 1 ; of 6-8 cocoons A. 

 No. 2; of 8-10 cocoons B. No. I ; of 10-12 cocoons B. No. 2; of 12-14 

 and 16-18 cocoons B. No. 3; of 1S-20 cocoons C. No. 1 ; of 20-22 cocoons 

 C. No. 2; and of 22-21 cocoons, &c. C. No. 3.— All filature silk, or that 

 which is reeled in factories, is included within the above-named letters mid 

 numbers ; but silk which the natives reel by hand, is much coarser, and is 

 marked by the letters A. B. C. D. E. — It must be understood that the A. 1 

 silk of one district in India will importantly differ in fineness from the A. 1 

 silk of another district, dependent upon circumstances of climate, culture, 

 &c. &c. : thus Bauleah filature silk is inferior in fineness to Hadnagore or 

 Cossimbuzai filature silk of corresponding letters, and Comercolly filature 

 silk exceeds these, and so on. 



Each skein of raw silk should be gummed in one part, but not so rauch 

 as to occasion it to adhere too strongly ; a sufficient gumming causes the 

 skein to preserve its regularity of thread ; too much will cause the thread 

 to break in the winding, during the operation of throwing, or preparing for 

 the bands of the consumers. The skeins should also be banded, or bound 

 round in various parts with threads. 



The value of the Bengal raw silk is by no means to be estimated by 

 the lustre or brilliancy of colour. Many have been deceived upon this point ; 

 it therefore becomes the more necessary to guard against similar errors. 

 That these qualities are not essential, appears when we consider that the 

 silk will be dyed before it is manufactured, when both will be necessarily 

 changed. Silk of indifferent colour is often clear and even, which the 

 manufacturers most regard in their purchases, while silk of superior lustre 

 is sometimes deficient in these desirable points ; still colour and lustre are 

 not to be overlooked ; when combined with cleanness and evenness, they 

 give an additional value to Bengal raw silk. Foul silk in the winding is 

 continually liable to break at the kuibs or knots, which renders the work- 

 manship both unpleasant and expensive. 



The demand in England for the several letters continually varies, and 

 it seldom occurs that their value is regulated in ratio with their respective 



