59 
conditions it will sometimes ran off an almost theoretically perfect 
thread. A great advantage exists in this fact, as the beauty of a piece 
of woven goods depends very largely on the regularity of the raw silk 
entering into its composition. 
In addition to the devices mentioned above, the automatic reel con- 
tains an electrical stop movement by which the motion of the reel is 
arrested upon the rupture of the running thread. It consists of a small 
faller on the end of which is mounted the guide-pulley at E. When the 
thread is running the pulley is drawn in the direction of the refel and an 
electrical contact, ft, placed on the faller, is kept open. Upon the rupture 
of a thread, however, this contact is closed and a suitable mechanical de- 
vice at V is set in operation. by an electro-magnet. The releasing of the 
lever of this apparatus enables the spring on the bell crank L to act on 
the shaft of the reel and draw its friction drum away from its bearing 
on the large drum /, and thus stop its motion so quickly that the end of 
the broken thread will rarely be drawn into the skein. When this ap- 
paratus works promptly and well there results a very considerable 
saving of time in the knotting of the thread, and less waste is produced 
thereby. 
