212 SI 
part of the skein will be glued together, whereas the cog¬ 
wheels cannot fail. 
When the skeins are quite dry the reel is removed from 
the frame, and by the folding of two of its arms the skeins 
are taken off. A tie is made with some of the refuse silk 
on that part of each skein where it bore upon the bars of 
the reel, and another tie on the opposite part of the skein; 
after which it is doubled into a hank, aud usually tied round 
near each extremity, when it is laid by for use or sale. 
This operation appears very simple, but to produce a good 
thread requires much attention. The reeler must not wait 
until the thread of a cocoon is entirely exhausted before she 
joins on another, because the threads near the end have not 
above a quarter of their full thickness. The cocoons pro¬ 
duce a very unequal length ; some may be met with which 
yield 1200 ells, whilst others will scarcely afford 200 ells. In 
general the production of a cocoon may be estimated from 
500 to 600 ells in length. As often as the cocoons she 
winds are exhausted, or break, or only diminish, she joins 
fresh ones to keep up the requisite number, or the propor¬ 
tion ; because, as the cocoons wind off, and the thread be¬ 
comes finer, she must join two cocoons half wound to replace 
a new one. Thus she can wind three new ones and two half 
wound, and the silk will be equal to that produced from four 
to five cocoons. When she would join a fresh thread she 
must lay one end on her finger, throw it lightly on the other 
threads which are winding, and the gum will join it imme¬ 
diately, and it will continue to go up with the rest. She 
must not wind off her cocoons to the last, because when 
they are near at an end the husk of the worm joins in with 
the other threads, and makes the silk foul. The silk may 
be wound of any size from one cocoon to 100, but it is 
difficult to wind more than thirty in a thread. 
The nicety of the operation, and that part in which lies 
the greatest difficulty, is to wind an even thread, because as 
the cocoon winds off the end is finer, and other cocoons 
must be joined on to keep up the same size. This difficulty 
of keeping the silk always even is so great, that (excepting a 
thread of two cocoons, which is called such) they do not say 
a silk of three, four or six cocoons; but a silk of three to 
four, four to five or six to seven cocoons. In a coarser silk 
it cannot be calculated even so nearly as to four cocoons more 
or less: thev say, for example, from 12 to 15, from 15 to 
20, and so on. 
During the operation of winding, the woman must always 
have a bowl of cold water by her, to dip her fingers in, 
and to sprinkle frequently upon the iron bar' e, that the 
heat of the basin may not burn the threads, also to cool her 
fingers every time she dips them in the hot water, and to 
pour into the basin when necessary, that is, when the water 
begins to boil. The water must be just in a proper degree 
of heat; for when it is too hot, the thread is dead, and has 
no body ; and when too cold, the ends which form the 
thread do not join well, and form a harsh silk. The heat 
of the water from which the cocoons are wound, causes 
that adhesion of the fibres which compose the silk: a thread 
can with difficulty be wound off when cold water is em¬ 
ployed; but in this manner the adhesion is very slight, and 
the thread breaks with a slight force, or the least moisture 
will separate the fibres; but the silk wound from hot water 
cannot be separated except by hot water. 
The old cocoons require the water to be very hot: if the 
threads break very frequently, it may be concluded that 
the water is too cold; or, on the other hand, if the silk 
comes off entangled, and in the state of wool, the water is 
too hot. When the first parcel of cocoons is finished, the 
basin, A, is cleaned, taking out all the striped worms, as 
well as the cocoons, on which there remains a little silk: 
these are thrown into a basket, into which the loose silk 
that comes off in making the battue is likewise put as waste 
silk, to be carded and spun into threads. The water in the 
basin must be changed four times a day for coarse silk, and 
twice only for good cocoons of fine silk: if the water is 
not changed, the silk will not be bright and glossy, be¬ 
cause the worms contained in the cocoons foul it very con- 
L K. 
siderably. The reeler must endeavour to wind as much 33 
possible with clear water, for if there are too many worms 
in it, the silk will be covered with a kind of dust, which 
afterwards attracts moths, which destroys the silk. 
From the gummy or viscid material which silk gives out 
to water when the cocoons are infused in it, Chappe found 
that he was able to blow up the water into bubbles, or 
small balloons, far more permanent than those of soap and 
water, and offering all the colours of the rainbow. So 
close, indeed, is the texture of these silky bladders, that 
even the most subtile gas does not penetrate them. Chappe 
filled many of them, the diameter of each not exceeding 
three inches, with hydrogen gas, and found several of them 
continued in a state of suspension, in an apartment, for con¬ 
siderably more than twenty-four hours. It is not all silk, 
however, that is sufficiently glutinous for this purpose j 
that which is of a very deep yellow will not answer the same 
purpose. This silk, from its colour, is supposed to be pro¬ 
duced by the worm in a peculiar disease, yet this is a state 
by no means uncommon. 
All kind of silk which is simply drawn from the cocoons 
by the reeling, is called raw silk, but it is denominated fine 
or coarse according to the number of fibres of which the 
thread is composed. In general, the raw silk requires 
dyeing; to prepare for which the thread is very slightly 
twisted, to render it strong, and more able to bear the action 
of the hot liquor, without separating the fibres or furring 
up. Silk-yarn, which is employed by the weavers for the 
woof or weft of the stuffs which they fabricate, is composed 
of two or more threads of the raw silk, slightly twisted in a 
machine; and the thread employed by the stocking weaver 
is of the same quality, but composed of a greater number 
of threads, according to the thickness desired. Organzine 
silk is composed of two, three or four threads of raw silk 
twisted, and so combined as to obtain the greatest strength: 
for this purpose, each thread of raw silk is twisted separately 
upon itself by a mill : the twist is given in a right-handed 
direction, and extremely tight. . By a second operation of 
twisting, two of these threads are combined together, the 
twist being given in a contrary direction, and not above 
half as tight: this forms a thread similar to a rope. This 
description of silk, used for the warp of stuffs, is of 
the utmost importance to the manufacturer, for none of 
the principal articles can be fabricated without it. The 
Italians, from whom we formerly imported the silk in 
the state of organzine, for a long time kept the art of 
throwing it a profound secret. It was introduced into this 
country by the enterprise and skill of Messrs. Thomas and 
John Lombe, the latter having, at the risk of his life, and 
with wonderful ingenuity, taken a plan of one of these 
complicated machines in the king of Sardinia’s dominions, 
from which, on his return, they established a similar set of 
mills in the town of Derby. In consideration of the great 
hazard and expence attending the undertaking, a patent was 
granted to Sir Thomas Lombe in 1718, for securing to him 
the privilege of working organzine for the term of fourteen 
years; but the construction of buildings and engines, and 
the instruction of the workmen, took up so much time, that 
the fourteen years were nearly expired before he could derive 
any advantage from it; in consequence of which he peti¬ 
tioned parliament, in 1731, to grant him a further term: 
but parliament, considering it an object of national im¬ 
portance, granted him the sum of £14,000 on condition 
that he should allow a perfect model of the machinery to 
be taken, and deposited in the Tower of London for public 
inspection. 
The process which the silk undergoes to bring it into 
this state, consists of six different operations. 1. The silk 
is wound from the skein upon bobbins in the winding ma¬ 
chines. 2. It is then sorted into different qualities. 3. It 
is spun or twisted on a mill in the single thread, the twist 
being in the direction of from right to left, and very tight. 
4. Two or more threads thus spun are doubled or drawn 
together through the fingers of a woman, who at the same 
time cleans them, by taking out the slubs which may have 
been 
