Under the head Silk-Worm, will be found an account of the first introduction of the insects, and the commencement of the manufacture in the western empire. From thence it spread into Sicily and Italy; and during the time that the French occupied Milan (1521), artisans were conveyed by Francis I. to Lyons, and under his protection, the manufacture of silk made great progress.

When the Duke of Parma took and plundered the city of Antwerp in 1585, a great proportion of the merchants and artisans took refuge in England; these introduced the silk manufacture into this country, which was fostered and encouraged by the English government. Before this period the produce of the silk-worm had been little seen in England.

The climate of England has not been found favourable for the rearing of silk-worms; repeated attempts have been made from time to time to cultivate the breed, but they have always failed. It was supposed that the British settlements in America would prove more favourable for this purpose, and in several of them the experiment was made, but from some cause or other, these were not more successful than those of the mother country.

The manufacture of silk goods has been the object of solicitous care to the British government, and various enactments were made by successive monarchs, with the view of encouraging it in this country. It received a great stimulus in 1685, when the revocation of the edict of Nantes banished from France multitudes of her most industrious and skilful artificers, which greatly benefited the countries that sheltered the injured emigrants. About 70,000 took refuge in England and Ireland, and transplanted various branches of the useful arts to different districts of this country. A large body of silk weavers settled in Spitalfields, where descendants of many of them may still be found.

England was, however, entirely dependent on foreigners for organizing silk thread, till Mr. Lombe of Derby, in the year 1718, having gone to Italy in the disguise of a common workman, took drawings of the silk-throwing machinery in Piedmont, and, on his return, erected a large mill on the river Derwent at Derby. The extensive and powerful machinery of this mill contained 26,586 wheels, and 97,746 movements, which worked 73,726 yards of organized silk thread, by every revolution of the water-wheel, which revolved three times in the minute, and thus produced 318,504,960 yards of organized silk per day.

The silk manufacture continued to increase in England, though the workmen were constantly clamouring against the importation of foreign goods. With a view to encourage the manufacture, an act was passed (3 Geo. I. cap. 15) for granting bounties on the exportation of silk fabrics; this was, however, no more than a drawback of part of the duties paid on the importation of the raw silk. In 1741, permission was given to the Russia Company to import the raw silk of Persia at the same rate of duty as from the Levant; and, in 1749, the same reduction was made on the duties on raw silk imported by the East India Company from China. In 1764, the fashion of the times running in favour of French silks, and the wages of the English weavers being low, and work scarce, the operatives assembled in great multitudes, and in a tumultuous manner presented petitions to Parliament praying for the total prohibition of foreign wrought silks. By the representation which the operatives made of their sufferings, Parliament was induced to reduce the duties on raw and thrown silk, and entirely to prohibit the importation of certain articles of manufactured silk goods. The operative weavers did not, however, derive those benefits from the prohibitions against importation, which they expected, and they had frequently recourse to combinations to force their masters to raise their wages. These disputes between the masters and workmen having led to violence and riot, an act was passed in 1773, and confirmed by two subsequent acts, empowering the aldermen of London, and the magistrates of Middlesex to fix the wages of the Spitalfields weavers. But it is unnecessary to recapitulate the applications of the operatives and manufacturers for protection against foreign competition, and the attempts of the legislature to encourage the manufacture by restrictive and prohibitory enactments from 1773 to 1824; the silk trade in England, from the futile attempts to bolster it up, was kept in an artificial and languishing state. The manufacturer, depending upon the protection of Parliamentary restrictions on foreign competition, rather than on his own skill and exertions, was not anxious to discover and introduce improvements into the manufacture. Since the change of system, the imports of the raw material, and the exports of the manufactured article have rapidly increased; at present the value of the manufacture is supposed to exceed £10,000,000 annually, and considerable quantities of manufactured silk are exported to France itself. The following Table shows the Quantities of Raw and Manufactured Silk, Imported, Exported, and retained for Consumption, during the years 1836 and 1837, with the Rates of Duty.

| DESCRIPTION | Quantities Imported | Quantities Exported | Quantities retained for consumption | Rates of Duty | |-------------|---------------------|--------------------|-------------------------------------|--------------| | | 1836 | 1837 | 1836 | 1837 | 1836-7 | | Silk, Raw, viz. | | | | | | | From India, | 1,420,961 | 1,261,997 | | | | | Cape of Good Hope, | ... | 27,011 | | | | | China, | 1,277,027 | 1,754,252 | | | | | Turkey, Syria, | 677,833 | 371,561 | | | | | and Egypt, | | | | | | | Italy, | 180,749 | 111,003 | | | | | France, | 816,581 | 556,882 | | | | | Other countries, | 79,924 | 63,835 | | | | | Total of Raw Silk, | 4,453,081 | 4,146,481 | | | 1d. p lb. | | Silk, Waste, Knubs, and Husks, viz. | | | | | | | From India, | 32,490 | 41,349 | | | | | China, | 224 | 5,960 | | | | | Italy, | 286,544 | 180,288 | | | | | France, | 1,202,030 | 692,851 | | | | | Other countries, | 87,001 | 22,833 | | | | | Total of Waste, Knubs, and Husks, | 1,608,289 | 943,281 | | | 1s. p cwt. | | Silk, Thrown, viz. | | | | | | | From Italy, | 12,040 | 352 | Foreign Thrown. | | | | France, | 345,316 | 171,531 | British Thrown. | | | | Other countries, | 39,304 | 59,290 | Nil | | | | Total of Thrown Silk, | 396,660 | 231,203 | 24,061 | 29,974 | | | Silk Manufactured Goods, viz. | | | | | | | Manufactures of Europe, | | | | | | | Silk or Satin, and Silk or Satin Ribbons, Gauze, and Gauze Ribbons, | 137,052 | 121,046 | 7,595 | 6,789 | Per lb. | | Tissue Foulards, | 15,150 | 23,292 | 735 | 606 | 114,234 Plain, 11s.; figured, 15s. | | Crapé, Velvet, and Velvet Ribbons, | 15,399 | 8,165 | 27 | 71 | 22,864 Plain, 17s.; figured, 27s. 6d. | | Ribbons embossed or figured with velvet, | 3,251 | 4,862 | 121 | 91 | 8,165 L.30 p cent. ad valorem | | Fancy Silk, Net or Tricot, | 16,506 | 18,555 | 992 | 1,581 | 4,608 Crapé, 16s.; lisse or China, 18s. | | Silk mixed with metal, | 552 | 1,878 | 12 | 66 | 16,967 Plain, 22s.; figured, 27s. 6d. | | Total, entered by weight, | 3,450 | 4,269 | 61 | 23 | 1,563 17s. | | Plain Silk, Lace, or Net, called Tulle, | 322 | 382 | 30 | 175 | 4,245 24s. | | Total, entered at value, | 191,682 | 182,359 | 9,673 | 9,402 | 21 L.40 p cent. ad valorem | | Millinery, | | | | | | | Turbans or Caps, number | 433 | 564 | 108 | 61 | 10,555 1s. 4d. per square yard. | | Hats or Bonnets, | 762 | 641 | 254 | 251 | 357 15s. each, or L.40 p cent. ad valorem | | Dresses, | 203 | 323 | 57 | 189 | 458 25s. each, or L.40 p cent. ad valorem | | Entered at value, | 6 | 21 | ... | ... | 11350s. each, or L.40 p cent. ad valorem | | Manufactures of Silk, or of Silk and other materials, not particularly enumerated, | 93,512 | 91,302 | 7,082 | 6,459 | 21 L.40 p cent. ad valorem | | Manufactures of India, Bandanoes, Romans, and Silk Handkerchiefs, | 351,066 | 561,398 | 220,785 | 322,515 | 84,483 L.30 p cent. ad valorem | | Silks and Crapes in pieces, | 3,943 | 18,383 | 4,615 | 8,300 | L.20 p cent. ad valorem | | Crape shawls, scarfs, and handkerchiefs, | 8,119 | 12,214 | 4,587 | 10,325 | 1,314 1,354 | | num. | | | | | | Nothing more fully demonstrates the folly of attempting to encourage manufactures by prohibiting importation than the history of the silk trade. The greatest importation of raw and thrown silk which took place in any one year, previously to the repeal of the prohibitory system, was in 1833, when the quantity imported was 2,432,286 lbs.; while, by the foregoing table, it appears that 5,320,965 lbs. were imported in 1837; at the same time that the official value of our silk manufactures exported during the same period, was L140,520 during 1823, and L503,673 during 1837; of which, the proportion exported to France was L43,144.

Those who are best qualified to form an opinion, consider the duty of 30 per cent. on the importation of silk goods still too high, and that the duty should be reduced to 15 or 10 per cent.

In no country has the silk manufacture made more rapid advances of late years than in Prussia. In 1831, the number of looms was 8,956; in 1834, they had increased to 12,044; and in 1837, to 14,111.

The following table shows the excess of exports from Prussia over the amount of the imports:

| Year | Imports | Exports | Excess of Exports | |------|---------|---------|------------------| | 1834 | 254,985 | 559,079 | 304,094 | | 1835 | 201,981 | 762,004 | 560,023 | | 1836 | 225,381 | 847,826 | 622,445 |

The duty on the importation of silk goods into Prussia, is 110 dollars per centner, or 2s. 9d. per lb., which is almost five per cent. on the value of the goods. The import duty on mixed silk goods is 55 dollars per centner, which is equal to 1s. 4½d. per lb., or almost nine per cent. ad valorem.

Silk Manufacture. The processes of silk manufacture fall under two great divisions. The one, comprehending all those operations undergone by the silk in its preparation for textile or other purposes; and the other, those by which the prepared silk is formed into the various beautiful creations of the loom. The operations comprehended in the first division being for the most part peculiar to this manufacture, are those which will here occupy our attention; while those of the second division, being common to the various textile substances, will be found described under the general head Weaving.

In other textile substances, the manufacturer operates upon bundles of short fibres, which, by drawing out and twisting together, he forms into continuous threads; but in the case of silk, a very different treatment is for the most part required. Here the silk-worm is the spinner, and art is called in, not to join short filaments, but so to strengthen the delicate threads of the worm by combination, as to fit them to endure the manipulations to which they are afterwards subjected. We have said for the most part, for this reason, that, from the manner in which the worm labours, there arises a necessity for two modes of operating, one of the nature already described, the other analogous to that of the cotton-spinner; and that the reader may be prepared to understand the reason for this, and many other peculiarities arising from the same cause, we shall here present him with a sketch of the manner in which the worm produces the material to be operated upon; and this sketch needs to be but brief, as in the article Silk-Worm, immediatelysequent, the fullest information will be found. When the silk-worm has arrived at that stage of its existence at which it begins to spin, it ceases to feed, grows restless, and moves about, seeking a place wherein to commence its labours. When it has found a corner or hollow fit for its purpose, it attaches long threads from side to side, to form supports for its work; these it does not dispose in any regular manner, but crosses and recrosses them in such a way, as to make Silk Manufacture as strong as the situation will admit of. In ply-ing its labours, the little creature by degrees narrows their sphere, and when it has enclosed a space of about the size of a pigeon's egg, its work assumes a more regular character, and shortly presents the appearance of a loose silken ball of an oval shape, with the worm labouring inside of it. In a little while, the increasing compactness of the ball renders the labours of the worm no longer evident to the eye, and that it continues to work can only be known by the noise within. When all sound has ceased, the formation of silk has also ceased. Although from the compactness of the ball, the worm labours unseen, we can yet tell by after dissection, and by the unwinding of the thread, that it does not lay its thread regularly round the inside of the ball, but to and fro from one spot to another, for many times, gradually shifting its position, until it has gone over the whole surface, and so gradually, that a great many yards of thread may be unwound without once turning the ball. The substance of which the thread of the silk-worm is composed, is secreted by the animal in the form of a fine yellow transparent gum, and exuded by two minute orifices beneath its jaw; hence the thread is a twin one, formed of two threads proceeding from these orifices, cemented together by a gummy substance, similar to that of which they are formed; and when the worm has finished its labour of spinning, it smears over the whole interior surface of its work with the same gum, doubtless for the purpose of protecting it in its chrysalis state from rain. If we examine the finished work of the worm, we shall find it to consist first of those filaments used as supports, and next of a ball of a loose texture and irregular construction, serving as an envelope for another ball, compact in its nature, and regular in its formation, within which the worm lies enshrouded. This compact ball is called a cocoon, and its soft envelope floss silk. The thread of the cocoon, from the regularity of its deposition, can be unwound to the end, and the operations to which it is subjected are those of doubling, twisting, twining, and their accessories, classed under the name of silk throwing. The floss silk, with the additions afterwards to be noticed, is not unwound, but, under the name of waste, has its filaments hackled, combed, and reduced to short lengths, and then carded and spun in a manner analogous to those of cotton.

When the spinning of the cocoons is accomplished, a selection of those that are to be kept for breeding is made, and the remainder are assorted according to their qualities. These are generally reckoned nine, and are as follows:

1st, Good cocoons; these are strong, firm, and nearly equal at both ends, not very large, but free from spots.

2nd, Calcined cocoons, in which the worm has died, and been reduced to powder by a disease which sometimes attacks them after having completed their work.

3rd, Cocalons, larger and less compact than the good cocoons.

4th, Choquettes, cocoons in which the worm had died before it had finished spinning; the silk is fine, but apt to furze in winding.

5th, Dupion, or double cocoons, containing two or more larvae; these are difficult to unwind, and are often kept for seed.

6th, Soufflon, cocoons of so loose and soft a texture, as to be almost transparent; these cannot be unwound.

7th, Pointed cocoons. In these one end rises in a point, which breaks off after a little silk has been unwound, and so spoils the thread.

8th, Perforated cocoons, from which the moth has made its way out.

9th, Bad choquettes, in which the silk is spotted, rotten, and blackish in colour.

The first operation to be performed, preparatory to the unwinding of the silk from the cocoon, is to destroy the vi- Silk Manufactory of the contained worm. The means used for this is heat, either natural or artificial; sometimes simple exposure to the solar rays will effect this object; but in climates where these have not power, some artificial heat must be employed, such as the heat of steam or of an oven, but more generally that of the latter. In this case, the heat should not be greater than what is usual in the oven after the bread has been withdrawn. Long shallow baskets are taken and filled nearly to their tops with cocoons, and are covered over, first with paper, and then with a cloth. In these baskets, the cocoons are exposed to the heat of the oven for nearly an hour, and on being withdrawn, several cocoons are chosen from the part of the basket least exposed to the heat, and the chrysalides in them stripped and pricked with a needle. If upon being pricked, they give no sign of animation, it may be fairly presumed that the destruction of the creatures has been accomplished. Before the silk of the cocoons can be reeled off, it is necessary to separate them from the floss in which they are enveloped; this is effected by opening the floss covering at one end, and protruding the cocoon. It is of the greatest importance in the reeling process, that all the cocoons reeled together be of one class.

The apparatus for reeling is sketched in fig. 1, and to avoid confusion, the working parts only are shewn: \(a\) is a bath or vessel of water, which, when of the best construction, is heated by steam. Into this the cocoons are put, that the gum which retains the thread in its place may be so much softened as to permit the thread to be unwound; the bath is usually divided by three partitions into four divisions, each of which may contain about five cocoons; \(b b b\) are wires with eyelets at their ends, through which the filaments from the cocoons are put. In their upward progress towards the reel, the groups of filaments are made to cross and recross each other, before their final combination at the last eyelet, and by the friction thus produced, they are freed from adhering impurities; \(c\) is the reel driven by a belt from the pulley \(d\), which is itself driven by the prime mover, whatever that may be; \(f\) is a tumbler, whose end carries a pulley, which presses on the belt that drives the reel; by lifting up the long end of the tumbler, the belt is slackened, and the reel stops. The filaments, when combined at the upper eyelet, pass along the guide \(e e\), and through eyelets at its ends; this guide has a pin projecting from its under side, working in a spiral groove cut round the barrel \(h\); by this it receives a reciprocating motion, and so spreads the filaments equally over the reel.

The filaments, in their passage from the bath to the reel, must necessarily traverse a considerable space, to allow their softened gum to be again hardened by the air, that they may not afterwards adhere together.

In the place where the reeling of silk is performed, many of these machines are arranged along the building, and driven by the moving power through a shaft extending the whole length, carrying on it pulleys at the proper intervals. In working the apparatus, the reelers, who is generally a woman, sits at the bath, and having taken a number of cocoons, immerses them in the water. When their gum is sufficiently softened to permit the thread to come off, the reelers takes a whisk formed of fine twigs bound together, and cut off evenly at the ends at about six inches long, and with it she gently presses and stirs the cocoons, and entangles their loose threads on its points; she then raises her whisk with the threads attached to it, disengages them from Silk Manufactory, and draws their ends through her fingers, to remove any adhering floss or impurity; this cleaning process is called battue. Having thus freed the ends of such a number of the filaments as she means to use, she passes them through the various eyelets in the manner previously mentioned, and attaches them to the reel; when this is accomplished, the reel is put in motion by dropping the end of the tumbler, and the filaments are drawn from the cocoons. It is the province of the reelers so to regulate the motion of the reel, and the heat of the water, that the silk may come off the cocoons regularly, not in lumps, which shows that the water is too hot; nor in such a manner as that the cocoon shall be tossed out of the bath, which shows that the silk is yielded with difficulty, from the water being too cold sufficiently to soften the gum.

From the threads of the cocoons being finer near their termination than at their commencement, it becomes necessary for the reelers to add other cocoons before the first set is quite exhausted; and it is her care to do so in such a manner, as that the requisite thickness of the compound thread may be kept up throughout. It is generally considered, that the filaments of three fresh cocoons added to two half-wound ones, make a thread equal to that from four fresh cocoons.

The cocoons are not entirely wound off, but the husk, or hairré, in which the worm lies, is left, and used along with the floss silk, under the name of waste.

Every eleven or twelve pounds of cocoons generally yield one pound of reeled silk; and as it takes from 240 to 250 cocoons to weigh one pound, the number of cocoons necessary to produce one pound of silk, may be reckoned to be 2817\(\frac{1}{2}\); some cocoons may yield about 625 yards of silk, but the average is stated to be 300 yards, consequently the pound of silk filament, as produced by the worm, would, if stretched out, reach the amazing length of 480 miles.

When a sufficient quantity of silk is reeled off, it is doubled into a hank for use or sale; and it is in this state that it generally comes to be operated upon by our manufacturers,—the hanks by the silk throwster, the waste by the silk spinner.

It is of the utmost importance in the succeeding manufacture, that this reeling process should be well performed. Sometimes from the temperature of the water used to soften the gum being too high during the reeling, the parts of the hank of silk that lie on the spokes of the reel become very hard, and occasion the breaking of the thread in the after processes. Sometimes, too, when in the reeling process the threads happen to break, the ends are again only laid upon one another, and not connected by tying; the threads consequently come off the hanks in short lengths, and much trouble and loss of time is experienced in searching for the other end; and sometimes the reelers, either from inattention or design, reel off the whole of the thread of the cocoons, by which an exceedingly foul silk is produced. Not unfrequently, also, coarse and fine silks are reeled together in the same hank; and, what is of common occurrence, the hanks when reeled are twisted up so tight, that the untwisting of them greatly damages the silk. But the greatest injury to the manufacturer arises from dishonesty on the part of those who produce the reeled silk; and this remark applies especially to the coarser descriptions of the Brutia silk. To get rid of their waste the producers of this silk roll up the refuse of the cocoon into what are here technically called dodles, and insert these into the hanks in such a manner, that they cannot be discerned by the purchaser; they also have a method of mixing their waste with the good silk while it is being reeled, and as it cannot again be separated from it without great injury, this mode of vitiating the silk is more It may be wound, cleaned, and thrown, and is then silk manu- called thrown singles, and used for ribbons and common silks.

If wound, cleaned, doubled, and thrown, which twists it into one direction, it is called tram, and is used for the woof or shute of Gros de Naples, velvets, and flowered silks.

If wound, cleaned, spun, doubled, and then thrown, so as to be of the nature of twine, or the strand of a rope, it is call- ed organzine, which, from its strength, is used for warp.

any of these states, before being subjected to the operation of scouring, is termed hard, but after it is by scouring deprived of its stiffening-gum, it is called soft.

The operations of the throwster are generally carried on in a building which admits of an apartment being allotted to each description of machines, and these apartments are generally in stories. All the machines used in the pro- cesses are each made up of a repetition of the same parts, each part being a distinct and separate apparatus, capable of performing its work independent of its fellows; and these are arranged in juxtaposition in the machine, in order that the moving power may be conveniently applied to a long series of them. The length of the machines is regulated by the extent of the building, and the manner of their arrangement. A manner of arranging them is here sketched (fig. 2). The apartment is supposed to be about thirty-eight feet wide, and the machines are placed alwart the room, so as to afford a passage four feet in width along the centre, and at such a distance lengthways, as to give room for the workers to attend to their charge. Two shafts traverse each apart- ment in the direction of the dotted lines, and carry on them pulleys, or toothed wheels, opposite to each machine; a belt from each pulley is carried over a corresponding pulley on the end of the main shaft of each machine, or the toothed wheels are con- nected by proper gearing with the shafts of the machines, and so motion is given to the whole.

The rooms are generally heated by steam, and the tem- perature of the apartments, when above the minimum of 50°, is regulated more by a regard to the health of the workers, than from any necessity for a particular temperature in the operations; but these cannot be performed with advantage when the temperature is allowed to fall below 50°.

The first machine or apparatus used is the winding-ma- chine, or that by which the reeled hanks are wound on bobbins, to prepare them for the subsequent processes. A perspective sketch of this machine is shewn in fig. 3. Along

Fig. 2.

Fig. 3. Silk Manufactory each side of the machine, at \(a\), directly under the line of facture. Bobbins \(b\), run two shafts, called frame shafts, or frame friction-shafts; on these shafts at each bobbin are fixed two friction-pulleys, of about \(4\frac{1}{2}\) inches diameter; and on the axis of each bobbin are fixed two corresponding pulleys, about \(1\frac{1}{2}\) inch diameter. The friction-pulleys of the bobbins rest upon those of the shaft, and receive motion from them. Opposite to each bobbin is a wire, with an eyelet at its end, fixed to a bar of wood \(c\), called the traverse bar. This bar, with the eyelets attached, has an alternating motion, right and left, through a space equal to the length of that part of a bobbin on which the silk is to be wound. In front of these eyelets are fixed the guide-rods, or friction rods, \(d\), over which the threads glide in their passage from the reel to the bobbins, and which are formed of polished iron, and in front of these the reels \(e\), are placed on their bearers \(f\). At every seventh bobbin or so is placed a main frame, like \(g\), and between these stretch bars of wood, for the support of the bobbin and reel bearers. Motion is given to the bobbins, we have said, by the lying shafts bearing friction-pulleys, and the threads being passed from the reels, over the friction-bars \(d\), through the eyelets, and attached to the bobbins, are, by the motion of the latter, wound up, and drag round the reel on which the hank is fixed. The bobbins are, with their friction-pulleys, represented in figs. 4, 5, and 6. Fig. 4, a section; fig. 5, a front view, and fig. 6, a plan: \(a\) is the lying-shaft, with one of its friction-pulleys \(b\), and on this rests the friction-pulley \(c\), of one of the bobbins \(d\); the axis of the bobbin is confined laterally by working in the groove \(e\) of the bearer, but has perfect freedom of motion up and down, so that its friction-pulley may remain in contact with that of the shaft. If, during the process, a thread happens to break, the bobbin is lifted out of its working-groove and placed in the higher groove \(f\), by which its friction-pulley is kept from touching the friction-pulley of the shaft, and it consequently remains at rest; but when, after the damage has been repaired, it is lifted into its former position, its motion is immediately resumed. In front of the bobbin is seen the traverse bar \(g\), carrying the wire \(h\), with its eyelet for the thread; this traverse bar is moved by an eccentric in such a manner, as not to spread the thread equally over the bobbins, but to heap it up more in the middle than at the ends.

The reels are called swifts, and are formed of twelve light spokes, about \(16\frac{1}{2}\) inches long, inserted into a wooden nave in pairs, so as to form a six-sided reel; the nave has an iron axle, which turns freely on its bearings. The hanks not being all of one size, makes it necessary to have a reel, the diameter of which may be varied. Various means of adapting the reel to the size of the hank have been and still are used. Amongst others, one deserves notice; it is, where each spoke of the reel is made in two parts, the one fixed to the nave, formed of tube containing a spiral spring, the other formed of a light rod, nicely fitting the tube, the opposite pairs of rods being joined together by a cross bar, forming the periphery of the reel. When it is wished to put a hank on a reel of this kind, one of the pairs of spokes is pushed into the tubes, and the hank slipped on; the spiral springs now exert their force, and throw out the pressed-in spokes with such a force, as to keep the reel in a proper state of tension. But the method generally adopted, if not so elegant, is more simple. The spokes in this case are formed of lance-wood, and the outer extremity of each pair are rather farther asunder than the ends which are inserted into the nave, and are connected together by a band of small cord passed several times round them; on these bands the hank or skein of silk rests; and, by slipping the bands along the spokes nearer to or further from the centre, the diameter of the reel can be adapted to the size of the hank; and when the hank is stretched the bands can be moved in any way, so as to balance the hank, which, as will be afterwards seen, is a matter of considerable importance. Each pair of spokes, it has been mentioned, slightly diverge as they proceed from the nave; and, as they are again slightly drawn towards each other by the bands, the tendency to return to their natural position effectually retains the band in any place to which it may be slipped. It has been said, that the reels turn freely on their supports, but it is necessary to create such a friction as will prevent them giving off the silk faster than it can be taken up by the bobbins; this is sometimes done by a spring being made to press upon the nave of the reel, but more commonly by hanging on its centre a wooden ring, to which weights may be hung, so as to create such a degree of friction on the reel, and consequently, of tension upon the thread, between the reel and the bobbin, as may be desired. The subjoined sketch (figs. 7 and 8.) shews the reel as it has been described: \(a\) is the nave, \(b\) the lance-wood spokes, \(c\) the bands of cords forming the periphery of the reel, \(d\) the friction-ring, with the weight hanging on it.

Referring again to fig. 3, it will be seen, that in front of the swifts are bars of wood, extending along both sides of the machine; their use is to support the bars which carry the swifts, and to prevent the persons of those who work the machines from coming in contact with the reels; from this last use they are termed knee-rails.

Previous to the hanks being put upon the swifts, they are washed in a solution of soap and water, which cleans the silk without depriving it of its gum. In putting the hanks on the reel care is taken to balance them, as were one side heavier than another, it would be apt to fall suddenly, after having passed the highest point, in turning, and thereby injure the thread.

The winding-machines, under the general superintendence of a man called a steward, are tended by girls, who are termed dinters and winders; the dinters put the hanks on the reel, and the winders, or piecers as they are also called, tie the ends of the threads and exchange the bobbins. When the bobbins are filled with thread they are conveyed from the winding-machine room to the warehouse, to be assorted or separated into finer or coarser qualities, which are kept apart throughout the remaining processes. To carry the bobbins, a board, called a drafting-board, is made use of; this consists of a piece of deal, about a foot wide, and rather more than two feet long, having a number of wires corresponding to the number of bobbins in one side of a frame, and about four inches long, inserted into its surface; on these wires the bobbins are put. When the separation of the qualities has been made, The cleaning, drawing, or picking-machine, as it is variously called, is represented in fig. 9. In this, as in the last machine, motion is communicated to the bobbins by a friction shaft. The bobbins, \(a\), from the winding-frame are fixed on plain spindles, and placed in a horizontal position between their supports. The threads are carried from the bobbins over the iron or glass rod, \(b\), and each thread is passed through an adjustable opening, between the two iron blades of an instrument called the cleaner, \(c\), which is fixed to a bar of wood running along the machine, immediately behind the friction-rods. The cleaner is here represented on a larger scale, (figs. 10, 11); \(a\) is the bar of wood to which the instrument is fastened; \(b, b\) are the blades, which are held together at the bottom by the screw \(c\); \(d\) is the opening through which the thread Fig. 10. Fig. 11. is made to pass, the width of this opening being adjusted by means of a screw \(e\), the key of which is kept by the steward of the room. The tops of the blades are curved outwards, so as readily to guide the thread into the slit. The threads, after having been passed through the opening of the cleaner, are put through the eyelet \(d\), of the traverse bar, which is, in every respect, like that of the former machine, and then attached to the bobbins \(e, e\). When the machine is put in motion, the bobbins \(e, e\) drag the thread from the bobbins through the cleaner; and, as the cleaner is adjusted to a certain size, all impurities and irregularities are removed, and the thread thus rendered equal.

The process which succeeds that of cleaning is called spinning, although, as we have already observed, it is only twisting. The spinning-machine is represented in fig. 12. This, like the two former machines, consists of a series of frames placed at wide intervals, and connected by bars of wood, which serve as supports for the different parts of the machinery. The spinning machine contains sometimes two but generally three tiers of working apparatus in height. The bobbins on which the twisted silk is to be wound, are seen in the figure at \(a, a, a\), placed horizontally along the machine; in this case they are not driven by friction-rollers, but by toothed wheels, fixed on the extremity of the axis of each bobbin, and corresponding ones on the shafts \(b, b, b\). The bobbins are, as before, suspended by their axis in little grooves; each bobbin-bearer contains two such grooves, one higher than the other, so that, on the bobbin being lifted from the lower to the higher groove, its toothed wheel is thrown out of gear with the wheel of the shaft \(b, b\), and it remains at rest. Under each bobbin is seen the twisting-apparatus. This consists of a bobbin \(e\), fixed on an upright spindle \(d\), to which motion is communicated by a belt from the drum \(f\), fixed on a horizontal shaft \(g\), passing over a pulley on the bobbin spindle. The silk threads from these vertical bobbins are wound three or four times round a bent wire \(h\), fixed to a bar, extending along the machine, passed through an eye in the end of each of these wires, carried through the eyes of the traverse-guides, and attached to the horizontal bobbins. On motion being given to the machinery, the vertical bobbins are made to revolve with a greater or less velocity, and the horizontal ones with a velocity so proportioned to the others, that they may only draw away the thread as it is twisted in the due degree. In figs. 13 and 14, we have represented, on a larger scale, a section and front view of these working parts: \(a, a\) is the bobbin from the cleaning-machine, \(b\) the fixed wire-guide round which the thread is carried, \(c\) the traverse-guide for spreading the thread over the bobbin, \(d\) the bobbin for receiving the twisted thread.

Motion is communicated to the different parts thus: On one end of the drum-shaft \(g\), (fig. 12) is fixed a fast and loose pulley, not seen in the drawing, driven by a belt from the main shaft which traverses the apartment; belts from the drum on the drum-shaft pass over the pulleys of the vertical spindles \(d\), and so give motion to the bobbins \(e\); on the other end of the drum-shaft is fixed the pinion \(g\), which, through the intermediate wheel \(e\), drives the spur-wheel \(k\); on the axis of this last wheel is fixed the bevel-wheel \(m\), giving motion to the... Silk Manu-bevel-wheel \( n \), and thereby to the shaft \( o \), which crosses the end of the machine; each end of this shaft carries a bevel-wheel \( p \), which drives a bevel-wheel \( h \), fixed on the end of the shaft, on which the little spur-wheels that drive the spur-wheels of the bobbins are fixed. On this last shaft is also fixed a pinion, to work the traverse guide-bar; this it effects by giving motion to a small wheel, round which another pinion revolves, in the manner of the sun and planet-wheels, and, being connected by a short rod with the traverse-bar, the latter is consequently moved through a space equal to the added diameters of the wheels.

In the usual mode of constructing this machine, there is a want of a mean of lessening the velocity of the drawing-bobbin, as its diameter increases by the accumulation of silk. In consequence of this want, the thread is very unequally twisted; for although at the commencement of the process the drawing or upper bobbin may, by appropriate toothed-wheels, be made to turn with the velocity requisite to allow of the thread receiving, say twelve twists in the inch, yet, after a very short time, the silk will have accumulated on it, and increased its diameter so much, that for every revolution which it now makes, it will take up and draw away a much greater length of thread from the revolving bobbin, whose speed remains constant, so that the number of twists are constantly on the decrease, and, at the end of the operation, may be no more than eight in the inch. A very ingenious mode of equalizing the draw of the bobbin has been put in practice. In place of driving the drawing-bobbins by toothed-wheels, they are here driven by friction-rollers; the part of the bobbin on which the silk is wound rests on the roller, and receives motion from it; and, as the diameter of this part increases by the accumulation of silk, its velocity, of course, diminishes in precisely the same ratio; thus, the surface on which the silk is wound has a uniform rate of motion from the beginning to the end of the process, insuring, what has ever been a desideratum, perfect equality in the twist of the thread.

The next operation is doubling. Fig. 15 is an end view of the doubling-machine. In this machine the bobbins \( a \) containing the spun silk, are arranged along the lower platform \( b \), in little brackets capable of each containing three bobbins; from these the threads are carried over the guide-rods \( d \), of which there are two on each side of the machine, and, after being passed through the eyes of an apparatus called the falling-wires, and the traverse-guides \( e \), are then attached to the bobbins \( f \), to which motion is given by friction-pulleys, as in the first machines, and on them the threads are thus wound up in combination.

In all formerly described machines the breaking of the thread causes no injury, but, in the doubling-process, were one of the three threads to break, and the upper bobbin to continue to revolve, the other two threads would be wound up separately, and so spoil the work; to prevent this is the use of the falling-wires described above, which, on the breaking of the thread, stop the bobbin until the damage is repaired. The subjoined sketch (figs. 16, 17), shews a side view and plan of this apparatus: \( a \) are the two guide-rods, with the threads passing over them; between the rods are seen the eyelets of three bent wires, whose other extremities are hinged to a piece of brass at \( c \). The threads are passed through these eyelets, and support the wires in the horizontal position shown in the sketch. Hinged to the same supports as the wires is a brass lever, \( bb \), bent at right angles horizontally under the wires; the straight end or tail of the lever is a little heavier than the bent end, and it consequently lies in the oblique position of our drawing. On the end of the bobbin is fixed a little ratchet-wheel, moving as indicated by the arrow. Now, when one of the threads sustaining the bent wires happens to break, the wire falls down on the bent part of the lever, which, by this additional weight, is depressed, and its opposite end consequently rises into the position shown by the dotted line, and acts as a pull to the ratchet-wheel, effectually stopping the bobbin until the attendant has leisure to lift it out of its working-groove, repair the damaged thread, and again set it in motion.

When the lighter kinds of silk have to be doubled, they would be injured by being made to drag round the heavy bobbins; therefore, for such kinds a modification of the apparatus is required. In place of the bobbins being placed horizontally in bearers, they are placed vertically on spindles, as shewn in figs. 12, 13, 14; the spindles project beyond the upper end of the bobbins, and carry a little wheel of hard wood, which is made to turn freely; this wheel has two flyers with eyelets at their extremities; the thread being put through these, and drawn by the upper bobbin, causes the light flyers to revolve round the vertical bobbin, and unwind the thread without straining it.

The next is the throwing machine. As this machine closely resembles the spinning-machine shewn in fig. 12, we here only sketch such a portion of it as will shew wherein they do not agree. Fig. 18 is an end view, and fig. 19 is a side view of one of the working parts:

\( aa \) is a vertical bobbin with its loose flyer \( bb \); the bobbin being driven by a band acting on the spindle pulley as in the spinning-machine; \( c \) is a traverse guide wire, through the eye of which the thread is passed; \( d \) a reel on which, in this case, the thread is wound into hanks as it is twisted by the revolution of the vertical bobbins.

The traverse guide bars have, in this machine, a very short range of lateral motion, so as to confine each hank within a very narrow limit on the reel's surface. The motion of the reel can be so regulated in relation to that of the twisting bobbin, as in any way to modify the amount of twisting received by the thread.

In the case of the heavier silk threads used for sewing, fringing, and the like, the doubling and throwing processes are both performed by one machine, called a throttle frame, which is similar to the machine of the same name used in the cotton and linen thread manufacture. The Mass-throstle, however, does not contain apparatus for reeling the silk; so, for this purpose, a subsidiary reel has to be used. This machine is automatic, in respect of stopping when a predetermined quantity of silk has been wound. One end of the axis of the reel is supported by a lever, whose fulcrum is at the centre of the machine; the other end of the axis has a fixed bearing. Motion is given to the reels by a pinion fixed on the end of its axis, being driven by a spur wheel on the main shaft; by raising the lever, which carries one end of the axis, the pinion would be withdrawn from the spur wheel, and the reel would necessarily cease to revolve. The machine is rendered automatic from the raising of the lever being effected by proper machinery at the very instant that the reel shall have wound up the length of silk predetermined, and by a detent locking it out of gear until the attendant shall have time to shift the apparatus which guides the silk to a new space on the reel.

We are sorry that we cannot present our readers with a more minute description of this machine, from the number of drawings which would be required to illustrate it.

Whether the hanks of silk have been reeled in the throwing-machine or on the automatic reel, they are afterwards treated in precisely the same manner. When the reels are filled with hanks, they are placed in a steam box, and subjected for a time to the action of the steam, to give the twisting of the thread a set, as it is termed; each skein or hank is then tied up separately in two places while yet on the reel, which is then carried to the proper apartment, and the hanks removed from it and bundled up.

The silk may be used without being deprived of its gum, and is termed hard, or it may be acted on by soap and water to deprive it of its gum, and reduce it to the soft state. In either of these states it may be put into the hands of the dyer, whose operations succeed those we have described. When the hanks come from the dyer they are again transferred to bobbins; the hard silk by a winding machine, similar to the one already described, the soft silk by the machine represented in fig. 20. In this machine, in place of the swifts are substituted the small reels A A, the upper one fixed in position but turning freely on its axis, the lower one also turning freely on its axis, which is attached to a lever b, whose short end carries an adjustable weight, by means of which the bank of silk can be kept between the reels with the degree of tension suited to the strength of the thread. The operation of this machine will be understood from the winding machine already described, the only difference being, that the traverse guide has an equal and not an eccentric motion, so as to lay the silk regularly from end to end of the bobbin, and not heaped up in the centre as before. The transferring the silk to the bobbins finishes the operation of the silk thrower, from whose hands the silk passes into those of the warper, to prepare it for weaving.

The drawings of the machinery, by which we have illustrated our description of the throwing process, were, for the most part, made from machines constructed by Mr. Joseph Lomas of Glasgow, an engineer who has devoted much of his attention to the machinery used in this particular branch of manufacture.

Having thus traced the silk of the cocoons from its development to the perfection of the filature, and its adaptation for the loom, we will briefly describe the means used for preparing the waste silk for the weaver, in so far as they are peculiar to the silk manufacture.

Silk Spinning.

Under this term are included those operations by which floss silk, and the refuse of the throwing process, are, under the name of waste, worked into yarns for coarser uses, such as the manufacture of shawls, Bandana handkerchiefs, and similar textures.

When received by the silk spinner, the waste is in the form of small balls of entangled filaments. These, as a preparatory step, he assorts in parcels according to their quality, and these different qualities are of course kept separate throughout the processes; after being assorted, the waste is hackled on a hand hackle, to disentangle the filaments, the instrument and manner of operating being the same as in flax-dressing. When, by the hackling process, the filaments of a quantity of the waste have, to a certain extent, been disentangled, they are ready for the filling engine, which is a kind of hackling machine, whose effect is, in a greater degree, to disentangle the filaments, and in some measure to lay them parallel.

The essential parts of this machine are sketched in fig. 21: aa is a feeding board, over the surface of which a travelling belt moves in the direction of the arrows, and carries forward to the feeding rollers bb, the hackled waste, which is laid on it. These rollers are fluted and move very slowly; between them the filaments from the feeding board enter, and are held fast, and at the same time drawn forward into the machine. As the ends of the filaments come to the other side of the rollers, they are acted upon by a series of iron teeth cc, fixed to an endless belt which revolves with a very quick motion in the direction of the arrows, and the teeth are consequently made to pass many times through the same portion of the filaments, clearing and disentangling them as they are slowly yielded by the feeding rollers; and as the ends of the successive portions of filaments cease to be held by the rollers, they are caught up by the teeth and carried round with them. Beneath the combs, as the travelling teeth are termed, a board dd is fixed, having at intervals, along its surface, sets of teeth similar to the combs. When the filaments carried round by the travelling combs happen to fall off, they are caught on the fixed combs of the boards, and the regularity of their arrangement is not disturbed. When the combs, by repeated gleanings from the rollers, have become filled, the workman, with a pair of boards called clutches, removes from them, and from the teeth of the horizontal boards, their accumulation of filaments; these he carries to the next machine, called the dressing frame, which, like the filling engine, operates on the principle of combing. In this, however, the filaments are not gradually brought forth devolving upon the manufacturer; but in Scotland, manufacturers being seldom provided with the requisite machinery, soft-silk winding is usually a part of the business of the throwster.