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20th CONGRESS, te j gew For K pe 175 7}
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FROM THE

SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY,

TRANSMITTING THE

Information required bya resolution of the House of Representatives, of May 11, 1826,
|

i RaaAw » Di

IN RELATION TO THE

GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OF SILK,

ADAPTED TO THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE UNION.

—p——
Frepruary 7, 1828.

use of Representatives—Referred to the Committee on

Communicated to the Ho
Agriculture, of that House.

od

APRIL 21, 1828.
Printed by order of the Senate of the United States.

i

WASHINGTON:
PBINTED BY DUFF GREEN.

1828.

as OLS |
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‘808 w
Te i Tyr ¥6
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IN SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES.
APRIL 21, 1828.

———<—

Resolved, That 2000 copies of the reports of the Secretary of the
Treasury, communicated to the House of Representatives at the pre-
sent session of Congress, relative to the culture of the White Mulber-
ry tree and the manufacture of Silk, be printed for the use of the
Senate.

8 Save yee yl

Treasury DEPARTMENT,
February 5, 1828.

Str: In obedience to a resolution of the House of Representatives,
passed on the eleventh of May, 1826, directing that ‘‘the Secretary of
the Treasury cause to be prepared a well-digested Manual, containing
the best practical information that can be collected on the growth and
manufacture of silk, adapted to the different parts of the Union, and con-
taining such facts and observations, in relation to the growth and man-
ufacture of silk in other countries, as may be useful,’’ I have the honor
to transmit to the House the accompanying report.

This report, by an additional clause of the resolution, ought to have
been made at the session immediately succeeding that at which the
resolution passed; but the interval was found to be too short to ren-
der this practicable. In order to procure the materials from which
alone the Manual could be adequately prepared, it became necessary
to institute a correspondence co-extensive with the Union, and to seek
additional light in relation to the subject from several countries abroad.
The returns to inquiries thus instituted by the Department, had not
even been received, except in part, during the interval above-mentioned,
although no time had been lost in instituting them. The work has since
proceeded with as much expedition as was believed to comport with
the care due to its preparation; which, amongst other things, included
plates, for the better illustration of some parts of the machinery used in
manufacturing silk. These explanations, it is hoped, may be received
as satisfactory.

I have the honor to remain,
With high consideration and respect,
Your obedient servant,
RICHARD RUSH.
The Honorable the Spraxer
of the House of Representatives U. 8.

900

Wh i

[175 } 4

Hovst oF REPRESENTATIVES,

December 29, 1825.

On motion of Mr. Miner,

Resolved, That the Committee on Agriculture be instructed to in-
quire whether the cultivation of the mulberry tree, and the breeding of
silk worms, for the purpose of producing silk, be a subject worthy of
legislative attention; and should they think it to be so, that they ob-
tain such information as may be in their power, respecting the kind of
mulberry tree most preferred, the best soil, climate, and mode of cul-
tivation, the probable value of the culture, taking into view the capital
employed, the labor, and the product, together with such facts and opin-
ions as they may think useful and proper.

Resolved, That the same Committee inquire whether any Legisla-

tive provisions are necessary or proper to promote the production of
silk.

————

House or REPRESENTATIVES,
May 2, 1826.

Mr. Van RenssEvaer, from the Committee on Agriculture, to which
the subject had been referred, made the following

REPORT:

The Committee on Agriculture, to whom was referred the resolution
of Mr. Miner, to inquire whether the cultivation of the mulberry
tree and the breeding of silkworms, for the purpose of producing
silk, be a subject worthy of legislative attention; and should they
think it to be so, that they obtain such information as may be in
their power respecting the kind of mulberry most preferred, the
best soil, climate, and mode of cultivation, the probable value of the
culture, taking into view the capital employed, the labor, and the
product, together with such facts and opinions as they may think
useful and proper;

REPORT:

That they have examined the subject attentively, and have taken
such steps as they thought best calculated to obtain information which
might be useful and lead to satisfactory conclusions.

The facts developed in the course of their inquiries, tend to place
the subject in an important point of view. It is an interesting fact, that
the mulberry tree grows indigenously throughout the United States,
and that silk may be raised with facility from the Southern to the
Northern boundary of the Union. Formerly, considerable quantities
of silk were produced in Georgia. In 1760 more than twenty thousand
pounds of cocoons were exported from thence to England. The produc-

5 [ 175 ]

tion of the article was suspended, not from any difficulty experienced
in the process, but from causes connected with the Revolution. Mea-
sures have recently been adopted at Savannah, with a view to the re-
newal of the cultivation of the mulberry tree and breeding the silk-
worm. In Kentucky, the Committee learn that sewing silk is now
produced in considerable quantities, and of excellent quality. Many
years ago the attention of public spirited individuals in Pennsylvania
was turned to the production of silk. The Persian mulberry was in-
troduced into Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, by Bishop Ettwein, where it
flourished and still flourishes. Silk was produced without difficulty.
In Chester and other of the southern counties of that State, the experi-
ment was also made with success. The great demand and high price
of bread stuffs, owing to the wars growing out of the French revolu-
tion, rendered the cultivation of grain so profitable for many years,
that the mulberry was neglected. In 1779 two hundred pounds of sew-
ing silk were made in the town of Mansfield, in Connecticut; and in
1810, according to the report of the marshal who took the census, the
value of silk produced in Windham county was estimated at $27,373.
The Committee learn that the production of silk is still attended to and
found profitable. Some beautiful specimens of sewing silk, the pro-
duction of that State, have been exhibited to the Committee. Of the
fact, therefore, that the United States can produce silk for its own con-
sumption, and even for exportation to the extent of foreign demand,
there appears no reason to doubt. There are few persons, the Com-
mittee believe, even the most intelligent of our citizens, (who have
not turned their attention particularly to the subject,) who will not be
surprised at the view presented by the following official statement of
the value of silks imported into the United States the last five years:

Statement of the value of silk goods imported and exported in the
years 1821 to 1825, inclusive.

Years.) \ Imported. Exported.
1821 - “ $4,486,924 - - $1,057,233
$822). Ney: 6,480,928 Sto ne 1,016,262
1823: Siw.- 6,713,771 Agrouie 1,512,449
1804.) pays’ (e 7,203,344 Sh ii 1,816,325
WSS) ee ih. 10,271,527 a8 ye 2,565,742

$35,156,494 $7,968,011

What a bounty is paid by us to support the agriculturist and manu-
facturer of other nations, on articles which our country, with a few
years of care, might supply! How important it is that the agriculturist
should turn his attention to new objects of production, is very fully
shown by the circumstance of the diminished and diminishing demand
of bread stuffs abroad.

In 1817, the exports of bread stuffs amounted to $20,374,000
MES toni Sel oe eS a Oe
OE REID 5S See iy gS aa 6,799,246
MR iy Woe tra he Cea ce ee 5,417,997

[ 175 ] i

An importation of ten millions of dollars of silk—an export of hive:
millions of bread stuffs! The facts speak the importance of the subject,
and indicate the necessity that exists of awakening the slumbering agri-
eultural resources of our country, by introducing new and profitable
articles of production. Knowledge is power, in agriculture, no less
than in politics; information is capital, and the means of valuable im-
provement. The Committee conceive that the first and most import-
ant measure to be taken, is to acquire and circulate clear, distinct, and
precise information on these points: the relative value of the cultiva-
tion of the mulberry, and the production of silk, compared with other
agricultural productions in the different sections of the Union, capital
and labor being considered. The kind of mulberry best suited to the
object ; the most advantageous mode of cultivation; the most approved
manner of managing the silkworm, and an explanation of the process
till the article is ready for market. The Committee incline to the opin-
ion that the best mode of raising silk will be for every farmer and plant-
er to appropriate a small portion of ground, as for a fruit orchard, for
raising the mulberry tree, calculating to produce as many worms as his
own family will enable him to manage without increasing his expenses,
and without permitting it, until the experiment shall have been fully
tried, to interfere with the regular course of his usual pursuits. A sin-
gle acre planted with the mulberry will produce from 500 to 600
pounds raw silk, the value of which to the individual would richly
compensate for the capital and labor employed, and the aggregate to
the country be of great importance.

The fact is worthy of notice, that, notwithstanding the high price of
land in Ireland, where a year’s rent of land exceeds the price of the
soil in many parts of our country, yet so valuable is the mulberry con-
sidered, that importations of trees from the Mediterranean have been
made during the last year, for the purpose of producing silk. Your
Committee addressed inquiries to several intelligent gentlemen who
were presumed competent to give them information upon the subject;
and among the papers received in reply, they beg leave to present to
the particular attention of the House a valuable memoir, replete with
interesting facts and useful information, from Edmund C. Genet, Esq.
and also several communications from other gentlemen, to whose at-
tention the Committee acknowledge their obligations. As the result
of these inquiries, believing that knowledge on the subject is of the
first importance, the Committee submit the following resolution:

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury cause to be prepared
a well-digested Manual, containing the best practical information that
ean be collected on the growth and manufacture of silk, adapted to the
different parts of the Union, containing such factsand observations in re-
lation to the growth and manufacture of silk, in other countries, as may
be useful, and that the same be laid before Congress at the commence-
ment of their next session.

7 f 175 J

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Frsrvuary 11, 1828.

Mr. Van Renssexaer, from the Committee on Agriculture, to which
the subject had been referred, made the following

REPORT:

é

The Committee on Agriculture, to which was referred the report of
the Secretary of the Treasury, made in pursuance of a resolution of the
House of Representatives, passed the eleventh of May, 1826, directin
the Secretary to prepare a well-digested Manual on the growth al
manufacture of silk, have agreed to the following resolution, which they
have instructed their Chairman to submit to the House}

Resolved, That six thousand copies of said Manual and Report be
printed for the use of the House.

D

f 175 9

A MANUAL
ON THE CULTURE OF SILK, AND ITS MANUFACTURE,

Prepared under the instructions and superintendence of the Secre-
iary of the Treasury, in compliance with a resolution of the House of ~
Representatives of the United States, introduced by the Honorable
Charles Miner, of Pennsylvania, and adopted on the eleventh of May,
1826, in the following words, viz:

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury cause to be prepared
a well-digested Manual, containing the best practical information
that can be collected, on the growth and manufacture of silk, adapted
to the different parts of the Union, containing such facts and observa-
tions, in relation to the growth and manufacture of silk in other coun-
tries, as may be useful, and that the same be laid before Congress at
the commencement of their next session.

y [ 175 j

the following queries were propounded by the Secretary af the
Treasury, to the various persons in the United States, to whom
a copy of the Resolution of the House of Representatives was
transmitted.

1. What efforts have been made in the State of
and at what periods of time, to raise silk ? f
2. Whence was the silkworm obtained? Is this insect a native
of , and, if so, in what respects does it differ, if any, from
the oriental or foreign silkworm? Are there any varieties of this insect
known in ? Please to describe whatever kinds there may be:

3. Does the mulberry flourish in —————, in its different varieties;
what soil suits it best; is the white mulberry an indigenous tree? If
not, has it been found to thrive as well in the United States as the red
and black mulberry? Which of the latter is indigenous, or are both?

4. Does the silkworm feed as well upon the red and black mulber-
ry asupon the white? Is there any other leaf or plant known in
this country upon which it does feed; and, above all, will it yield silk
of equal quality when fed upon any other leaf or food, as upon that of
the white mulberry?

5. Be pleased to state the best methods of raising and multiplying
the several species of the mulberry tree; how it is propagated; how
old it should be before transplanting; what particular modes of treating
it are required; the age at which it should begin to furnish food for the
worm; whence trees or cuttings can be obtained for transplantation; °
the price per hundred; how many trees should be planted on an acre;
and would it, or would it not, be profitable to cultivate the mulberry,
for the purpose of feeding the worm, in the form of a bush or shrub ?

6.. What quantity of raw silk ought to be produced from an acre of
full-grown mulberry trees, planted and reared in the best manner?
How many silkworms are required to produce a pound of raw silk ?
What quantity of raw silk can be produced from an acre of mulberry-
trees, by other modes of cultivation than the full-grown tree ?

7. Be pleased to state, as much in detail as may be in your power,
the methods of treating the silkworm, with a view to raising the best
silk, and in the greatest quantity; embracing, particularly, the habits of
the insect, as to appetite, cleanliness, position, or accommodations,
whilst the cocoon is forming; the species of twig or branch on which
it is best that it should be spun; temperature, and degree of light most
favorable to the insect; and all other circumstances which may affect
its health and strength, and its capacity to yield a perfect cocoon; al-
so, a description of the process of forming the silk by the insect until
~ the cocoon is completed; the best modes of treating the cocoon, and of
obtaining the silk; and how far the labor of females, children, and old
men, may be usefully employed in the culture of silk ?

8. What difference, if any, exists between the Chinese and Italian
or Spanish worm; which country is reputed to produce the best insect,
and what particular part of the country ?

9. Does the climate of admit of raising silk with full advan-
tage in the open air; or is it best that the insect should always be housed *

o

Ty. 1f ably,

[ 175 | 10

If the latter, what size and form of building or apartment is best
titted to its operations? If the silk be raised in the open air, is any
shelter, and of what kind required, as well from the rays of the sun as
from wet, and to protect the insects from birds and other animals that
prey upon them ?

10. Is there reason to suppose that, in some parts of the United

States, the climate may admit of more than one crop of silk being raised
from the silkworm, in the course of the year, as in Asia? How
will this inquiry apply to ?
' 11. Have lightning and thunder been found to affect the silkworm
inour climate, and how far, if at all? Has any insect of our climate,
or animal of any kind, been found to prey upon, or injure it, beyond
those that are. known to do so in other climates ?

12. What is the greatest quantity of silk that has been raised
in the State of ,in any one year; into what articles or forms
has it been manufactured; and have the manufactured articles been
consumed at home or sent abroad, and where; where has the raw silk
been sent when not wrought into manufactures ?

13, What prices have the raw or manufactured silks commanded in
- the market of the United States, as compared with similar articles im-
ported from Europe, China, or the East Indies? What progress has
been made inthe drawing, spinning, and twisting of sewing silk in
any part of ? Have its strength and evenness been equal to the
French, English, or Italian sewing silk? How have we succeeded in
' the coloring or dying? All information on this head will be acceptable.

14. Will you be pleased to describe, with as much particularity as
may be, the machinery most approved for winding off the silk from
the cocoon; for forming it into organzine or thrown silk; and for man-
ufacturing silk into all its different forms, (including velvets,) whether
for clothing, furniture, or any other purpose? If within your power
and convenience to add a sketch or drawing, of any or all of the aboye
machinery, it would be acceptable.

17. Describe the difference in the quality of the silk produced from
all the different varieties of the silkworm, and annex, ifin your power,
a drawing (colored) of all the varieties of this insect, in its moth
and other states. Is the insect brought from abroad supposed to de-
generate in the United States, and if so, to what causes is it imputed,
and how are they best to be obviated? What are the proper rules to
be observed in the choice of eggs, in the choice of cocoons for seed, and
in the choice of the insect for laying eggs ?

16. If silk has been raised at any periods heretofore in » but
not at present, what are supposed to be the causes that have Jed to its
discontinuance ?

17. Please to state any other facts or circumstances that may bear
upon the objects or spirit of the resolution above referred to, of the
House of Representatives of the United States; though not specially
comprehended under any of the foregoing inquiries.

RICHARD RUSH.
TREASURY DEPARTMENT, 29¢h July, 1826.

—!
Coat)
oy
poet
~~
oO

PREFACE.

———

In considering the subject of the culture of silk, it was the first in-
tention of the writer of this Manual to compose an entire treatise in
his own language; and some progress in the collection of materials
for it was made; when, upon a careful perusal of the work by Count
Dandolo, of Italy, it was found to embrace every part of the art of
rearing silkworms, so much more fully than any of the numerous
treatises, in English or French, which the writer had read, and ex-
hibited, throughout, such marks of method, so much pains, intelli-
gence, and attention, such scrupulous accuracy, in all his proceed-
ings and directious, that it was deemed most adviseable to make it the
basis of the intended Manual. The author wrote from ample expe-
rience in the art upon which he undertook to instruct others; and it
appears from a late traveller,* and writers on silkworms, that his plan
for their treatment has generally been substituted for those formerly
adopted in Italy and France. Dandolo’s work has, therefore, been
carefully abridged; a measure rendered necessary from its diffuse
nature, and the many details and particulars of minute inquiries into
circumstances connected with the silk culture given therein, but which
do not lead to any profitable result. These are omitted, and nothing
inserted but that which is purely practical. Having the use of the
original work in Italian, and the French translation, from which the
English version was made, the errors of the latter were corrected.

The directions and plans of this experienced author, refer to a
large establishment of five ounces of eggs, but the intelligent culti-
vator will readily apply them to a scale of any size; in all cases, the
practical results will be similar.

To the directions and observations of Dandolo, many others are
added, which were derived from an extensive correspondence insti-
tuted by the Secretary of the Treasury, in all parts of the Union, on
the subject matter of the resolution of the House of Representatives,
as well as from information taken from the most valuable and recent
publications obtained by the Secretary, from different parts of Europe.
To these abundant sources of knowledge, were added others, which
the writer himself was able to command; among these was a free
access, during the past year, to a large establishment, conducted upon
the plan pointed out by Count Dandolo. To the practical part are
prefixed a short history of silk in ancient times; an account of the
former and present state of its culture in North America; and the
natural history of the silkworm.

* Mr. J. Murray—Treatise on Silkworms, Edinburgh, 1826,

r 175 | 12 ies

On the subject of the manufagure of silk, all the information has
been given which it was possible to obtain from books and other
sources. Itis now known, that very great improvements in the ma-
chinery for the preparation of the raw material, have been recently
made; but an account of some of them could not be obtained suffi-
ciently definite to authorize their insertion. Fanshaw’s improvement, *
of which a copy has been taken from a recent English publication, is
spoken of in the highest terms by ‘‘ the trade.’ ‘To this are added,
plates and descriptions of a new tramming machine, and of two looms,
both of which received premiums from the London Society for the Encou-
ragement of Arts: one of them shows the improvements it contains, in
connexion with the whole apparatus for weaving silk, as now employed
in Spitalfields. The whole machinery for the manufacture of silk,
is given inthe French Encyclopedia, published at the commence- —
. ment and during the early part of their revolution, and is contained
in one hundred and thirty-one quarto plates, and upwards of four hun-
dred figures, some of which occupy a whole page: the letter press
fills one hundred and seventy-two pages. Much of this machinery is
now laid aside for others of a more simple nature; but the work may
still be consulted with advantage by those who intend to engage in
the business, from the minute accuracy of the figures of those parts
which are still retained. It would have been impossible to copy these
plates; and even the insertion of all the recent patents and improve-
ments would have been inconsistent with the object of this Manual.
They have, therefore, in part, been omitted, and references made to
them, which manufacturers may find it their interest to consult.

The subject of dying silk, although not expressly mentioned, was
nevertheless considered as included in the spirit of the resolution of
the House of Representatives. Accordingly, directions to prepare
the raw material for various tints, and observations connected with
the art, with receipts for different colors, have been given. Itis hoped
they will be found useful, as great pains were taken to collect and
select them from the latest and most approved writers. Care has
been taken to avoid repeating what has been said by Dr. Cooper, in
his treatise on dying, as that work is to be easily procured.

Upon the whole, the compiler can truly say, that he has endeavored
to accomplish the task with which he has been charged, to the best of
his abilities, and with all the zeal which a firm conviction of the im-
portance of the silk culture could inspire.

* For spinning, doubling, and twisting, or throwing silk. London Journal of
Arts and Sciences, for July, 1827.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

i -
CHAPTER I.
History of Silk, - - - - - - 3 3
s¢ inthe United States, - = . 5 E i
Natural History of the Silkworm, . - & ul
CHAPTER I.
Varieties in Silkworms, - - - - - < :
Of rearing two or more crops in one season, in the United States, *
CHAPTER IIL.
OF other Clatirp tlivs producing Silk, - ’ -

Of the Bughy or Tusseh, and Arrindy silkworms of India, -

Of the Chinese worms, which do not spin cocoons,’ but proms threads
and attach them to trees. - a : x if

Of the South American silkworms, - - - < ys

OF the native North American silkworms, - = : 5

CHAPTER IV.

Gf Mulberry irees, - - - - - “ -
1. Of the native red mulberry, ot its varieties, - - - -

2. Of the white mulberry tree, and its culture and varieties;
3. Gn the proportion of leaves to an acre, and to silk produced from
them; AIDED CPD of the leaves of seedling trees; cautions on picking

leaves, - = - = - x 3
4, On mulberry hedpes, - - - - : iA é
CHAPTER VY.
Of the Laboratory, - - “ - ' a
Description and cut of the Rev Mr. Swayne’s rearing frames, - a
CHAPTER VI.
The art of rearing Silkworms: .
1. Of the care necessary previously to the hatching, - : :

2. Utility of a thermometer to fix the temperature ‘of the room, - -
3. Of the hot-house, and utensils required, - - - -
4, Of the hatching of the silkworms’ eggs, ~ - - -

CHAPTER VIL.

Of the smull apartment in which the new hatched worms are to be received,
Of their removal into the laboratory, or elsewhere, - - - -

CHAPTER VII.

Of the rearing of Silkworms in the four first ages, . - - -
1. Of ny as silkeworms 1 in the first age, - : : ;
2. second age, - - s
a cf se third age, : - me >
4 sf “s fourth age, ; , :

: 13 Pp 175 |

T . ,

r 175 J | 14
CHAPTER Ix.

Of rearing Sitkworms in the fifth age, until they prepare to form their cocoons, -

CHAPTER X

Of rearing Silkworms until the cocoon is perfected, - - :
1. First preparation of the hedge, or espalier, - -
2. Cleaning of the hurdles, and of the Breparanon for the rising of the
silkworms, - = z S
3. Separation of the silkworms which will not rise; last cleaning of the
hurdles, : - -
4. Care of the laboratory, until the silkworm has completed its fifth age,
5. Quantity of vapor emitted by silkworms, “ ;

CHAPTER XI.
Of the sixth age of Silieace ms; or of the Chrysalis:

J. Gathering and preservation of the cocoons, - - 2 5
2. Daily loss in weight of cocoons, - - : 4 -

CHAPTER XII.

Birth and coupling of the moths; laying of the eggs, and their preservation, — -

CHAPTER XIlil. ‘

General view of all the facts stated in this work, immediately connected with the
art of cultivating Silkworms:

1. Number of eggs of different varieties of silkworms to the ounce, —-

2. Space occupied by silkworms, from one ounce of eggs, in different

ages, - - - - - - - - -
Quantities of leaves consumed by them in different ages, -

. 3. Factsrelative to the cocoons containing the healthy chrysalides; diseased

and dead chrysalides, - - - - - 2

. Proportion of different qualities of cocoons, in yarious parcel beeare
and after being baked, - - “ :
Abstract and condensed view of the mode of rearing Silkworms, -

Means of producing early food for silkworms, and on the advantages of
budding mulberry trees, - - - : - .

¢

4. Facts relative to the production of eggs, . 2 - 4

5, Quantities of silk yielded by various parcels of cocoons, -

6. Weights of cocoons; produce of cocoons and of silk from an ounce of
eggs, - - - - - - - =

7. Proportion of eggs to cocoons, -

8

CHAPTER XIV.

Diseases of Silkworms:

1. Diseases from defect of eggs, - - - : . z
2. * mismanagement of eggs, : - - -
ah 4 bad air of the district in which silkworms are reared, -
A. ee impurity in the air of the laboratory, — - - -
5. On purifying the air of a laboratory by acid fumigations, - -
6. Of the Hygrometer, a simple one described, with a cut, - -
7. Diseases from want of room for the worms, - - - -
8. a quality and quantity of food, - - - -
9. sé change of food, - - : -
10. a6 peculiar constitution of the air, : -
ni cf sudden changes of temperature, <

Page.
90

102
102
104.

105
108

108

113

113
, 114

114
115
116

117
118

119
120

125

125
126
126
127
127
129
130
130
131
132
135

—
or
=<
=}
Or

Particular diseases: é

. The Passis, a z " Z i % if ,
. The Lusette, or Clairette, : < eet, ahs :
. The Yellows, - - - hs 5 : ; ;
. The Muscardine, - - 3 F : =
. The Tripes, or Mort Blanc, : rh ana - ; :

Gr He 02 0

CHAPTER XV.

Pr new for reeling Silk:

1. How to take off the flos from the cocoons, - - ss :
. Separation of the various qualities of cocoons, - - -
. On heating water for reeling by steam, with acut, = - - -
. Utility of the thermometer to ascertain the heat of the water, -

Aor S COIR

Of royal, perforated cocoons, and soufflons, - - a
Mode of reeling silk from the best cocoons, -
Of disbanding the silk ne the pea ty ying it in sheins, preparation of the sil

for use, - .
Doubling machine, with a cut, - . ,
Of the preparation of the waste silk, spinning sieferier qualities, -

¢ of the silk to make organzine, - -

Notice of the warping machine, - - - - =
Explanation of the plates:
. Silk reel of Piedmont, and various utensils * rearing silkworms, — -
» Indigo cradle, - - - - Ne Sc
. Frames of split rattans to feed worms on, - E ae m
Sholl’s improved silk-loom, = - - - -
. Winding reel, - - - - - -
. Throwsting machine, to make organzine silk, 2 3 é
Shenton’s Engine for tramming silk, - - “ a
Richard’s improvement in the silk weavers’ draw-boys : i
Loom for weaving figured silk, - oe ae
ces of various machines, and recent improvements in ‘Silk machinery:
. Thompson’s improved ribbon loom; French ribbon looms, __ - -
x Jacquart’s loom, « A - a 3 e 2
Le Brun’s loom, - - = 4 & ,
. English patents for improvements in silk machinery, - - ‘
De Bergue’s power loom, - - - - - 4
- Kendall’s domestic power loom, - - : 4
Fanshaw’s apparatus for spinning, doubling, and twisting, or throwing
silk, with a cut, - - - 4 = A a
. Sadler’s improved power loom, - - - - ‘
- American winding, doubling, and twisting apparatus, - - -
. Other recent improvements in silk weaving, -
- Method of preventing the ae of silk, without the use of a knée
roll, - -
Kzxiracts from minutes of evidence before the House of Commons, on the Sill
trade and Silk manufacture, - - - - -
Appendia on dying Silk, - - - - -

POONER Wie

Notic

BOCnD NaAnPwnor

bene peek

Translation from a German treatise on dying Sill - - - -"

. On killing the chrysalis in the cocoons, by baking and shaming; 18

Plate I, fig.

1
2
3.
4.
5
6

sy

Plate 2,fig- 1,2.
4.

5.
Plate 3, fig. Zz
3

—
[=p)

LIST OF PLATES.
—_»———.

Silk reel of Piedmont.

Arrangement of feeding frames for'silkworms.

A double knife tou chop mulberry leaves.

Box to hold silk moths, when not coupling.

Tressel to be covered with cloth, for silk moths to lay eggs on.

Rope frame, to hold the cloth or paper containing silkworm eggs,
when not wanted.

Hook to lift the worms.

Indigo cradle.

Rattan slides or frames for silkworms.

Frames for silkworms to spin their cocoons, instead of bushes or
twigs. , ;

Sholl’s improved silk loom.

Reel to wind skeins of silk on bobbins.
Throwsting machine.
A single spindle of a throwsting machine.

Plate 4. Shenton’s tramming engine. .
5. ee pas exhibiting Richard’s improyed draw boy, and the Spitalfields
silk loom.

17 [175 ]

INTRODUCTION.
———
HISTORY OF SILK.

The silkworm, or, more properly, the silk-caterpillar, is a native of
China. The people resident in the northern part of that country,
called Seres, having been expelled by the Huns, in the ninety-third
year of the Christian era, settled in Little Bucharia,* and were, for
many centuries, the sole cultivators of the precious article, with which
they supplied the rest of the world. The earliest mention of silk is
in the translation of the Bible by Jerome, who enumerates it among
the numerous articles which were imported from Syria by the Phe-
nicians, those spirited merchants and skilful manufacturers, who, al-
though seated in a barren and narrow country, confined on one side
by the sea, and by a range of mountains on the other, became a great naval
and commercial power, which, for a very long period, rendered their
“merchants princes, and their traffickers the honorable of the earth.?’t
The singular lustre and beauty of silk, and the delicate structure of the
fabric, could not fail to prove highly attractive to mankind: and hence it
constituted one of the articles which were brought from China by traders,
who, in caravans, performed long and toilsome journeys through the
trackless sands and deserts of Asia, to the different ports of Syria and
Egypt, which successively became the depots of commerce. For a
long time, two hundred and forty-three days were consumed in these
expeditions. Cosmas, himself a trader, speaks of the distance between
China and Persia, as requiring one hundred and fifty days to perform
the route. The cities of Turfan and Cashgar, were the rendezvous of
these caravans. {

The Seres themselves never left home, being “a gentle race who
shunned mankind.”

The distance whence the article was brought, and the small quanti-
ties with which the world was supplied, necessarily caused the price
to be far beyond the reach of any but the rich; and even when the
Roman power extended over half the globe, as then known, this bril-
liant and ornamental .article of dress was scarcely known to them.
It is probable, that they first became acquainted with its real nature
from the writings of Dionysius Periegetes, the geographer, who had

* The identity of Bucharia with the country of the Seres, is established from the
description of it by Ammianus Marcellinus, a writer of credit in the third century.

fT. fsaiah xxiii. 8.

+ Ptolemy speaks of Comedz, (the present Cashgar,) as the “receptaculum eo-
rum qui ad Seres negotii causa profisciuntur, penes Imaum Montis.” Asia, tab. vii.

4

p 175 J 18

been sent by Augustus to compile an account of the oriental regions,
and who informed his countrymen that precious garments were manu-
factured by the Seres, from threads finer than those of the spider.*
Among all the articles of elegance belonging to the luxurious Cleopa-
tra, none seemed to excite their admiration and astonishment, as the
silk sails of her pleasure-barge, in which she visited them at Alexan-
dria. For along time after, it continued to be so scarce and dear, that,
in the Roman dominions, it was confined to women of fortune. It
was, moreover, deemed so effeminate an article, as to be unfit for the
dress of men; and, in the reign of Tiberius, a law was passed, ‘¢ that
no man should dishonor himself by wearing silken garments.”+ ‘Two
hundred years subsequent to this date, the use of it constituted one of
the many opprobrious charges which were made against the character
of the emperor Elagabulus. Even fifty years after, another emperor}
refused his queen a garment of silk, by reason of the high price it bore
—its weight in gold.

For centuries, the Persians enjoyed a monopoly of the trade in silk;
but, after they were subdued by Alexander, (300 years before Christ,)
this valuable commodity was brought to Greece, and thence sent to
Rome. The anxiety of the luxurious people of that nation, to trade
with those from which the costly article was to be procured, induced
the Emperor Marcus Antoninus to send ambassadors to negotiate 2
more direct commercial intercourse with their country, than the sub-
jects of Rome had yet been able to accomplish; -and, as the jealousy
of the Parthians and Persians prevented the passage of all foreigners
through their kingdoms to China, the ambassadors were obliged to
proceed by the tedious way of Egypt and India. Another was sent
in the year 272, which léd to more favorable arrangements, and a
shorter route, viz: along the ranges of mountains, now called Hin-
dookho, and Cuttore.§ But the-price of silk, for a long time, con-
tinued a source of regret, and the article an object of increasing desire
among the wealthy. Justinian made another attempt, shortly after he
ascended the throne, to obtain it. He sent Julian as his ambassador
to the Christian king of Axuma, in Abyssinia, requesting that, for the
sake of their common religion, he would assist him in a war with
Persia, and direct his subjects to purchase silks in India, in order to
sell them to the Romans, whereby the Axumites would acquire great
wealth, and the Romans would have the satisfaction of paying their
gold into the hands of their friends, instead of enriching their Persian
enemies. Julian also urged the Homerites in Arabia Felix, then un-
der the vassalage of Axuma, to the same effect; and promised, on the
part of the emperor, to purchase silk from them, if, with their as-
sistance, he could wrest the silk trade from the Persians, and they be-
come the medium of intercourse with the country of the Seres. The
kings of both the countries promised to comply with the emperor’s

* Periegetes de situ orbis, 6 v. p. 752.

+ Ne Vestis Serica viros fedaret. Tacitus, book 2d, chap. 33.

+ Aurelian. Vopiscus in vitam Aureliani, c. 45, libra enim auritunc libra serici fuit.
§ See Rennel’s map of the countries between the Ganges and the Caspian Sea.

19 [ 175 }

request; but neither were able or willing to fulfil their engagements.
The alleged causes for their non-compliance, were some internal com-
motions among the Homerites, and the recall of Belisarius, who, with
an army, to which the Arabian auxiliary troops were joined, protected
the East from the invasions of the Persians.* This nation, by having
the command of the land carriage from the country of the Seres, still
enjoyed almost an exclusive trade with respect to the western world,
in Indian commodities, but more especially silk, with which it sup-
plied remote nations at extravagant prices. From this distress, which
was felt and lamented as areal misfortune by the Senators of the Ro-
man empire, they were released in a very extraordinary and unex-
pected manner. The preachers of the Nestorian doctrine, having
been exiled by the persecuting spirit of the ecclesiastical government
of Byzantium, fled to India. Their patriarch, who resided in Persia,
sent missions, and every where established convents and bishoprics.
Two of his monks, who had been employed as missionaries in some of
the Christian churches, which were established in different parts of In-
dia, having penetrated into the country of the Seres, had observed the
labors of the silkworms, and become acquainted with the art of work-
mg their production into a variety of elegant fabrics. Aware of the
anxiety of the Europeans on this subject, they repaired to Constanti-
nople, and imparted to the emperor Justinian, the secret which had
hitherto been so well preserved by the Seres, that silk was produced
. by aspecies of -worms, the eggs of which might be transported with
safety, and propagated in his dominions. By the promise of a great
reward, they were induced to return, and brought away a quantity of
the silkworm’s eggs, in the hollow of a cane, and-conveyed them
safely te Constantinople, about the year 555. The eggs were hatched
in the proper season by the warmth of a manure heap, the worms
were fed with the leaves of the mulberry tree, and their race propagated
under the direction of the monks.t The insects thus happily pro-
duced from this caneful of eggs, as if the little ark of the insect race,
were the progenitors of all the silkworms of Europe, and the western
parts.of Asia. Vast numbers of these insects were soon reared in dif-
ferent parts of Greece, particularly in the Peloponnesus. The monks
having also made themselves masters of the art of manufacturing silk,
the business was conducted under the auspices of the emperor, and for
his exclusive benefit: but the imperial monopoly could not long con-
tinue, and mankind gradually became possessed of the precious insects,
after the death of Justinian, in the year 565.t The people of the
Peninsula, and of the cities of Athens and Thebes, enjoyed the profit
of the culture and manufacture of silk, without a European rival, for
upwards of 400 years; and the Venetians, during the continuance of
their commercial glory, distributed the products of their industry over
the western parts of Europe. At length, Roger, the Norman king of
Sicily, after his return from the second crusade, in order to anticipate

* Procopius, p. 34. bie 4
t The Monks procured the eggs from the colony of the Seres, in Little Bucharia.
+ Procopius de Bello Gothico, lib 12, cap. 17.

f 175 J 20

an attack, which the government of Byzantium was preparing agains?
him, and to revenge the insult of the imprisonment of his ambassa-
dors, whom he sent to form a treaty and a matrimonial alliance with
the Emperor Comnenus, made war upon Greece, in the year 1146,
with a powerful naval and military force. Corcyra, the present Corfu,
first yielded to the arms of the invaders, and the surrender of the
other cities of Greece, and all the Morea, followed in speedy succes-
sion. The spoils were great. But what peculiarly distinguished this
war from most others, which have no consequence than the exaltation
of one individual, the depression of another, and the misery of thou-
sands, was the capture of a great number of silk weavers, who were
carried off and settled in Palermo, the capital city of the conqueror.
By the order of the king, the Grecian prisoners taught his Sicilian
subjects to raise and feed silkworms, and to weave all the varieties of
silk stuffs; and so well did they profit by the lessons of their instruc-
tors, that, in the course of twenty years, the silk manufacturers of
Sicily were subjects of notice and of praise, by the historians of the
age.”

"The Saracens had, before this time, obtained the knowledge of the
various operations of the silk manufacture, and spread it over their
widely extended dominions. Lisbon and Almeria, the two Saracen
cities of Spain, were especially famous for their silk fabrics, and the
islands of Majorca and Ivica paid their tribute to the kings of Arra-
gon in silks. The Italian States soon after engaged in the culture and
manufacture of silk, and in the year 1306, this business was so far ad-
yanced, as to yield a revenue to the State. In France, Louis the XI.
and his son Charles the VIII established a number of Italian work-
men at Tours; but it isto Henry IV _ that France is indebted, for
placing the culture of silk and its manufacture upon a solid basis.
Having put an end to the civil wars of the nation, he determined to
give every possible encouragement to this important branch of indus-
try, by recommending and enforcing the general planting of mulberry
trees, and the rearing of silkworms. The merit of Henry, on this
occasion, is increased by the fact, that his views and measures were in
direct opposition to the advice of his favorite and wise minister, Sully,
who held the project in little consideration, as appears by his own me-
moirs, in which he candidly records the discussions which he had
with the king on the subject. In the year 1455, mention is made of
acompany of silk women in England. In 1504, the manufacture of
ribbons, laces, and girdles, was so considerable, as to be protected by a
prohibitory statute. In 1561, Queen Elizabeth was presented with a
pair of black knit silk stockings, with,which she was so well pleased,
that she never after wore any of another material. James J. was ex-
tremely solicitous to encourage the silk manufacture, and recommend-
ed it several times from the throne: and in the year 1608, addressed a
long letter on the subject, written with his own hand, to the Lord
Lieutenants of every county in the kingdom, to whom mulberry

* Muratori Scriptor, Veter. vi- col. 668—Macpherson’s Annals, vol. 1, p. 522.

@1 [175 ]

plants and seeds were sent for distribution. He also had a book of
instructions composed, on the rearing of the trees and the culture of
silk, to promote the success of his project. The royal wishes do not
appear to have been seconded by his subjects; but he had the satisfac-
tion to see the broad silk manufactory introduced in the latter end of
his reign. The revocation of the edict of Nantes, in the year 1685,
which drove all the Protestants from France, permanently established
the business in England; and the erection of the silk throwing mill
of Sir Thomas Lombe, at Derby, in the year 1719, greatly promoted
it, by the rapid preparation of the raw material.

HISTORY OF SILK IN THE UNITED STATES.

The culture of silk first commenced in Virginia. Upon the settle-
ment of that colony, it was deemed an object of the first importance;
and the attention of the settlers was strongly directed to it by the
British government, by which silkworm eggs, white mulberry trees,
and printed instructions, were sent over and distributed. King James
the First, in the 20th year of his reign, having, doubtless, seen the
defeat of his plan to encourage the silk culture at home, was induced
to attempt it in Virginia; and, ‘‘having understood that the soil
naturally yieldeth store of excellent mulberries,’’ gave instructions
to the Earl of Southampton, to urge the cultivation of silk in the
colony, in preference to tobacco, ‘which brings with it many disor-
ders and inconveniences.’’ In obedience to the command, the Earl
wrote an express letter on the subject, to the Governor and Council,
in which he desired them to compel the colonists to plant mulberry
trees, and also vines. Accordingly, ‘‘as early as the year 1623, the
colonial assembly directed the planting of mulberry trees; and in
1656, another act was passed, in which the culture of silk is described
as the most profitable commodity for the country; and a penalty of ten
pounds of tobacco is imposed upon every planter who should fail to
plant at least ten mulberry trees for every hundred acres of land in.
his possession. In the same year a premium of 4,000 pounds of
tobacco* was given to a person as an inducement to remain in the
country, and prosecute the trade in silk; and, in the next year, a pre-
mium of 10,000 pounds of tobacco was offered to any one who should
export £200 worth of the raw material of silk. About the same time,
5,000 pounds of the same article was promised ‘to any one who
should produce 1,000 pounds of wound silk in one year.”? The act of
1656, coercing the planting of the mulberry trees, was repealed, in the
year 1658, but was revived two years after; and the system of re-
wards and penalties was steadily pursued until the year 1666, when
it was determined that all statutory provisions were thereafter unne-
cessary, as the success of divers personsin the growth of silk, and
other manufactures, ‘‘evidently demonstrated how beneficial the same

* In the early settlement of Virginia, tobacco was the circulating medium, the
substitute for money, as sewing silk is, in part, at present in Windham county, Con-
necticut.

f 175 J 22

would prove.”’ Three years after, legislative encouragements were
revived, but subsequently to the year 1669, the interference of govern-
ment seems entirely to have ceased.* The renewal of the premiums
after the act of the year 1658, was, doubtless, owing to the recom-
mendation of Charles II: for, in the year 1661, among the instructions
given to Sir Wm. Berkeley, upon his reappointment as governor, and
while in England on a visit, the king recommended the cultivation
of silk, and mentioned, as an inducement to the colonists to attend to
his advice, “that he had formerly worn some of the silk of Virginia,
which he found not inferior to that raised in other countries.”” This
remark is probably the ground of the tradition mentioned by Beverly,
that the king had worn a robe of Virginia silk at his coronation.t

The revived encouragement given by the Colonial Legislature to
the culture of silk, had the desired effect. Mulberry trees were gene-
rally planted, and the rearing of silkworms formed a part of the
regular business of many of the farmers. Major Walker, a member
of the Legislature, produced satisfactory evidence of his having
70,000 trees growing in the year 1664, and claimed the premium.
Other claims of a like tenor were presented the same session.{ The
eastern part of the State abounds at present with white mulberry trees;
and it is to be hoped the people will see their interest in renewing
the culture of silk.

Upon the settlement of Georgia, in 1732, the culture of silk was
also contemplated as a principal object of attention, and lands were
granted to settlers upon condition that they planted one hundred
white mulberry trees on every ten acres, when cleared; and ten years
were allowed for their cultivation. Trees, seed, and the eggs of silk-
worms, were sent over by the trustees to whom the management of
the colony was committed. An Episcopal clergyman and a native of
‘Piedmont were engaged to instruct the people in the art of rearing
the worms and winding the silk; and in order to keep alive the idea of
the silk culture, and of the views of the Government respecting it, on
one side of the public seal was a representation of silkworms in their
various stages, with this appropriate motto: “ Non sibi sed aliis.”§ By
a manuscript volume containing ‘‘the account of the moneys and
effects received and expended by the trustees of Georgia,”’ to which
the writer has had access, it appears that the first parcel of silk receiv-
ed by the trustees, was in the year 1735, when eight pounds of raw
silk were exported from Savannah to England. It was made into a
piece, and presented to the queen.||

*Henning’s Statutes of Virginia, vol. 1 & 2._Letter to the Secretary of the Trea-
sury in answer to the silk circular, from the Honorable John Tyler, late Governor
of Virginia.

+ Burke’s Hist. Virginia, vol. 2. p. 125.

+ Burke, vol. 2. p. 241.

§ M’Call’s History of Georgia, vol. 1+ p. 22. 29.

| ** The trustees of Georgia waited on her majesty with some silk from Georgia,
which had proved very good. It is to be wove into,a piece for her majesty.’’—Gen-
tleman’s Mag. Vol. 5, p. 448. The following entry appears in the manuscript book
of the trustees, under date 1736: ‘* The raw silk from Georgia, organzined by Sir Thos.
Lombe, was made into a piece of silk, and presented to the queen.” Under date 1738,
isa charge ‘* for making a rich brocade, and dying the silk from Georgia, £26.”

; 23 [175 ]

From this time, until the year 1750, there are entries of large par-
cels of raw silk received from Georgia, the produce of cocoons raised
by the inhabitants, and bought from them, at established prices, by
the agents of the trustees, who had it reeled off under their direction.
In the year 1751, a public filature was erected, by order of the trus-
tees. ‘¢The exports of silk, from the year 1750 to 1754, inclusive,
amounted to $8,880. In the year 1757, one thousand and fifty pounds
of raw silk were received at the filature. In the year 1758, this build-
ing was consumed by fire, with a quantity of silk, and 7,040 pounds
cocoons; but another was erected. In the year 1759, the colony ex-
ported upwards of 10,000 weight of raw silk, which sold two or three
shillings higher per pound, than that of any other country.”* Ac-
cording to an official statement of William Brown, Comptroller of the
Customs of Savannah, 8,829 pounds of raw silk were exported between
the years 1755 and 1772, inclusive.t The last parcel brought for
sale to Savannah, was in the year 1790, when upwards of two hun-
dred weight were purchased for exportation, at 18s. and 26s. per
pound. +

Some attention was also paid, in early times, to the culture of silk
in South Carolina; and the writer has been informed, that, during a
certain period, it was a fashionable occupation. The ladies sent the
raw silk produced by them to England, and had it manufactured.
‘In the year 1755, Mrs. Pinckney, the same lady who, about ten
years before, had introduced the indigo plant into South Carolina,
took with her to England a quantity of excellent silk, which she had
raised and spun in the vicinity of Charleston, sufficient to make three
complete dresses: one of them was presented to the Princess Dowager
of Wales, and another to Lord Chesterfield. They were allowed to
be equal to any silk ever imported. The third dress, now (1809) in
Charleston, in the possession of her daughter, Mrs. Horry, is re-
markable for its beauty, firmness, and strength.’’§ The quantity of
raw silk exported as merchandise was small; for during six years,
only 251 lbs. were entered at the custom-house.|| The quality of it
was excellent: according to the certificate of Sir Thomas Lombe, the
eminent silk manufacturer, it hadas much strength and beauty as the
silk of Italy. At New Bordeaux, a French settlement, 70 miles

* M’ Call’s Hist. Georgia, vol. 1. p. 251.

{ It will be seen that this statement differs from that of Mr. M’Call. It first appear-
ed in B. Roman’s account of Florida, and afterwards in Aikin’s Pennsylvania Magazine,
for July, 1775. An opinion of the quality of the Georgia silk, may be formed from the
following document:

‘‘A paper was laid before the Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, by about forty
eminent silk throwsters and weavers, declaring, that, haying examined a parcel of about
300 pounds weight of Georgia raw silk, imported in February last, they found the na-
ture and texture of it truly good, the color beautiful, the thread even, and clean
as the best Piedmont, and will be worked with less waste than China silk.”—London
Magazine for 1755.

+ The, late Charles Harris, Esq.: letter to the Secretary of the Treasury.

§ Ramsay’s History of South Carolina, vol. 1. p. 221.

; \| Mein the years 1742, 1748, 1749, 1750, 1753, 1755.—Dodsley’s Annual Regis-
ter, :

4 An Impartial Enquiry into the State of Georgia.—London, 1741, p. 79.

[175 J 24

above Augusta, the people supplied much of the high country with
sewing silk, during the war of the Revolution.*

In the year 1771, the cultivation of silk began in Pennsylvania
and New Jersey, and continued with spirit for several years. ‘The
subject had been frequently mentioned in the American Philosophical
Society, as one of those useful designs which it was proper for them to
promote; but they were induced to enter into a final resolution on it
in consequence of a letter being laid before them on the 5th January,
1770, from Doctor Franklin, who was then in London as Agent of
the Colony, and in answer to one which had been written to him on
the same subject by the late Doctor Cadwallader Evans. In this letter
from Doctor Franklin, he recommended the culture of silk to his
countrymen, and advised the establishment of a public filature in
Philadelphia, for winding the cocoons. He also sent to the Society a
copy of the work by the Abbe Sauvage, on the rearing of silkworms.
A committee having been appointed by the Society to frame a plan
for promoting the culture of silk, and to prepare an address to the
Legislature, praying for public encouragement of the design, they
proposed to raise a fund, by subscription, for the purchase of cocoons,
to establish a filature, and to offer for public sale all the silk pur-
chased and wound off at the filature: the produce thereof to be duly
accounted for, and to remain in the stock for carrying on the design.
A subscription among the citizens was immediately set on foot, and
the sum of £875 14s. obtained the first year;t eggs and white mulber-
ry trees were imported, and a digest of instructions composed, pub-
lished, and distributed. Until the white mulberry trees were fit to
allow of their leaves being plucked, the worms were fed upon the
leaves from the native trees, and were found to agree perfectly well
with them, and to yield excellent silk. Itis believed that all the silk
produced during the continuance of the Society, was from food fur-
nished by native trees. A spirit for the silk culture was excited
among the citizens, and many garments are still possessed by fami-
lies which were made from silk raised by their forefathers. The
war of the Revolution put an end to the patriotic association, and sus-
pended, in a great measure, the silk culture—there being no longer a
sale for cocoons; but many persons continued their attention to it,
and others resumed it after the termination of the war.

The knowledge of the proper mode of rearing silkworms, and of
winding the silk, was greatly promoted by the publication of a paper
on those subjects, in the 2d volume of Transactions of the American
Philosophical Society of Philadelphia, which the late Doctor John
Morgan procured from Italy, through a silk mercantile house in Lon-

* Thomas McCall, Esquire: answer to the silk circular.

{The loss of the minutes of the Society prevents our knowing the amount subscribed
in subsequent years. Itisa proof of the anxiety of the British Government, in respect to
the silk culture in the Colonies, that, in the year 1769, an act was passed for the‘ further®
encouragement of the growth of silk in North America, granting 25/. for every 1001.
value of raw silk raised for the next seven years, and smaller bounties during the two
following periods of seven years. But no mention is made of this act by Doctor
Franklin in his letter, nor does it appear that any premium was claimed by the Society
in consequence of it,

25 [175 J

von.* During the last three years, a spirit has been revived and diffused
en the subject, and promises to increase ; and there can be no hesita-
tion in saying, that a ready sale for cocoons is alone wanting, to esta-
blish the silk culture as a regular employment in several States of thé
Union. It was the want of this market which defeated, in a great
degree, the patriotic attempt of Mr. Nathaniel Aspinwall, of Connec-
ticut, about the year 1790, to revive the silk culture in Pennsylvania,
New York, and New Jersey. But his memory deserves to be held in
everlasting and grateful remembrance, for the thousands of white mul-
berry trees which he planted in those States, and for the commendable
zeal he exhibited in the cause.

In Connecticut, attention to the culture of silk commenced about
the year 1760, by the introduction of the white mulberry tree, and
eggs of the silkworms, into the county of Windham, and town of
Mansfield, from Long Island, New York, by Mr. N. Aspinwall, who
had there planted a large nursery. He also planted an extensive nur-
sery of the trees in New Haven, and was active in obtaining of the
Legislature of Connecticut, an act granting a bounty for planting trees;
a measure in which he was warmly supported by the patriotic and
learned Dr. Ezra Styles. The premium was ten shillings for every
hundred trees which should be planted and preserved in a thrifty con-
dition, for three years; and three-pence per ounce for all raw silk,
which the owners of trees should produce from cocoons of their own
raising within the State. After the public encouragement for raising
trees was found unnecessary, a small bounty on raw silk, manufactur-
ed within the State, was continued some time longer. A statute con-
tinues in force, requiring sewing silk to consist of twenty threads, each.
two yards long.t :

It would be an act of injustice to omit noticing the generous en-
couragement to the cultivation of silk in the American Colonies, which
was given by the patriotic Society in London, for ‘¢the Promotion of
Arts,” &e. From the year 1755 to 1772, several hundred pounds
sterling were paid to various persons in Georgia, South Carolina, and
Connecticut, in consequence of premiums offered by the Society, for
planting mulberry trees, and for cocoons and raw silk. }

After the war of the Revolution, the business was renewed, and
gradually extended; and it is recorded, that, in the year 1789, two
hundred pounds weight of raw silk were made in the single town of
Marsfield, in Windham, Connecticut.§ In the year 1810, the value of
the sewing silk and raw silk, made in the three counties of New Lon-
don, Windham, and Tolland, was estimated, by the United States’
Marshal, at $28,503;|| but the value of the domestic fabrics made

* This excellent paper has been copied in all the British and Scoth Encyclopedias,
and was reprinted in a pamphlet, at Windham, Connecticut, in the year 1792.

+ Governor Wolcot’s answer to the silk circular. y

+ The particulars are not inserted in the transactions of the Society, but may be
seen in Bayley’s Advancement of the Arts, London, 1772, and in Dossie’s Memoirs
of Agriculture, vol. 5.

§ Columbian Magazine, Philadelphia, 4, p. 61.

| Statement of the arts and manufactures of the United St tes for the year 1819,
By Tench Coxe.

4

[ 175 J 26

from the refuse silk, and worn in those counties, was not taken into
consideration. They may be fairly estimated at half of the above sum.
In the year 1825, inquiries were made by the writer, in Windham
county, as to the increased attention to the silk culture there, and it
was found that the value of the silk, and of the domestic fabrics man-
ufactured in that county, was double that of the year 1810. It wae
also found, that sewing silk was part of the circulating medium, and
that it was readily exchanged at the stores for other articles, upon
terms which were satisfactory to both parties, and that the balance of
the account, when in favor of the seller, was paid in silver. The only
machines for making the sewing silk, are the common domestie¢ small
and large wheels; but practice supplies the defects of these imperfect
implements. With better machinery, sewing silk of a superior quality
would be made. At present, ‘‘three-fourths of the families in Mans-
field, are engaged in raising silk, and make, annually, from 5 to 10,
20, and 50 pounds in a family, and one or two have made, each, 100
pounds ina season. It is believed that there are annually made in
Mansfield, and the vicinity, from three to four tons. *

The farmers consider the amount received for their sewing silk as
so much clear gain, as the business does not interfere with the regular .
farm work of the men, or the domestic duties of the females, upon
whom, with the aged and youthful members of the family, the care of
the worms, and the making of the sewing silk, chiefly devolves. It is
known also, that in the other New England States, Maine excepted,
more or less attention to the silk culture is given.

During the late war with England, Samuel Chidsey, of Cayuga
county, New York, sold sewing silk to the amount of $ 600 a year.
Mr. C. introduced the white mulberry tree in the town of Scipio, on
its first settlement.t Silk was, also, formerly raised by the French in-
habitants, in the country now the State of Illinois, but to what extent
is not known. +

The cultivation of silk has commenced in the States of Ohio and
Kentucky, and there is every reason to believe that it will extend.
The first mentioned State contains a great number of citizens who for-
merly resided in the silk-growing districts of Connecticut and Massa-
ehusetts, and who wil! doubtless'see their interest in renewing a branch
of business from which they formerly derived so much profit. In the
latter State, itis chiefly confined to those industrious people, the United
Brethren, whose steady, persevering labors and intelligence, are the.
surest guarantees of success.

* Z. Storrs, Esq. of Mansfield: answer to the silk circular.

The manufacture of silk is chiefly confined to the counties of Windham and Tol-
land. The quantity made in five towns, last season, 1827, according te an accurate
statement, was as follows:

Mansfield 2,430 Ibs. | Ashford 500 Ibs. | Coventry 350 lbs.

_ Chaplin 550 do, | Hampton 467 do.
Worth four dollars per pound. The value increases one-fourth in manufacturing.
Several towns in which much silk is made, gave no returns. Letter to the Seere
tary of the Treasury, by D. Bulkeley, Esq.

¢ Mr. David Thomes: letter in answer to the silk circular.

+ Governor Coles: letter in answer to the silk circular.

27 f 175

CHAPTER I.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SILKWORM.

The phalzna, or moth of the silkworm, or, more properly, the sillx-
caterpillar, is about an inch long, and nearly an inch and a half be-
tween the extremities of the largest wings, when extended. The bo-
dies of both male and female, are obscurely white, and thickly covered
with short hairs. There are two antenne;* the stems are whitish, and
Jateral fillets pectinated, or like the teeth of acomb. In the male,
they are unequally spaced, while in the female, they are smooth, less
pectinated, shorter, and not so close, and, in a state of repose, they
commonly lie on their sides. There are four transparent wings, of
the same color as the body. Inthe male, the upper surface of the su-
perior wings are crossed by two brown bands; the broadest one is near
the extremity of the wing, and is continued on the under wing. Both
bands are bordered with a line: on the under surface there is only one
band. The superior wings are a little bent downwards at their ends.
The inferior wings of both are reverse in a state of rest, and extend
beyond the upper ones. The wings are covered with a white powder.

The tail of the male is somewhat raised and square. The female is
larger than the male; her wings are less strongly marked with bands,
and on the exterior margin of the wings. On the wings of both, are
several rays, which are as apparent on the under as the upper surfaces.
These are termed nervures, and are hollow tubes, proceeding from
the commencement of the wings, and diminish gradually in size, (the
marginal one excepted) to their termination. The vessels-contained in
these nervures, consist of spiral threads, whence they appear to be in-
tended to be air vessels communicating with the air vessels in the
body.t The wings are flat, and incapable of contraction or dilatation.
There are two black convex eyes, one on each side of the head. They
are protuberant, and rise above the head rather more than a hemi-
sphere. To the naked eye, their surface appears to be plain; but, by
submitting them to the microscope, their true and admirable structure
is ascertained. By the help of this instrument, it is found that the
whole surface consists of a multitude of lenses, all separated from one

* The antenne are:commonly called feelers, from the circumstance of numerous
insects touching substances with them; but all antennz are not thus used, nor are
they formed to answer this purpose,

It is now supposed that they are, in some way, connected with the organ of hear-
ing; and that they may collect and transmit sound to such an organ, the minuteness
of which defies investigation. This organ is suspected to be at the base of the an-
tennz, the spot in which the same organ has been discovered in the crayfish. Kirby
and Spence on Insects, vol. 3. pp. 43. 46, vol. 4. p. 246. :

+ These nervures are not peculiar to the moth of the silk-caterpillar, but common
to the wings of most insects.

[175] 28

another by an hexagonal or six-sided figure, and placed in the nrost
exact order. Leewenhoek counted thirty-five of these lenses on the
fourth part of the sphere of one’eye; the entire circumference will
therefore contain 140; hence, he says, it follows, that each eye is com-
posed of 3,000 optical organs; but, if both parts together constituted
a sphere, they then contain 6,236. When the eye is separated and
made clear, these hexagons are as transparent-as crystal. Leewen-
hoek having properly prepared and fitted an eye to a microscope,
could see through it clearly, but the largest objects viewed, were di-
minished to an incredibly small size. The steeple of the church in
Delft, which is 300 feet high, at 750 feet distance, appeared no larger
than the point of a needle, seen by the naked eye.

Not huge Behemoth, nor the whale’s vast form,
That spouts a torrent, and that breathes a storm,
Transcends in organs apt this puny fly,
Set with ten thousand lenses.*—Lvans.

The construction of these compound eyes, is admirably adapted to the
convenience of the insect; for, as they are immovable, they would
have lost sight of many objects, if their eyes had been framed lke
those of other animals; but, by their form, they can easily see sur-
rounding objects. As we do not see double with our eyes, so the numer-
ous inlets to sight in an insect, may increase their field of view.

When the worm is first hatched, it is very minute, and of a brown
hue, if healthy. This hue is derived from the hairs covering its bo-
dy: they disappear in the course of a few days, when it assumes a
light or dark hue, according to the nature of the particular variety.
Behind the head, the skin is formed into six wrinkles. The body is
eomposed of twelve articulations, or rings: each ring, except the se-
eond, third, and last, is marked on the sides, and near the belly, with
spots of a deeper color than that of the skin, and show oval openings
through which the insect respires, These openings are termed spira-
eula,t or breathing holes, and communicate, internally, with two air
vessels, running the whole length ef the body, one on each side, in a
straight line, from one spiracle, or stigma, to another, and, uniting
near the head, form one trunk. They serve, or perform, the office of
lungs. In other words, these stigmata are eighteen mouths, which
admit air into the principal air vessels in the large trunks of the tra-
chea, or wind-pipes, whence it is led to the different and numerous ra-
mifications of the air tubes, to the intestinal canal, to the other inter-
nal parts, and to the skin.

* The number of lenses in an eye, variesin different insects. Leewenhoek count-
ed 8,000 in that of a common house fly. (a_) Hooke (6_) computed 7,000 in a horse
fly; and Puget (c_) 17,525 in that of a butterfly.

}{ Malphigi and Reaumur call them stigmata.

(a) Select works, 4to. vol. 1. p. 62. Loni. 1796, (6) Micrographia, p. 176.
(c) Amenitates Academica. vol. 3 p. 14),

29 f 175

The silk-caterpillar has sixteen feet. The three first pair are scaly and,
hard, and placed under the three first rings, one on each side. The
next two rings are destitute of feet. The four succeeding rings have
-each two feet. These are soft and membranous, and swell, contract,
and expand, at the will of the insect. The next two rings are with-
out feet; the last ring has two feet. The extremities of the twelve
membranous feet, are furnished with hooks, or claws, the number
of which, according to the accurate Malphigi, are forty* in number in
each foot. They are of different sizes, and are placed in double and
equi-distant rows. The extremities of the six ‘first feet, consist of
curved nails, or hooks, which enable the caterpillar to hold to the spot
to which it has been pushed by the contractions of the posterior
rings. These feet are the envelopes of those which appear in the
moth. The others remain with the cast off skin of the caterpillar.

On the last ring but one, is placed a small horn, if that can deserve
this name, says Reaumur, which is used neither as a weapon of attack
nor defence. This accurate naturalist acknowledges his inability to
‘point out its use. The head of the caterpillar is formed of two scaly
spherical pieces, which do not touch, but leave a triangular space be-
tween them. On each side of these pieces, and in front, six or seven
black spots, arranged in a circle, may be seen: these are the eyes. The
opening between these two pieces, below and in the forepart, is the
mouth, It is armed with two parallel jaws, and with teeth, which
move horizontally when the insect eats. The spinnaret, or silk hole,
‘is near the summit of a pyramidal substance, occupying the middle of
the lower lip, and terminates in a little papilla of a black form, from
the point of which the silk filament issues that forms the cocoon. The
canal which receives the aliment, proceeds, in a straight line, from the
mouth to the vent, and is of different capacities, analogous to the gul-
let, the stomach, and intestines, of animals. The vessels in which the
silk is formed, consist of two parallel tubes of the same size, which
are so extremely delicate near their termination, as to appear to unite
in one tube; but, by immersing and hardening the insect in spirits of
wine, Reaumurt found that they continued separate to their ends, and
that he could take them out entire: they are about one foot in length.
The use of the microscope confirmed the structure: for, by the help of
this apparatus, he discovered that the fibre of silk, minute as it is, in-
stead of being round, as it would be if it proceeded from one vessel,
had more breadth than thickness, and that, in the middle of each fibre,
there was a kind of furrow, giving the appearance of two flattened
cylinders glued together. In some threads, he even saw the separa-
tion, or forks, at the end of the threadt From the contracted nature

* De Bombycibus, p. 9; Malphigi Opera Londini, 1737.

+ Memoire sur insects, p. 147, Paris, 4to. 1754.
* + Memoire, p. 499. In this admirable work, Reaumur has shown this confirmation
of the silk thread in magnified figures. Plate 5, fig. 4; plate 52, fig. 13, 14, 15;
plate 33, fig. 1, 2, 3.. Leewenhoek had, many years previously, demonstrated this °
structure by the microscope. Lyonet, however, questions the accuracy of both, and
insists that both silk tubes unite before they reach the orifice. Traite Anatomaque
de la Chenille, &c. p. 55. A la Haye, 1762,

[ 175 ] 30

of the sides, and the form of the orifice, combined with the power the
insect has of moving it in every direction, results the difference we
see in the breadth and form of the threads, and the various thickness
of the same thread.*

The silk reservoirs, following the course of the stomach, extend as
far as the last pair of membranous feet, then fold back on each side,
and proceed to the head, and, after two more turnings, the tubes less-
ening in size, they end in a series of convolutions.t Each of these
vessels is filled with a glutinous matter, near the time of spinning the
cocoon, generally of the color of the silk which the caterpillar will
spin. Sometimes it is of different colors in the same vessel; the up-
_ per part containing a yellow liquor, and the lower portion of it a pale
liquor. The quality of the leaves, ‘and the constitution of the insect,
are the probable causes of this circumstance. While in the silk-secre-
tors, it assumes the appearance of a viscid gum; but the moment it is
exposed to the air, after being thrown out. by the worm, it dries and
hardens into a single thread.

The silk-caterpillar, whose life is one continued succession of
changes, casts off its skin four times before it reaches its full growth.
This 1s a wonderful provision of nature, although, as is well known,
not confined to this insect, to relieve itself from the constriction it suf-
fers from the skin, which does not expand in proportion to the gradual
inerease of its body. These changes are times of pain to the cater-
pillar, which it shows by a state of languor, and by ceasing to eat. It
prepares for the operation, by emptying the intestinal tube, and by
throwing out, at different parts of its body, silky fibres, and attaching
them to the litter of its food, in order that, while it exerts itself, the
skin may remain fixed in the spot where it is placed. The insect is
now seen, at intervals, with its back elevated, or with its body stretch-
ed to. the utmost extent, sometimes raising its head, which is swelled
and pointed, moving feond side to side, and then letting it fall. Near
the change, the second and third rings are seen considerably swollen.

Ly these internal efforts, the old parts are stretched and distended,
anda slit is made on the back, generally beginning at the second or
third ring. ‘The new skin may now be perceived by its freshness
‘and brightness of color. The caterpillar then presses the body into
this opening, by which means, and a continuance of swellings and
contractions, a rent is made from the first to the fourth ring. Then, ~
bending the forepart of its body, and drawing it backwards, it disen-
gages the head from its old covering, and throws it out of the slit.
Finally, curving the posterior rings, “and drawing them towards the
head, the whole body escapes from its sheath. This escape is facili-
tated by a moisture, which the insect-emits and-diffuses over its body.

This laborious operation is the work of an instant; and the skin,
when cast off, is so entire, that it might be mistaken for the larva or
caterpillar itself, comprising, not only the covering of the trunk, -but
of the very skull, eyes, jaws, and legs. ‘These changes are termed

* Kirby and Spence’s Introduction to Entomology, vol. 5, p. 125, Lond.
Tt When taken out and extended, they measure 2 foot and seven inches in length.

’

3) [175 ]

moultings, and take place at different intervals, and continue for va-
rious periods, according to the climate or temperature in which the
insects have been kept, their particular nature, the quality of the food,
and the quantity and regularity with which they have been supplied.*
In this country, in a general way, the silk-caterpillars of four casts or
moultings, which have been, in all respects, properly treated, show
symptoms of their first moulting on the fourth or fifth day after they
are hatched.

The appearances which the worm assumes in the various stages of
its life, will be mentioned in the course of the details of its progress to
maturity, and therefore need not be here anticipated.

Sometimes a part of the covering remains attached to the extremity
of the caterpillar, which cannot cast it off. The insect then swells or
enlarges in the part which is disentangled, while the other part of the
body continuing compressed, occasions its death.

After having recovered from a moulting, the new skin is pale and
wrinkled; the insect appears much larger than before, owing to the
Foom given for distending its body under the new skin, and feeds with
increased activity. This increase of appetite is in proportion to the
advanced age of the insect; but, after the fourth moulting, it is very
great, and the consumption of leaves is immense. The last casting
of the skin, which is visible, being finished, and the caterpillar having
attained its greatest size, and matured the silky material in its ves-
sels, it loses all appetite, ceases to eat, and consequently to grow, and
then diminishes in weight and size. — It relieves itself of the contents
of the alimentary canal, which are now soft and green, instead of hard’
and black as before, and contracts its skin, and whole body, to such
a degree, as to be readily perceptible. These appearances take place
about nine or ten days aftey the fourth moulting. The caterpillar
now begins to prepare for spinning the silky tomb in which nature
has destined that it should enclose itself. It first wanders about, and
raises up its head, as if searching for a place to commence work, and,
having fixed on a suitable spot, it throws out some loose threads, and
glues one end of them to an adjoining surface. These threads it
next conducts to another part, and then fastens them; repeating this
process, and interlacing them in various directions, until it has sur~
rounded itself with a slight and loosely spun netting. , In the centre
ef this, when contracted into a space sufficiently small, it lays the
foundation of the interior cocoon. Fixing itself to some of the sur-
rounding threads, it bends its body, and, by successive motions of the
head from side to side, spins a layer of silk on the side opposite to it;
when this is of the requisite thickness, the insect shifts its position, and
repeats the same process in another quarter,t covering each layer, in
turn, with a new one, until the interior cavity is reduced to the size
desired. Thus, the silken thread which forms the cocoon, is not, as

* In India, during Summer, the moultings are finished in a few hours. —Anderson’s
Bee, Edim. vol. 8, p. 39.

T See Plate 3, figs. 4 and 4, for a view of the precise. mode in which the silk fibres
are laid. ;

[175 ] 32

might be supposed, wound circularly, as we wind the thread of a bali
of.cotton, but backwards and forwards, in a series of zigzags, so as to
compose a number of distinct layers. Malphigi* distinguished six of
these layers; and Reaumurt suspects there is often a greater number.
Hence, when the cocoon is wound off, the unravelling proceeds in a
very irregular manner. The inside is smeared with a gum of the
same nature with that out of which the silk is formed.

The construction of the cocoon is a work of three days, or three
days anda half. During the first day, the insect forms the exterior
envelope, which is merely the scaffolding, by means of which the in-
ner and more solid covering is constructed. On the second, it forms
the ball, and covers itself with silk. The third day, the insect is quite~.
hid, and afterwards it is employed in thickening and strengthen-
ing the ball. Having done this, the caterpillar has to undergo a
second change of form, viz: into that of a chrysalis; that state in-
tervening between the larva, or caterpillar, and imago, or perfect
moth, in which its parts and organs are fully prepared, and fitted for
their final and complete developement in the last mentioned. state.
This state is assumed on or about the fourth day after having spun its
cocoon. In this state it is quiescent, and apparently without life, but
all this time a new organization is internally forming. The first ope-
ration it performs, is to cast off the external skin, which covered it
in the caterpillar state, with the head and jaws attached to it. This-
it does in one or two days after finishing its cocoon, and, according
to Malphigi, in the space of one minute and ten seconds;{ who adds,
that the act is greatly promoted by a yellowish fluid, discharged from
the cavity of the head, which enables the outward skin the more
easily to slip over it, as the insect contracts and elongates. The
caterpillar thus stripped, is called the pupa. The exterior cover-
ing gradually becomes hard, while the interior remains so soft, that
the slightest touch will decompose it. The stomach is filled with
yellow mucus, which is doubtless the source of nourishment to the
pupa. The germs, or rudiments, of the future moth, which, according
to Swammerdam, may be detected even in the caterpillar, near its
last change, in a semi-fluid state,§ gradually develop, and assume.
their destined form; the wings, rolled up, are lodged between the
second and third rings; the antennz are placed alongside of them; the
legs are actually sheathed in legs; and when they have acquired a
proper degree of solidity, a slight inflation of the body is sufficient te
split the membrane which covers them. A repetition of these motions
enlarges the slit, and afiords the moth room to escape from its confine-

* De Bombycibus, p. 24.

7 Tome 1, p. 498.

+ De Bombycibus, p. 25.

§ To discover these, it is directed to drown the caterpillar, when about to assume
the pupa state, in vinegar, or spirits of wine, and to let it remain there for several
days, to harden the parts; or to boil it for a few minutes, then to dissect off the skin,
when the enclosed moth will appear, byt the parts are in a different manner from
that in which they Ke tn the pupa.

33 [175 J

ment. If the cocoon be opened, itis easy to discover the efforts which
the insect makes to free itself. When the operation begins, there
seems to be a violent agitation in the humors of the little animal; the
fluids being driven with rapidity through all the vessels, the limbs

_and other parts are put in motion, and, by repeated efforts, it breaks
through the brittle skin that envelopes it.

Another operation remains to be performed; this is, to penetrate the
tough, silky cocoon, with which it is covered.

It has been a question how the moth escapes from the cocoon.
Malphigi* asserts that it first wets the end of the cocoon with a
liquid, calculated to dissolve the gum which glues the fibres together,
and then employs its head to push them aside, and make an opening.
But, as Reaumur has observed,t besides, that so obtuse a part as
the head of a moth is but ill suited to act as a wedge, we find the threads
not merely pushed to each side, but actually cut asunder. He there-
fore infers, that the eyes are the instruments by which the threads
are divided—their numerous minute facets serving the purpose of a
fine file. The Rev. Mr. Swaynet supports the idea of Malphigi. He
informs us that he has unravelled several pierced cocoons, but never
found that the thread was discontinued in any one instance. He re-
marks, however, that, whenever this is attempted, it must be with the
cocoon dry, as the silk will be immediately entangled when put into
hot water. Analogy is against the opinion of Reaumur, since other
kinds of silkworms make their escape by means of a fluid, as the #f-
tacus Paphia, of India, described by Dr. Roxburgh.§ Perhaps the
two opinions may be reconciled, by supposing that the silkworm first
moistens, and then breaks the fibres of the cocoon, by the united as<
sistance of his jaws and head. This is the opinion of Mr. Swayne.

The time occupied by the silk-caterpillar in going through its dif-
ferent forms of existence, varies in different countries; and depends
upon climate, the temperature in which they have been kept, food,
and the nature of the particular variety of insect.

These circumstances, which are the true causes, will explain the
different statements of various writers on the subject, all of whom pro-
fess to speak from actual observation. It will be hereafter seen, too,
that the temperature of the room in which the eggs have been kept,
during the winter, affects the periods at which they hatch.

In general, silk-caterpillars, of four casts, when treated carefully,
according to the system laid down by the experienced Dandolo—that
is, gradually brought to maturity by a due regulation of the heat of the
apartment, experience their first change or moulting on the fourth
and fifth days after they have left their eggs: the second commences
on the eighth day, and ends on the ninth: the third occupies the thir-
teenth and fourteenth days: the fourth, and last, is effected on the
twenty-first and twenty-second days. The fifth age lasts ten days, at

* De Bombycibus, p. 29.

} Reaumur, Hist. des Insects, tome 1, p. 624.
+ Trans. Soc, Arts, Lond. vol. 7, p. 132.

§ Trans. Jemnean Soc. Lond. yol. 7, p. 35,

[175 J 34

the end of which time the caterpillars have reached their ultimate
growth, are three inches in length, and of the size of a swan’s quill,
or even larger, and prepared to spin their cocoons. Each moulting takes,
up about two days: making, in all, about thirty-two days from the
hatching of the insect.

In Pennsylvania, where artificial heat has not yet been generally
employed, the warms which have proceeded from stocks long among
us, come to maturity in about forty-twa days; in Mansfield, Connec-
ticut, in about five weeks. The small white worms, of the same place,
which produce beautiful and fine white silk, and two crops annually,
feed twenty days. A part of the worms produced from eggs import-
ed in the spring of 1826, from Genoa, by the writer, and reared in the
Pennsylvania Hospital, came to maturity in twenty-six days.

The length of time passed by the worm in the state of a chrysalis,
depends much upon the degree of heat in which the cocoons are kept.
If the temperature be about 66° of Fahrenheit’s thermometer, the moths
will make their appearance after fifteen days; while, on the contrary,
the experienced Abbe Sauvage informs us, that he has prevented them
from: comin g forth for a month, by keeping the cocoons in a vault.*
This is very important information, as, by having recourse to this ex-
pedient, time will be given to w ind off the cocoons, without baking or
steaming them to kill the chrysalis.

In whichever way the cocoon is pierced, as soon as the head of the
moth is out, the efforts he makes to bring forward the rest of his body,
increase the opening; his two forward legs are soon out, and then, at-
taching them strongly to the exterior part of the cocoon, he uses this
as a new support; other legs come out, and finally the whole moth
escapes, leaving behind, in the cocoon, his caterpillar’s skin, in a
crumpled state, with the head and jaws attached thereto, and the shell
of the chrysalis. Having gained their liberty,’ the moths discharge a
red excrementitious fluid: neither of them attempts to fly: the male,
anxious to fulfil the destiny of his nature, goes immediately in search
of the female, fluttering his wings with great rapidity, and having
found one, couples with her, continuing, for some time, to flap his
wings. After different intervals of time, they separate, and the male
soon after dies; the female crawls about, and lays from 200 to 450
minute eggs, and then she also dies. The eggs, when first laid, are
of a pale yellow color; but, in the course of eight or ten days they as-
sume a reddish gray hue, and, some time after that, a pale slate color.
The unimpregnated, and consequently sterile eggs, remain yellow,
a are more depressed on their surface than good eggs.

*Sur Education des Vers a Soie. 3d Memoir, p. 143.

CHAPTER II.

VARIETIES IN sILKwoRMs.—( Bombyx Mori.)

1. Of small Silkworms of three casts or moultings.

Dhywe reared, says Dandolo, a quantity of these silkworms sepa-
rately, the eggs of which may be found in several parts of Lombardy,
The worms and cocoons of this variety are two-fifths smaller than
those of the common sort. His experiments demonstrated, that these
worms consume, to form a pound of cocoons, nearly as much leaves as
the large species; and, although smaller when they have reached their
full growth, they devour more fragments and.shoots of leaves than the
common sort. ‘Their cocoons are composed of finer and more beauti-
ful silk than the common cocoon: they are also better constructed, and
to this is owing the greater quantity of silk, which, at equal weights, is
drawn from those cocoons, than from common cococns. This variety,
in the opinion of Dandolo, should be infinitely more cultivated than it
has hitherto been: for, 7r

1. These silkworms require four days less of care than the commori
silkworms.

2. They afford a saving of time, labor, and moiey.

3. They are not so long exposed to accidents—their life being
shorter.

Some imagine the species to be delicate, but they appeared to Dan‘
dolo to be strong and vigorous. ‘Six hundred cocoons weigh a potrid
and a half.

2. Of large Silkworms of four casts.

Dandolo reared many of these silkworms of a very large quality:
The eggs came from Friuli: they produce larger worms and larger
cocoons, yet they are not much larger nor much heavier than the eggs
of the common species. The werms, at their full size, weigh nearly
twice and a half as much as the common worm. The cocoons are in
the same’ proportion: 150 of the large sort weigh a pound and a half,
while it requires 360 of the common cocoon to weigh as much. «The
silk is coarser and not so pure as that of the common kind; the worms
are five or six days later in attaining their full growth, and in rising;
than the common silkworm.

3. Of the Worms that produce white Silk.

‘<< Thave raised,” says Dandolo, ‘a large quantity of these, and
found them, in all respects, equal to the common silkworms of four
easts. If I reared silkworms for the purpose of spinning the silk
myself, I would cultivate only the silkworm of threé casts, and thosé
that produce white silk, as preferable to all others; and every year
would choose the very whitest and finest cocoons, to prevent the de-
@eneration of the species.”

This species was introduced into France about forty-five years since;

[175 ] 36

from China, but was not much cultivated until about seventeen years
past. It is now highly prized by the manufacturers, as appears by
the report of the exhibition of French Industry, in the year 1819.*
In Windham county, Connecticut, there is also a small pale white
worm, which eats but twenty days, and produces fine white silk,
though in less quantity than either the common large pale white, or
the dark eolored worm; but it has the good quality of retaining its clear
white color, and does not turn yellow by washing, or by exposure to sun
and air. These worms produce also twocrops. It is highly probable
that these white worms are of the same species as that last mentioned.

The dark drab colored worms, which are very common in the
United States, and called ‘‘black,”’ live longer, and make more silk
than the large white worms.

4, Silkworms af eight crops.

At the silk establishment of the British East India Company at
Jungepore, Bengal, Lord Valencia, besides the common annual silk-
worm which gave but one crop, found two others; the one common-
ly reared, and supposed to be indigenous, is called Dacey, producing
eight harvests. Another and worst, the China, or Madrassa, also
yields eight times a year.t This last may be the kind mentioned by
Arthur Young, who says, he * obtained a silkworm from China,
which he reared, and in twenty-five days had the cocoons in his ba-
gins, and by the twenty-ninth or thirty-first days, a new progeny feed-
ing in his trays.”? He justly remarks, that “they would be a mine
to whoever would cultivate them.’’t The American who would in-
troduce any .of the best of these silkworms into the United States,
would render an essential service to his country. If circumstances,
however, should prevent the importation of the species before men-
tioned, it is presumed there will be no difficulty in procuring, from the
Isle of France, the eggs of those which came from Bengal in the year
1815, and were reared under the direction of Mr. Chazel, and which
breed three times a year;§ or the variety of Madrass, which, accord-
ing to Dr. Anderson, finish their course in forty days, viz: six days in
eggs, twenty-two a worm, eleven in the cocoon, and one a moth. ||

On rearing two or three crops of wormsin the United States, in one
season.

In those States where the heat continues long, more than one crop
of worms can be obtained in a season without artificial means, as the
following statement shows:

<¢In the month of March, 1826, Mr. Seth Millington, received a

* Malphigi, long since, mentioned the existence of a variety of silkworms in Italy,
which bred twice in a season.—De Bombycibus, p. 43.

{ Travels to India in 1802, 1806, vel. 1, p. 78, Lond. 1809,

+ Annals of Agriculture, vol. 23, p. 235

§ Transactions Soc. Arts, London, vol. 42.

| Anderson’s Bee, vol. 8, p. 342, Edinburgh.

€ Of Prairie Haut, St. Charles Co. Missouri: letter to the Secretary of the Treasu-
“7, itranswer to the silk circular.

few silkworm eggs from Philadelphia, which were kept in an upper
room, without a fire, and hatched early in April: they were fed the
first week on lettuce, afterwards on the leaves of the white and na-
tive mulberry tree, and came to maturity within from twenty-four to
thirty days, and spun their cocoons before the 12th of May. On the
last days of May, and first of June, the moths came out and laid
their eggs on paper, which was loosely rolled up, and placed in an up-
perroom. Within eight or ten days from the time the eggs were laid,
they began to hatch, and, before the 15th of June, nearly one-twen-
tieth part had hatched; the worms were healthy, fed well, grew more
rapidly, and came to maturity in a few days less time than the first
érop. They wound their cocoons in the first days of July; on the
last of that month, and first of August, the moths came forth, and
laid their eggs, which were placed in the same room as the first eggs.
In about the same length of time, they also began to hatch, and all the
worms came out between the 12th and 18th of August. They came to-
maturity, and spun their cocoons, in somewhat less time than the first,
viz. before the middle of September:* the moths came forth, and
laid their eggs the first days of October.”

On the subject of these repeated productions, Mr. Millington says:
‘¢] feel confident that, in most parts of the Union, the climate will ad-
mit of more than one crop of silkworms being raised in the course of
ayear, asin Asia. Our weather is equally favorable for their health,
for more than five months in the year, and if the leaves of our mul-
berry trees are frequently taken from them, they will continue to put
out fresh leaves for the same length of time. Between the three succes-
sive crops which I raised the past summer, there were two intervals,
each long enough to have raised other crops, when the weather was az
favorable for their growth, and the mulberry trees were putting out
leaves as luxuriantly as at any time during the summer. These inter-
vals were from the 12th May to the 12th June; and from the 10th July
to the 12th August, each long enough to have raised a crop of silk-
worms which would have made five crops. I am convinced, from the
produce of the crops, that when five crops are raised the same year,
the second, third, and fourth, will spin the largest and best cocoons.
Our middle summer months are not too warm for such worms as are
hatched out in, and constantly live in this warm temperature: but the
first and last crops will be more apt to experience frequent changes
in the weather, and will be more liable to be injured by both heat
and cold.

**T do not doubt but that the following plan will effect the object of
rearing successive crops: The eggs for the first crop, must be kept
over winter, and be hatched, in the usual manner, about the middle of
April. If the mulberry leaves are small, they may be fed a part of
the time on lettuce; they will come to maturity, and wind their cos
coons, within thirty days, The eggs for the second crop must also
he kept over winter, and their hatching retarded in the spring, by

* Owing, doubttesssto the increasctl heat of the weather.

87 C175]

i te 38

keeping them in a very cold cellar, or ice-house, until within five er
six days of the time in-which this crop will be wanted, when, by bring-
ing these eggs into the room, they will readily hatch: or the eggs
for this second crop may be provided by forcing a few worms to
hatch about the middle of March, in a warm room, and by feeding
them on lettuce until the mulberry trees will furnish leaves. These
worms will grow slowly, and probably will not spin much silk; but
if they are kept in a warm room, they will be healthy; and will fur-
nish eggs which may be used for the second or following crop. The
eggs for the third, fourth, and fifth crops of worms, will be furnished
by the first and second crop of worms, or they also may be kept over
winter, and their hatching retarded in the spring, by keeping them
in an ice-house* until the worms are wanted.

«“ The eggs of the silkworm will bear a greater degree of heat the
same season they are laid, without hatching; than is required to hatch
them the following spring, By being chilled during the winter, they
seem to acquire a greater sensibility to heat, and a greater disposition
to hatch. When we wish to hatch them the same season they are laid,
this process of nature may be somewhat imitated by keeping them in
a cold cellar, from the time they are laid, until wanted to be hatched;
this will facilitate their hatching; yet if the weather is not very warm;
artificial heat may still be necessary, and a constant exposure toa
temperature somewhere between eighty and one hundred degrees of
Fahrenheit, in a moist atmosphere; will hatch them in five or six days.t
The hatching of these eggs may also be facilitated, or rather, silk-
worm eggs may be procured, which will have a greater disposition to
hatch the same season, by putting the cocoons which contain the in-
sects in their pupa state, in a cellar where the temperature is at about
sixty degrees, and by keeping them there until they change to moths
and lay their eggs; these eggs, soon after they are laid; might be kept
in a temperature still lower, until wanted to be hatched.

“« That silkworm eggs, thus procured and kept, would have a greater
disposition to hatch, I am convinced by the following late experiment
{ had some eggs laid in June, when the thermometer ranged between
ninety and ninety-six degrees; some laid in August, when the ther-
mometer was between eighty-eight and ninety-four degrees; and some
laid the first of October, when the thermometer was between fifty-
eight and sixty-five. These three parcels of eggs I exposed to a tem-
perature of between sixty-six and seventy-two, on the 10th of Octo-:
ber, and before the 20th, that parcel of eggs which were laid in Octo-
ber, when the weather was cool, hatched out; but the two first parcels,
which were laid in warmer weather, did not hatch. :

I have supposed that the whole of each crop of worms will be hatch-
ed at the same, and will all come to their full growth at the same time,
and each crop will oecupy the shelves about one month. In this case;
(from their diminutive size,) enough of these.worms to fill all the

* The eggs must not freeze. ;
+ The propriety of thistreatment is, however, questionable. See p. 64, on over:
heating eggs.

39 [175 J

shelves when at their full growth, will fill only a small part; the first
two weeks, therefore, where the object is to keep the shelves con-
stantly filled with the greatest possible quantity of worms, something
may be gained by having each crop hatched out on several different
days, and each day’s hatching kept by itself. Under this management,
the hatching may be so arranged as to keep the shelves filled with
worms of different ages, and of all sizes, which will enable the shelves
to hold twice as many worms as they would otherwise admit of; and
this management will also give the tenders constant and regular em-
ployment; every few days they will have some new cocoons of silk to
remove from the shelves, and some young worms to put on ta supply
their places.”’

Remarks.—In the warm States, which abound with many unem-
ployed hands, the foregoing plan may be put in execution. But the
trouble attending it will probably cause few, if any, to attempt it.
Confusion and injury would moreover ensue, from having young
worms on the same shelves with the worms spinning their cocoons, (a
time when they require to be kept perfectly quiet,) even were it prac-
ticable to accommodate both. Mr. M. has, however, demonstrated,
that mare than two crops of wormscan be raised in those States where
the heat continues long and steady.

‘¢ Messrs. Weiss and Youngman, of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania,
raised two crops during the year 1825. The worms of the second
erop appeared more vigorous and healthy than those of the first.
They also produced larger cocoons, the silk of which was of a better
quality.”’* ;

Two attempts, viz: in 1826 and 1827, to rear two crops of worms,
by Messrs. Terhoeven, Philadelphia county, failed. The worms, from
the eggs laid in the early part of the season, hatched, byt they soon died.

(ie

CHAPTER III.

OF OTHER CATERPILLARS PRODUCING SILE.

The larva of the silk-moth is not the only insect which yields silk.
Other insects produce the same substance, which, in point of strength,
far exceeds that af the common silkworm. These insects are natives
of India, and bear the names of Bughy or Tusseh,t and Arrindy}
silkworms, and have been fully described, and figured in colors, .by
the late eminent naturalist, Dr. Roxburgh.|| Both exceed the commor

‘silkworm in size ; the first especially; and the silk of which appears
to be more valuable than that of the other kind. The Tusseh silk is

* Dr. Stout: letter to’ the Hon. C. Miner, of the House of Representatives.
} Phalzna Attacus Paphia, of Drury.

+ Bombyx Cynthia.

Trans. Linnezan Sec. Lond. vol, 7.

ee ae 40

found in such abundance in Bengal, and the adjoining provinces, as
to have afforded the natives, from time immemorial, an ample supply
of a most durable coarse silk, which is woven into a kind of cloth,
ealled Tusseh doot’hies, and much worn. ‘The caterpillar, when
full grown, is about four inches in length, and bulky in proportion;
its color is green, with a lateral stripe of yellow, edged with red;
when ready to spin, they envelope themselves in two or three leaves
of the Jujube tree,* the vegetable upon which they feed. These leaves
form an exterior envelope, which serves as a basin to spin the cocoon
in, which is then suspended, by a thick silk cord, from the branch of
the tree. It remains nine months in the pupa or chrysalis state, and
three months in that of the egg and caterpillar. The insect, when
produced, expands to the breadth of five or six inches, and those of
the female to eight inches. They immediately escape. ‘The worms
feed on the trees, and are watched day and night, to guard them against
birds. The natives of India pretend that these worms cannot be
domesticated. The durability of the silk woven from it, is astonish-
ing.t The arrindy silkworm is the Bombyx Cynthia of the natu-
ralists. It is peculiar to the interior of Bengal, and is reared in a
domestic state, as the commonsilkworms. The food of the caterpil-
lar consists entirely of the leaves of the common castor-oil plant.{ It
is about three inches long when full fed; the color pale green. The
_ eocoon is white or yellowish, of a very soft and delicate texture, about
two inches long, and three in circumference. The insect remains in
the pupa state but twenty days. The filaments of the cocoon are so
delicate, that it is impracticable to wind off the silk; it is therefore
spun like cotton, and woven into a coarse kind of white cloth, appa-
rently of a loose texture, but of incredible durability ; the life of one
person being seldom sufficient to wear out a garmentmade of it. The
coverings of palanquins are made of this silk. Mr. Glass, British
Army Surgeon, sent some of it to his friends in England, and, upon
being shown to some silk manufacturers, they gave it as their opinion,
ihat it could be made into shawls, equal to any received from India.
Another species is called Jarroo, the cocoons of which are spun in the
coldest month, viz: January; the silk is of a darker color. The
males, when hatched, invariably fly away, but the females remain on
the asseen trees, upon which the worms are placed to feed. These are
not impregnated by the males bred along with them, which fly away; .
but, in ten or twelve hours, another flight of males arrives, and impreg-
nate the females, which deposite their eggs on the branches. The
natives are able to retain part of the Jarroo cocoons for seed, which

* Rhamnus Jujuba, L. or Byer of the Hindoos. They also feed on the leaves of
the asseen tree; the Terminalia alata Glabra of Roxburgh.

+ From a Chinese paper, on the culture of the Tusseh silk, which Mr. Huzard
lent Mr. Latreille, he is convinced that the insects producing it were the wild silk,
worms of China; and he conjectures that a part of the silk stuffs which the ancients
procured by their maritime commerce with India, was made from the silk produced.
by these insects. Rcegne animal, parCuvier. Tome3d, p. 564, Paris, 1817.

+ Ricinus Palma Christi.

4i [175 J

they hang out. on the asseen trees, when the proper season for the
moth arrives. :

Du Halde* mentions that in the province of Chantong, there is
found a species of silkin great quantities on trees and in the fields,
which is spun and made into a stuff called Kient-chou. ‘This silk is
the production of little insects much like caterpillars, which do not
‘spin cocoons, but very long threads; and, being driven about by the
wind, hang upon the trees and bushes, and are gathered for use. ‘The
stuff is much coarser than that) made of silk spun in houses. The
worms are wild, and eat indifierently the leaves of, the mulberry and
other trees; they are of two_ kinds; one is much larger and biacker than
the common silkworms, and are called Tsouen-Kien; the other, the
Tyan-Kien, are much smaller. The silk of the first is of a reddish
gray, that of the other is darker. The stuff made of these materials
is between both colors; itis very close, does not fret, is very durable,
washes like linen, and, when good, receives no damage by spots,
even though oil be spilt on it. Dr. Robertson informs us, that the na-
ture and productions of the wild siikworms are illustrated at greater
length in the large collection of Memoirst on China, and by Pere de
Maiila, in his voluminous history of China.t It must have been these
worms to which Virgil referred:

Velleraque ut foltis depectant tenuia seres— Georg. lib. ii. 121.

It was to the same species of silk to which Pliny refers, when he
mentions ‘* the stuff made from a white downy substance, combed by
the Seres from the leaves of trees, which differed from the wool-bear-
ing trees (cotton) of the [sland of Tylos in the Persian gulf.”

Don Luis Nee ‘observed on certain trees growing in Chilpancingo,
Tixtala, &c., in South America, ovate nests of caterpillars, eight
inches long, which the inhabitants manufacture into stockings and
handkerchiefs.§ Great numbers of similar nests, of a dense tissue,
resembling Chinese paper, of a brilliant whiteness, and formed of dis-
tinct and separable layers, the interior being the thinnest, and very
transparent, were observed by Humboldt, in the province of Mechoa-
ean, and the mountains of Santarosa, at a height of 10,500 feet above.
the level of the sea, upon yarious trees.|| The silk of these nests,
which are the work of social caterpillars, was an object of commerce,
even in the time of Montezuma; and the ancient Mexicans pasted to-
gether the interior layers, which may be written upon without prepa-

* History of China, vol. 2d, p. 359, Lond. 1744.

{ Histoire des Sciences, les Arts, &c. des Chinois, tom. 2d, p. 575, &c.

+ Tom. 13, p. 434, Robertson’s disquisition concerning ancient India, note 33.
Mr. Delalauze, the author of the essay on silkworms, in the ‘¢ Cours d’ Agriculture,”
by Rosier, mentions these Chinese worms, on the authority of Madam Lottin, whe
published a treatise on silkworms in Paris, in the year 1757; but takes no notice of
Du Halde, although his history of China was published in France nearly twenty years
before.

§ Annals of Botany, 2d, p. 104.

| Political Essay on New Spain, vol. 3d, p. 59. They were 7 to 73 inches long by

52 broad.
§

[ 175 4 | 42

ration, to form a white glossy pasteboard, Handkerchiefs are stilt
manufactured of it in the Intendancy of Oaxaca, :

In the first volume of the Transactions of the American Philoso-
phical Society of Philadelphia, is a paper by the late Moses Bartram,
of Philadelphia, in which are recorded some experiments in propaga-
ting caterpillars from cocoons, found on the biack haw, alder, and
wild crab tree. He did not attempt to reel silk from either those he
found wild, or from others which were formed in his own house: but
subsequent and recent trials to produce a continuous thread from va-
rious native cocoons, have repeatedly proved abortive. The Rey. Mr.
Pullein, of England, has indeed recorded,” that from the pod of the
moth called “ isingiass’’ by Madam Merian, and which he received
from Pennsylvania, he produced a thread of twenty single fibres,
which bore a weight of fifteen and a half ounces; while the thread of
the common silkworm, of the same size, always broke with fifteen —
ounces, Mr. Abbot also says. that he had heard of the cocoons of
the Bombyx Cecropiz having been carded, spuu, and made into stock-
ings, which washed like linen; but that the insect will not bear con-
finement. It feeds on the leaves of the cherry tree.t On the outside
of the cocoon, the web is coarse; the inside is covered with silk like
a silkworm cocoon.

Miss Rhodes could not succeed in winding any silk from one of the
native cocoons, which she received from South Carolina. t

Madam Humbert§ had some coarse strong silk from cocoons of na-
tive wild worms in Louisiana, but, although the cocoons were larger
than those of the foreign worms, yet the quantity of silk was less than
that produced by the latter. For the above reasons it is clear that
they are unworthy of attention.

a
CHAPTER IV.

OF MULBERRY TREES.

Botanists have, hitherto, discovered only one native species of mul-
berry tree in North America, viz. the red, (morus rubra,) which has
an extensive range. Michaux assigns the same limits north to itas
to the majestic and beautiful tulip tree, (4iriodendron tulipifera, ) viz.
the northern extremity of Lake Champlain; but it also grows in Massa-
chusetts. Southward and westward, it abounds in all the States, and
has been recently found as far west as the lower part of the river
Canadian.|| The leaves of the red mulberry tree are large, generally

* Trans. Royal Soc. Lond. 1759, p. 54.

+ The natural history of the rarer Lepidopterous insects of Georgia, by John Ab-
bott, 2 vols. 4to. Lond. 1797, plate 45. .

+ Anderson’s Bee, Edin. vol. 11, p. 173. .

§ Du Pratt’s Hist. Louisiana, p. 187.

{ Found by Dr. James, of the U.S. Army. Annals of the Lyceum, New York, ~
| gpl. 24, p. 246. f

43 [175 J

éntire, but sometimes divided into two or three lobes, rounded, heart
shaped, and denticulated, of a dark green color, thick texture, rough
and uneven surface. The sexes are usually separate, though some-
‘times they are found upon the same tree. The fruit is of a deep red
color, an oblong shape, and of an agreeable, acidulous sugary tastes,
it is composed of the union of a great number of small berries, each
of which contains a minute seed. The tree often exceeds sixty feet in
height, and two feet in diameter. ‘The wood is of a yellowish hue,
approaching to lemon color, fine grained and compact, and when
perfectly seasoned, is as durable as the white locust,* on which ac-
tount it is highly esteemed for posts, and, by ship and boat builders,
for the upper and lower frames of vessels, knees, and floor timbers,
and the ribs of boats. In 'Tennessce, and probably in the other West-
ern States, when a native forest is cut down, if the land be enclosed,
a growth of red mulberry trees, it is.said, soon takes its place.t

There are several varieties in the red mulberry tree, depending on
the leaves and fruit:

1. Leavesall orbiculated, (round.)
=e RN 2) deeply lobed.

3. -do with three short lobes.
4. Fruit, berries nearly white.

5, do do _ bluish purple.

6. do do red and long.

Te nO do blackish red.

Mr. C. C. Robin,a French traveller, mentions aspecies with leaves
similar to the red mulberry in shape, but rough and shining on the
upper surface, and downy underneath, with white fruit, and growing
in Louisiana. Travels in Ll. &c. Paris, vol. 3d, p. 379. Mr. Darby
notices one which he calls M. seabra, or Spanish mulberry, which is
found in Opelousas. Description of Louisiana. Both these may be
varieties of the morus rubra.

That the leaves of the native red mulberry tree agree perfectly with
silkworms, and yield very good silk, is a fact so weil established by
the experience of more than a century, that, to doubt it, would amount
to anabsurdity. It appears, however, that the leaves do not suit the
constitution of French worms, and the author,t+ of the experiment,
which he made to satisfy himself, on this point, therefore decides

* Robinia pseudo-acacia. ;

The fact of the spontaneous succession of forest trees of a different kind from
those which had formerly grown on the same land, when the first growth has been
eut off or burnt, was known to the people of the United States from their early set«
tlement; but when the enterprising M’Kensie (a) mentioned it, the truth of his state-
ment was denied by the Edinburgh reviewer (8) cf his work; although a similar fact had
been, ten years before, noticed by Mr. Cartwright, in his Journal of a residence in

«Labrador, Lon. 1792, vol.3, p. 225. For some interesting facts on this subject, see
‘the papers of Judge Peters, Mr. Adlum, and others, in the 2d vol, of the Memoirs
of the Philadelphia Society for promoting Agriculture.

+ Mr. Delongchamps: Essai, sur l’Histoire des Muriers; et des Vers a Soie. Paris,
1824
(@) Voysge from Montreal fo the Frozen and Pacific Oceans, in the years 1789 and1793, T,ondon. 190%
(b) Vol. 1, 1802, :

£175]

against the fitness ef the tree for the food of the insects. He acknow-
ledges that they eat the leaves of both the white and red species indis-
criminately, when mixed, without evincing a preference for either,
and that when they were placed in separate parcels within half ar
inch of each other, they never left the latter until they were all de-
voured. A similar remark as to their promiscuous feeding on both
species of leaves, had been previously and long since made in Louisi-
ana, by Madam Humbert,” a native of France, and was recently con-
firmed by Mr. Seth Millington,t of Missouri. Madam H. adds,
that the silk from the worms fed on the leaves of the native tree, was —
equally good as that produced by the white species, and that both
<¢ were stronger and finer than that of France.”

From the character of the leaves and fruit of a native mulberry
tree growing in Washita,{ there is reason to believe that it is a dif-
ferent species from the Morus rubra.

The leaves received, are three-lobed, three-nerved, unequally ser-
rated; base subcordate entire; lobes, ovate oblong acute, or acumi-
nate; sinuses broad, with large interjected acute teeth. Both surfaces
rough. ;

The leaves are larger than the red species: upper lobes more ovate,
with base narrowed; no pubescence beneath; lateral lobes narrower than
the middle. Teeth of the sinuses, sometimes entire, sometimes with
a few unequal teeth onthe side. Upper sinuses broader than the lower.

OF THE WHITE MULBERRY TREE.

‘The white mulberry tree, Morus alba, is a native of Asia, and was
introduced into Italy by some of the survivers of the last crusade.
Olivier de Serres relates, that the French who accompanied Charles
the Eighth, in his invasion of Italy, in 1494, struck with the abund-
ance of the trees in that country, and with the profit derived from the
culture of-silk, determined to introduce it into France. This was
done by Guy Pape, of Saint Auban, after the peace, who planted it
near Montelimart. In 1802, Faujas de Saint Fond saw the original
tree, around which Mr. Lachaux, to evince his respect for this monu-
ment of agriculture, and parent of all the white mulberry trees in
France, had built a wail. There are several species of this tree, and
numerous varieties, the result of cultivation, soil, climate, and the
_ play of nature. The forms of the leaves are extremely variable.
Mr. Audibert,§ an experienced cultivator in France, says, ‘‘that the
same tree will have leaves divided into several lobes, when young;
and, when it becomes old, they will beentire. Others have the second
crop of leaves differently formed from the first; some again have en-
tire leaves in the spring, and lobed leaves in the autumn. Hence, it
is extremely difficult to assign positive characters to the different va-
rieties, particularly when they show no diversity in appearance, except

.

in the shapes of the leaves. ”’

* Du Pratt’s Hist. of Louisiana, p. 187.
+ Answer to the silk circular.

+ The leaves were sent by Judge Bry, to the Secretary of the Treasury.
§ Essai, &e. p. 21. ;

45 [176]
On the culture of the White Mulberry Tree.

All the practical writers on this subject, agree that the proper soils
‘Yor the mulberry tree are dry, sandy, or stony; the more stony the
better, provided the roots of the trees can penctrate among them.
The situation should be high: low, rich, and moist land, never produce
nourishing leaves, however vigorously the tree may grow. They are
always found to be too watery.

The modes of propagation are, 1, by seed; 2, grafting; 3, budding;
4, layers; 5, cuttings; 6, suckers. _

1. The ripe fruit may be sown in drills in ground previously pre-
pared; or the seeds may be washed out of the pulp, and mixed with
an equal quantity of sand or fine mould, and then sown. They should
be covered about a quarter or half an inch deep. The seeds will soon
vegetate if the ground be rich, and will live through the winter, un-
less the cold should be unusually severe.* In that case, they should
be covered with straw or long manure: in the course of the next sea-~
son thin the plants, so that they may be afoot apart. Seeds intended
to be sown in the spring, or to be kept, should be washed out: for
they are apt to heat or mould if allowed to remain in the fruit. Every
tiller of land knows the fertilizing effects of frost and snow; the land,
therefore, destined for the spring sowing, should be dug or ploughed
in the preceding autumn, ‘left rough all winter, and harrowed or raked
fine as soon as the season will permit, and the seed sown in drills.
The young plants must be watered in dry weather, and weeds careful-
ly kept down. Weeds will not only stint the growth of the plants,
but cause diseases in them, which may affect the future vigor and health
of the tree. When a year old, some of them will be fit to plant in nur-
sery rows; the same plants may remain in the seed bed a second year,
and then be transplanted; the plants at two feet distance from one an-
other, that there may be room for cleansing and dressing the ground.
At transplanting, cut off some of the roots, especially those that are
ragged or decayed, and the tap root, to force out lateral roots; and also
the tops, at six or seven inches from the ground. In France, they
transplant just after the fall of the leaf in the autumn. When the
plants in the nursery are sprung, strip off the side buds, and leave
none but such as are necessary to form the head of the tree. The buds
which are left, should be opposite to one another. If the plants in the
nursery do not shoot well the first year, in the month of March fol-
lowing cut them over, about seven inches from the ground; this will
make them grow briskly. They should also be wateréd with diluted
barn-yard water.

When the plants are grown to the size of one inch in diameter, plant
them out in the fields where they are to remain; make the holes six
feet square, and dress the ground two feet round the plants;
trim the roots, and press the earth on the roots as the holes are filled.
During the first of planting out, leave all the buds which the young
trees have pushed out on the top, till the following spring, when none

* A°quantity of plants from seed this treated, lived through the cold winter
of 1825-6, in Philadelphin.

[175 ] 46

are to be left but three or four branches to form the head of the tree.
The buds on these branches should be on the outside of them, that the.
shoots may deseribe a circle round the stem, and that the interior of
the tree may be kept open; and as the buds come out, take off all those
which appear upon the body of the tree. For several years after,
every sprang, open the heads of the trees when too thick of wood, and
eut off any branci: which crosses or takes the lead of the rest; leaving
two buds on the outside of every trimmed branch. Count Verri,* an
experienced cultivatér of the mulberry tree, recommends to leave only
two buds at the end of each branch—preferring those which are out-
side and opposite to each other—and when three buds appear together,
to leave the middle one, which is always most vigorous, and to detach
the two on each side of it. If the superior buds do not push well, the
two next lower ones, only, must be left. Every farmer and nurseryman,
kzows the very great importance of dressing the ground round young
trees, twice in the course of the year, and of planting stakes by them, |
to ensure an upright, straight growth, and to prevent their being shaken
by wind, or levelled by storms. |

2 and 3. Grafting and budding may be performed on the mulberry -
tree, in the modes usually adopted for other trees. So great is the pre-
jadice in Italy in favor of grafting the mulberry trees, that Dandolo
says, ‘‘even the hedge mulberry trees are grafted.”” The reason for
this is, that the grafted tree yields more léaves than those produced
from seed; but he decides, as will be hereafter seen, in favor of the
latter. Nevertheless, as it may be wished to propagate a particular
species, or variety of mulberry tree, the leaves of which are found to
produce better silk than common, the process may be adopted which
is generally preferred in France for grafting the mulberry and large
chestnut, and is as follows:

A branch must be selected, sound, and of the growth of the preced-
ing year, when possible, and while the sap is running: this is to be cut
off some inches from the trunk, or further off, according to its strength
or size. The annexed cut represents a piece of a branch, separated;

but we must suppose it attached to the trunk. From the
point A to the point B, the bark is to be slit in strips
by the edge of a pruning knife; and these strips are to
be gently detached from the wood, (without bruising
them,) as is seen at E. While an assistant is engaged
in this operation, another prepares a cylinder, or tube,
_ C,; having a bud, D, or several buds, and of equal dia-
2 “meter to that of the wood, A, when barked. Then,
: A\B without loss of time, itis to be slid upon the wood, un-
; til its lower extremity touches the basis of the strips. If
the cylinder applied to the wood is proportioned to it,
and if it covers all the wood, and unites exactly with it,
the strips are to be cut off below the cylinder, by a cir-
cular cut; and after having made the two barks join,

* tArt de Cultiver Les Muriers. A Lyon, p. 60, 1826.

44 [ 175 ]
the united parts are to be covered with a mixture of turpentine, wax,
and rosin, spread on thin leather.* Every boy is acquainted with
the mode of procuring a pipe to make a whistle from a willow, by cut-
ting offa branch, and gently beating the bark, until it loosens from the
wood: the mulberry pipe is to be procured in the same manner.

W hen it is difficult to find a branch, the bark of which will fit ex-
actly the branch which is cut in strips, the following expedient may
be adopted: Ifit be too narrow, a branch must be slit longitudinally,
on the side opposite to the bud, and the cylinder being taken off, is to
be applied to the wood; then a part of a strip is to be raised, that cor-
responds to the deficiency in the cylinder, and must be divided in its
whole length, of a breadth wanting in the ring, so that this division
fills the vacant space: Finally, raise up and surround it with the strips,
as already directed. Ifthe bark cylinder be too large, cut it to.the
diameter of the wood, then fit the edges as nearly as possible, and cover
them with the strips. t

The propagation by budding would seem to demand particular at-
tention, from the success attending the operation by Mr. Millington, of
Missouri, who says: ‘‘ With a view to increase my little stock of
white mulberry trees, I have, this past summer, (1826,) budded them
on our native stocks: these buds took weli; and such as I put in before
the middle of July, were forced out immediately, by cutting off the
stocks above the buds. Some of these buds have already (October 27;)
made limbs more than two feet long. The buds I have put in since
the middle of July, I shall not attempt to force out until next spring,
I consider this the best mode to manage the buds. Budding is more
expeditious and surer than engrafting; and when it fails, does not in-
jure the stock so much as this mode. Native stocks to engraft or bud
on, can be procured with the greatest ease; and the trees thus raised,
would not be liable to be diseased in their roots, as foreign trees; and

‘ these engrafted or budded trees would grow much faster, and furnish
Jeaves much sooner, and of a larger sive and better quality. This will
not be doubted by those who have observed how much faster an en-
grafted tree grows, and how much larger its leaves are, than those of
a seedling tree.”

4, Laying.—The propagation of trees by layers is only necessary
for such trees as do not grow freely by cuttings, or of which sceds
cannot be easily procured; but as neither of these reasons apply to
the mulberry tree, no directions on the subject are necessary. Those
who wish information on it, may consult MeMahon’s American Gar-
dener’s Calendar, a work which should be in the possession of every
country gentleman in the United States.

5. Cuttings. —These should be taken from perpendicular shoots,

* This composition was preferred by an eminent farmer and horticulturist, the late
Joseph Cooper, of New Jersey, as it is not liable to contract and fall off by the heat
of summer, or to be washed off by rain—accidents which often happen to the masses
of clay put round grafts.

t+ Memoirs of Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture, vol. 3; from « Ro-
sier’s Cours Complet d’ Agric.” vol. 5, p. 324.

ee 48

and partieularly those that terminate branches:* these will certainly
produce straight and handsome trees; while cuttings taken from hori-
zontal branches, will ever have an inclination to grow in a spreading
manner. The cuttings should be of the last summer’s shoots, and
from six to fifteen inches in length. Piant them in rows, in shady
borders, early in the spring, and about two-thirds their length in the
ground; close the earth well about them, and in dry weather Jet them
be watered. After a year, they may be transplanted into open nur-
sery rows, if well rooted.

6. Suckers. —These may be separated from the parent plants early
in the spring, each with some roots, and planted either in nursery
rows for a year or two, or the largest in the place intended for them
permanently. It is essential for the success and quick growth of
young plants, that the ground around them should be fine, so that the
tender roots may not be obstructed in their progress. SLves and
SNAILS are very destructive to mulberry plants, and will eat down
numbers of them in one night, and, in a moist season, will ruin a nur-
sery, if not prevented. To prevent their depredations, surround the
beds with soot, hot lime, or ashes, sprinkling a fresh parcel when they

have been wet with rain; but no soot should be put on the beds, being .

too acrid for the plants. ifthe insects appear, destroy them after sun-
set. Mr. Pulleint says the best defence against them is a hair rope,
which should be trimmed so as to be made as bristly as possible; this
being pinned to the ground round the border of the bed, will so prick
their tender skins that they would not venture to cross it.

In order to secure early food for silkworms, the cultivator should
' plant a hedge of mulberry trees, or a few young trees in a warm situa-
tion. In the spring they should be covered with straw, or any other
way, at night, to prevent injury from frost. As the white mulberry
tree grows readily, with proper care,t they may be casily multiplied.
They may be planted along the fences of a farm, and if the branches
be wattled through the rails, they will form an impenetrable hedge,
and the fence will never require renewing. A great advantage will
attend such a hedge, viz: the ease with which the leaves can be eb-
tained: the avoidance of falls by young persons from large trees, is
another consideration in favor of propagating mulberry hedges. This
accident may also be prevented by annually pruning the trees, and
restraining their upright growth to the extent they are commonly per-
mitted to attain. The quantity and quality of the leaves will also be
‘thus greatly increased. Practical writers, particularly Sauvage, dwell

* ‘These are termed cock-shoots by gardeners.

; On the culture ef sik. London, 1758, p. 32.

+ A number of these trees, which were planted by the late Joseph Cooper, of New
Jersey, measured from twenty to twenty-six inches in diameter, after standing twen-
ty-three years.—Mem. Phila. Soc. for Prom. Agric. vol. 5, p.190. The MS. jour-
nal, left by the Rev. Mr. Baltzius, of the German settlement of Ebenezer, Georgia,
under date of March, 1757, mentions, that two trees in front of the Parsonage,
which had been planted ten years before, measured three feet eight inches in cir-
cumference. He saw another five years old, which measured two feet round the

trunk.

a.

49 [175 ]

upon the importance of annually pruning trees, for these reasons; and
a gentleman, recently returned from an extensive tour through Europe
and the East, states, that the cultivators of silk, particularly in Syria,
were unanimous as to the superiority ef the silk produced by worms fed
on the leaves of trees annually pruned, over that made by worms nou-
rished by trees, the growth of which was unrestrained. The American
cultivator is urged to attend to this hint, whether he feeds silk worms
on the native or foreign tree.

The white mulberry trees which have been planted in Massachusetts
and New Hampshire, grow well, and are not injured by frost.* They
have not yet been introduced into Maine, but there is no reason to
doubt their flourishing in that State, and also in Vermont. Should,
however, the cold prove injurious to them, the Tartarian mulberry,
which is cultivated for silkworms in the silk-rearing province of Zac-
syn, in Russia, might be easily introduced. t

There are several varieties of the white mulberry tree, two of which
have white berries, one red, and the other black.t There are two
varieties in the leaf; one has a leaf deeply indented, and supposed to
contain little nourishment; the leaf of the other is larger, and not much
indented, nor lobed. The common grafted mulberry is a variety of
the first of these two, and itself comprises the following varieties:
ist, with white berries; 2d, with red berries; 3d, with black berries;
4th, with a large leaf, called the mulberry of Tuscany; 5th, with a
middle-sized leaf, dark green, called faglia giazzola; 6th, with a
small leaf, of a dark color, rather thick, called double leaf, more difii-
cult to pick, and the best calculated for silkworms.§ Besides these,
there are numerous other species and varieties in Kurope, the result of
cultivation; but the detail of their names, and their description, would
be useless. A late French writer, and a practical man,|| after having
taken up several pages of his work in describing them, decides in fa-
vor of those called Colombasse and Colombassette, as being favorable
to the health of the silkworms, and as yielding the greatest quantity
and the best quality of silk. The leaves are small, thin, light, and
silky. The fruit, when at full maturity, is yellowish, and very large.
He also approves of the species called the rose mulberry; the leaves of
which are larger, and of a deeper green than the preceding species: the
fruit is reddish, and as large as that of the other snecies.{

* Answers to the silk circular.
_. ¢ The white mulberry tree stands the winter in Sweden—a country quite as cold, in

the winter, as Maine; and also that of Scotland.—Anderson’s Bee, Edinb. vol. 18, p.
82. At Pekin, in China, it also flourishes, although the thermometer descends, al-
most every winter, to 20 deg. below 0.—id. '

+ In New Jersey, there is a white mulberry tree with purple fruit.

§ Dandolo, p. 30.

} Essai sur Histoire, &c. p. 23.

{ Mr. William Prince, of Flushing, Long Island, has imported from Europe, and
has for sale, several of the most approved varieties of the white mulberry tree. A
valuable addition to the stock of mulberry trees already in the country, has been re-
cently made by Mr. F. Dusar, of Philadelphia, who opened a subscription for the
purpose, and imported 400 young trees and 1000 plants from the South of France
The name of the species was not mentioned by his correspondent.

[ears 50

There are five different substances in the mulberry leaves: ist, The
solid or fibrous substance: 2d, The coloring matter: 3d, Water: 4th,
The saccharine substance: 5th, The resinous substance.

The saccharine matter is that which nourishes the insect, and forms
its animal substance. ‘The resinous substance is that which, separat-
ing gradually from the leaf, attracted by the animal* organization,
fills the two silk vessels. According to the different proportions of
the elements which compose the leaf, it follows, that cases may occur,
in which a greater weight of leaf may yield less that is useful to the
silkworm, as well for its nourishment as with respect to the quantity
of silk obtained from theanimal. Thus the leaf of the black mulberry
(a native of Europe,) produces abundant silk, and strong, but coarse.
The leaves of white mulberry trees, in high lands, exposed to cold
dry winds, and in a light soil, produce a large quantity of strong silk,
of the purest and finest quality. The leaf of the same tree, planted in
damp situations, and in a stiff soil, produces less silk, and of a quality
less pure and fine; but the chief cause which influences the fineness of
the silk, is the degree of temperature in which the silkworm is reared,
as, it is hoped, will be demonstrated in the course of this work.

According to Dandolo, the leaves of the broad-leaved white mul-
berry, are little nutritious. The next hasa middle size leaf, thick,
and of a dark greencolor. The best mulberry leaf, of any species, is
that which is called the double leaf; it is small, not very succulent, of
a dark green color, shining, and contains little water; which may be
easily ascertained by drying some of them: the tree produces them in
great abundance.

An old tree produces better leaves than young trees; as the tree
grows older the leaves diminish in size.

The leaf of the wild [seedling] tree, contains the greatest,proportion
of both the nutritive and silky substances.t This opinion of Dandolo,
in favor of the wild mulberry tree in preference to the*grafted tree, as
food for silkworms, is thus supported: ‘‘ I have, says he, ascertained
the following facts:

‘61. That 144 lbs. of wild mulberry leaves, will produce a pound and
a half of cocoons, while 203 lbs. of the leaves of the grafted mulberry,
are required to yield the same quantity.

‘62. ‘That 72 Ibs. of cocoons, proceeding from silkworms fed on
leaves of wild mulberry, give about 14 oz. of very fine silk; whilst
generally the same weight of silkworms, fed with leaves of the graft-
ed mulberry, only yield eleven or twelve ounces of silk.

«© 3. That the silkworms fed on the wild leaves, are always brisker,
and have better appetites.

The result is, that of taking two trees of equal age and vigor, the
grafted tree yields 50 lbs. of leaves, and the wild tree only 30 lbs.;
the weight of nutritious substance will be nearly equal in each.”’

« To this authority may be added thatof Mr. Martleroy, an experi-
enced cultivator in France, who found that silkworms, fed with the

* More correctly, decomposed, and assimilated by the worm.
+ Dandolo, chap. 3.

51 0 i

jJeaves of the seedling mulberry tree, were more healthy, vigorous,
and: less subject to diseases, than those which are fed upon the leaves
of the grafted trees. *

On the proportion of leaves to an acre or more of trees, and to silk
produced from them. Cautions on picking leaves.

It is impossible to ascertain with any degree of tolerable accuracy,
the quantity of leaves which an acre, or even a single mulberry tree
will produce, owing to the operation of one or more of the numerous
causes influencing their production: such as the particular species of
trees; the greater or less care taken of them, in their early stages of
growth; their position, and distance from one another, when planted
out; the soil, and especially bad or injudicious pruning, or total ne-
glect of this necessary measure. The estimates are, accordingly, very
various. Mr. Fitch says, that one acre of full grown trees, set one
and a half rods apart, will produce 40 lbs. of silk. One tree yielded
food for worms, which gave four pounds of silk. Mr. ‘l'ufts confirms
this calculation, but does not state the distance at which the trees
stood from one another. Mr. Storrs says, that ‘a full grown tree
will feed 6,000 worms, which will produce one anda half pounds of silk.
An acre of trees will produce 60 lbs of raw silk in one season.”? Mr.
R. Falley, now ef Ohio, had 18 Ibs. of silk from about 100 trees, part
of which were young, in Massachusetts. In the year 1789, nearly
four pounds were produced from seven trees, and one pound from
eight trees, eight years old from the seed.t According to Dandolo,
itis a certain fact, that, if silkworms are well managed, 21 Ibs. of
mulberry leaves will be sufficient to obtain a pound and a half of co-
coons. ‘Twenty pounds four ounces, will feed worms enough to pro-
duce a pound and a half of cocoons. In Dalmatia, he obtained one
pound and a half of cocoons from 15 Ibs. of leaves, which yielded one
pound and a half of silk: ninety-seven pounds eight ounces of leaves,
will produce seven and a half pounds of cocoons. Miss Rhodes could
scarcely support 10,000 worms on the leaves of twelve large trees in
England.{ According to Lambruschini, 100 pounds of clean leaves
will feed worms which will produce six pounds of silk.§ Dandolo
has prescribed the proportions of leaves which will be required for
five ounces, and one ounce of silkworms in their’progressive stages,
and lays down the weight of wood which will yield certain quantities
of cocoons, produced by different species of the insect: as he writes
from ample experience, his directions and conclusions may be safely
relied on. [See chapter 13.] He recommends that the trees, when
transplanted, be not stripped for three years, and to thinand prune the
branches in the fourth year. In the fifth year, they may be stripped
without danger; but he advises cultivators to permit a tree to rest one
year after being stripped, in order to recover from the loss of its leayes.

* A Stephenson: Trans. Soc. Arts, Lond. vol. 43,

+ Columbian Mag. Philad. Vol. 4, p. 61.

t Trans. Soc. Arts, London, vol. 4, p. 153.

& Mem. Soc. Geargophiles, of Florence, vol. 4, p. 411.

[ 174 a2

This reasonable caution should be attended to, particularly with young
trees; for leaves are considered as the lungs of a plant or tree, and
mainly contribute, by the absorption of moisture, and the principle of
vegetation from the atmosphere, to promote their growth and vigor.
If deprived of these organs, annually, their growth will be greatly im-
peded.

The people of Connecticut and Massachusetts are of opinion, that
trees only two years oid, may be stripped without injury, provided
ihe leaves near the ends of the branches are left,* and the main stem
be not touched.f Count Verri recommends to pass the hands from
the lower part of a branch to the top, and to pick the leaves in a bag,
the mouth of which is to be kept open by a hoop, with a hook to sus-
pend it. As practical rules, these directions are worth attention; but,
in observing the last, it is essential that the leaves be not bruised.

The experiment was tried in Connecticut, of feeding worms with
young mulberry plants, the seeds of which were sown broadcast, and
the plants mown as wanted. The roots soon died. As the leaves of
such plants contain so much less nourishment than those of old trees,
ihe measure cannot be recommended, except for early food.

To form a Mulberry Hedge.

Choose grafted mulberry plants of one year old, and place them
eighteen inches apart, in a furrow prepared some months before. To
these may be added grafted plants of two years old, which have grown
well, and which have been cut off to increase their vigor: but they
must be separated from the others, to prevent irregularity in the hedge.
Cut them at four or six inches from the ground, leaving two buds op-
posite each other: remove all the rest. In this way, the stalk has two
vigorous branches the first year. In the following spring cut one of
these two branches on the same side, at about one foot from the ground,
so that each plant has a short and along one. Bend, horizontally on
the same side also, one afier another, all the preserved branches, and fix
them with willow-withs, so that they may form a line parallel to the
earth, and jeave untouched the entire branches. Experience has
taught, that, if their extremities be cut, they grow slowly, and even die.
At the commencement of the third year, the plants will have branches
to form a hedge. Then cut them about two feet from the ground, but
do not use the leaves. This plan has the following advantages:

1. The mulberry plants being grafted, and well arranged, and those
of the first year being separated from those of the second, the hedge
will grow with force and regularity.

2. The plants which have been cut down will push out near to the
ground, and furnish numerous branches: When a plant dies, replace
it by layers from an adjoining one; if a new plant be substituted it
rarely succeeds, ‘The leaves from the layers must not be pulled dur-
ing the three first years. t

*Mr. E. Williams, Mansfield, Conn.:letterto the writer. Z. Storrs, Esq. Conn.
{ George A. Tufts, Esq. Mass. ~
+ ern Verri, Sur les Muriers.

_ 58 [175 ]

M. Bonafous* says, that the leaves of the paper mulberry tree agree
perfectly well with silkworms in their fifth age. The character of this
writer, and his great personal experience, entitle him to full confidence, -
and there can be no reason to doubt that the worms to which he gave
these leaves eat them without injury; nevertheless, other silkworms
were less fortunate. M. Deslongchampst says, ‘‘ that, of 100 silkworms
to which he gave nothing but the leaves of the paper mulberry tree,
92 died; and the remaining eight, which survived the rest thirty-six
days, would also certainly have died, if, at this time, he had not sub-
stituted the leaves of the white mulberry. This new food enabled them
to live twenty and twenty-two days longer, and to spin their cocoons;
but these were so small that eight of them did not weigh morethan two
ordinary cocoons.”? From the above statement, it appears that M. D.
gave the leaves of the paper mulberry to young worms; whereas Mr.
B. confines their use to the fifth age—a time when they have ac-
quired their full growth, and their appetite is voracious. This va-
riation in the treatment may readily account for the different re-
sults of the two cultivators.t The experiment with the paper
mulberry leaves, in the fifth age, is worth trying with 50 or
100 worms; and, if made, it is requested that the result may be commu-
nicated to the public.

The black mulberry tree having been mentioned as suitable for the
Southern States, it may be proper to say something on the subject. -
The leaves of this tree, it appears, are preferred in Spain,§ where |
superior silk is made. They are said to be much more nutritious than
those of the white mulberry; but a late practical writer|| denies this
position: for, in the year 1823, he fed some silkworms on the leaves
of both these trees; and the cocoons of 100 of them which had eaten
‘the black, weighed from two to three grains less, than others of another
100 worms which fed on the white. Mr. Nysten also says, that it is
late in attaining its full growth, and difficult to propagate, either by
grafting or by sowing the seeds. The leaves also come out full ten
days later than the white. This is a serious objection, as early food
for the worms is of primary importance: finally, the black is compar-.
atively a tender plant. For these reasons, it cannot compete with
the native red, or the foreign white mulberry tree.

* De l’Education des Vers a Svie, p. 11. Paris, 1824.

+ Essai, &e. p. 91...

+ Judge Bry, of Washita, says he tried to force his silkworms to eat the leaves of
the paper mulberry, by starving them, and tlren offering the leaves: they bit them,
and tiven left off eating. He believes they would have perished for food, had he
not given them the leaves of the native mulberry, on which they fed with avidity.

§ Townsend’s Travels in Spain. Swinburne’s do.

! Deslongchamps, p. 8.

[ 175 J 54

CHAPTER V.

OF THE LABORATORY.

My laboratory, says Dandolo, is constructed to contain twenty ounces
of eggs of silkworms; it is 30 feet wide, 77 long, 12 feet high, and,
when reckoned to the top of the roof, 21 feet high. There are six
rows of hurdles or wicker trays, about two feet. six inches in width
each, placed two and two, with four passages between them, each three
feet wide. These hurdles or feeding frames may be made of cane,
or basket work, to admit air from below, and must, in course, be pro-
portioned to the number of worms. Those of Dandolo, for five ounces
of eggs, are from 29 to 37 inches in breadth, and from 18 to 24 feet in
length, and of equal sizes, that, when put above one another, they may
not extend out irregularly. They are covered with paper to hold the
worms. On the ledges or borders, may be painted the number of
square feet contained on the surface; for instance, supposing the frame
to be 20 feet long, and three feet wide, the number to inscribe would
be **60 square fect.’? Posts are driven in between the trays, and
strips of wood are fastened to the posts horizontally, to support the
trays, between which there is a space of five inches and a half, to allow
the air to pass freely.*

There are 13 unglazed windows, with Venetian shutters outside,
and paper window frames inside; under each window, near the floor,
ventilators, or square apertures of about 13 inches, that they may be
closed by a neatly fitted sliding panel, so as to permit the air to cir-
culate, and blow over the whole floor. When the air is not wanted,
the paper frames may be closed. The Venetian shutters may be open-
ed or shut, at will. When the air is still, and the temperature of the
interior and exterior is nearly equal, all the window frames niay
be opened, and the Venetian shutters must be closed.

There are eight ventilators, in two lines, in the floor and in the
ceiling, placed perpendicularly, opposite to one another, in the centre
of the passages between the hurdles or trays. They have sliding pan-
els made of thick glass, to close them, and to admit light from above,
As the air of the floor ventilators ascends, and that of the ceiling ven-
tilators descends, it must pass through the trays. There are, also,
other six ventilators, made in the floor, to communicate with the rooms
beneath. Three of the thirteen windows are at the-end of the house;
and at the opposite end are three doors, constructed so as to admit
more or less air, a8 may be required. These doors open into another
hall, 36 feet long and 30 wide, which forms a continuation of the
large laboratory, and contains hurdles sufficiently raised to facilitate
the care of the worms. In this hall, there are six windows, and six
ventilators under them, nearly on a level with the floor, and also
four ventilators in the ceiling. There are six fire-places in the great
laboratory, one in each angle, and one on each side of the centre, and
a large stove in the middle; glass oil burners, that give no smoke, are
used to give light at night. Between the hail and the great laboratory,

* The mode in which the trays are arranged, is seen in plate 1, fig. 2d.

= m

55 [175 ]

there is a. small room, having two large doors, the one communicating
with the laboratory, the other with the hall. In the centre of the
floor, there is a large square opening, which communicates with the
lower part of the building. This is closed with a wooden folding
door; this aperture is used for throwing down the litter and rubbish
of the laboratory, and for admitting muiberry leaves, which can be
drawn up by a hand-pulley. Such is the construction of his iaborato-
ry, in which he places the worms after their third casting or moulting.

The above particular description of a very large laboratory, will be
valuable to those who may hereafter engage in the business upon an
extensive scale. It will be seen that the great objects aimed at, are
convenience, the preservation of a proper temperature, and the free
‘circulation of the air in the department; and the American cultivator
must. attend to these, as cardinal points, whatever may be the dimen-
sions of the building or apartment in which the worms are reared.

All buildings are proper for receiving the silkworms, provided that,
in proportion to their sizes, there be one or more fire-places, two or
more ventilators in the ceiling, on a level with the floor, and one or
more windows, by which light may be admitted, and yet not sunshine.

In the United States, the house erected expressly for the purpose of
rearing silkworms, should be placed in the coolest and most airy situ-
ation attainable, and in the shade of trees, if possible, because it is
always in our power to increase the heat of the apartment, when ne-
cessary, by means of a stove or open fire-place; but it is not so easy to
guard against a sudden increase of heat in the weather, and which
may nearly defeat the labors of the season, if it should occur in the
fifth age, when the worms are nearly done eating, as will be scen
hereafter.

_ Theapparatus of the Rev. Mr. Swayne* is to be recommended, on ac-
eount of the small space occupied by it, the neatness in which it ena-
bles persons using it to keep the apartment, and the ease with which
the caterpillars can be fed, and their litter removed. It is particularly
valuable to those who are restrained in room.

“This apparatusconsists of a wooden frame, four feet two inches high,
each side sixteen inches and a half wide, divided into eight partitions,
_ by small pieces of wood, which form grooves, in which the slides
run, and are thus easily thrust in or drawn out of the frame. ‘The
upper slide (a) is of paper only, and designed to receive the worms as
soon as hatched; the two next, 6 4, are of catgut, the threads about one
tenth of an inch distant from one another; these are for the insects,
when a little advanced in size; the four lower ones, marked ¢, are
of wicker work, the openings through which the dung is to fall being
about a quarter of an inch square. Under each of these, as well as
under those of catgut, are slides made of paper, to prevent the dung
of the worms falling on those feeding below them. Mr. Swayne after-
wards found that netting may he substituted with advantage, in the
room of wicker bottoms. The meshes of the netting were about half
an inch square.

* Trans. Soc. Arts, London, vol. 7, p. 148,

»~

[175 ] 56

“The caterpillars are to be kept in the second and third drawers,
until their dung and litter do not readily fall through, and then to be
removed to the drawers with wicker bottoms, and fed thereon, till
they show symptoms of being about to spin. Each wicker drawer will
afford sufficient room for five hundred worms, when grown to their
full size.”

In order to give room for an increased stock of caterpillars, spare
drawers should be made to fit the three upper apartments with wicker
botiems, (or, in preference, with bottoms of split rattans,) which may
be used for full grown worms. The annexed cut will give an accurate
idea of Mr. Swayne’s apparatus. .

The shelves of the feeding frames of Messrs. Terhoeven, of Phila-
delphia county, are four feet square, and are fixed to upright posts;
they have two sets in one room, with passages between and around
them. This size enables a person to reach any part of them. Over
the shelves, are frames, placed on cleets, and filled with split rattans,
at proper distances, to permit the litter to fall through. *

iF

‘i
b|

ETE |
ade nt i |

be pee

|

‘|
ii
Pht

i i mses mB
1G) | iS spr eoammaee—O
ei Hh i (i

ui
i}

* See explanation of the plates. Plate 2d, fig. 3.

-

57 [1754

CHAPTER VI.

THE ART OF REARING SILKWORMS.

Uf the care necessiury previously to the hatching of the Silkworm
Jive ounces.

The first thing necessary to commence the operations of the year,
is to detach the eggs of the silkworm from the cloths upon which
they were deposited, and to prepare them for hatching.*

In past times, the cultivators imagined that the silkworm might
be hatched at random, and spontaneously ; and that, if it were neces-
sary to make an artificial climate, it was enough to use the heat of
beds, or the natural heat of the body, or the kitchen fire, &e. and
similar means.t It is now allowed that these methods, at best uncer-
tain, are often pernicious to the insect. However, since luxury has
invented the hot-house, to enable us by an artificial atmosphere to
raise exotics, it was surely natural to apply this invention to the im-
provement of the cultivation of silkworms; and yet it is but very
lately that this application of the invention has been thought of, which
enables us in a few days to hatch, with ease and certainty, any given
quantity of silkworms, and rear them favorably.

It is proposed to state, in this chapter, the care which the eggs re-
quire, to prepare them for the favorable developement of the worm,
and the care necessary to fix and continue the requisite degree of tem-
perature. We shall thus treat of,

First. The preliminary preparation of the eggs.

Second. Of the necessity of fixing, by the thermometer, the tem-
perature calculated to favor the hatching of the eggs, and the rearing
of the silkworm.

Third. Of the hot-house, or stove-room, in which they must be
hatched.

Fourth. Of the hatching.

I. We suppose the eggs to be good, and well preserved, as shall be
indicated in the course of this work.

When the mulberry leaves are about to open, the cloths upon which
the eggs are fastened, should be put into a pail of water, steeped up
and down, that they may be thoroughly soaked, for nearly six minutes,
which will be sufficient to dissolye the gummy substance by which
the eggs are stuck to the cloth. There must be, in this room, tables

* These directions to scrape off the.eggs from the cloth or paper upon which they
were laid by the moth, are given in the European books on silkworms, andyet would
seem to be unnecessary. Careful observation of the insects when hatching, has satis-
fied the writer that they even find less difficulty in leaving their shells when they re-
mained fixed, than whenthey were detached. In this opinion he is sustained by two
persons familiar with the rearing of silkworms. ‘

{ This is the general practice, also, in the United States; but it is to be hoped that
cultivators of silkworms will be convinced, after reading this Manual, of the greater
advantages attending the mode pursued and recommended by Count Dandolo.

<

[175 ] 58

proportioned to the size of the cloths. The six minvtes elapsed, the
eloths must be taken out, and the water allowed to drip from them,
by holding them up for two or three minutes. They should then be
spread upon the tables. ‘The cloth should be kept well stretched,
while the eggs are separated from the cloth with a scraper. The
seraper should not be too sharp, for fear of cutting the eggs; neither
too blunt, lest it should crush them. The eggs do not stick fast om
wet linen.

When a good quantity of the eggs has been scraped off, they should
be put into a basin; and this is repeated till all the eggs are scraped
off, and put into the same basin. Water should then be poured upon
the eggs, and they should be lightly washed, to separate them from
one another. The water will be very dirty, as the eggs are always
more or less soiled with the matter deposited by the moth. On the
surface of the water will be seen floating the shells of a few eggs that
have already cast their worms; also, many yellow eggs, which are
not impregnated; and others, which, without being of that color, are
very light. All these that float should be skimmed off directly. If

‘the eggs are collected in an unfavorable season, particularly during
cold weather, many yellow eggs, and even reddish ones, will sink to
the bottom, although they are not impregnated. The water having
been well stirred, it should be poured into a sieve, or upon some cloths,
to drain off the eggs.

Should the rooms haverbrick floors, the cloth may be spread on the
bricks and changed every five hours. Bricks dry the eggs by absorbing
the moisture more quickly than any other substance. If the flooring
is not of brick, hurdles of wicker work would be necessary, or basket
work tables. In the course of two days, the eggs will generally be
dry; they should then be put into plates, in layers of half the breadth
of the finger, and left until it is needful to hatch them, being careful
to preserve them from rats. It is essential to place them in a cool dry
spot, in about from 46° to 59° Fahrenheit.*

II. The necessity of determining, by the thermometer, the suitable
degree of heat for hatching and rearing the silkworm.

To produce, maintain, and reguiate the degree of heat necessary in
the space allotted to the hatching and progress of the silkworm, we
must imitate the botanist in the management of the hot-house, and
employ the thermometer. By this valuable instrument, we clearly
see that it is of less importance that the silkworm should live in a tem-
perature equal to the heat of its native climes, than that it should be
preserved from violent transitions, and in a uniform temperature in its
different ages. The thermometer, which cannot be affected by the ca-
price and will of man, is a certain method of attaining this important
object of even temperature. For a large establishment, we shall re-.

* It has been thought proper to retain the directions of Dandolo respecting the
treatment of the eggs, preparatory to exposing them to heat, in order to hatch them,
that comparative experimentsmay be made by them, and by the simple exposure of
the eggs, while attached to cloths or paper. to the natural heat of the atmosphere.
er that of a stove .

59 [175

quire several well-constructed thermometers. Those made with quick-
silver are always the most desirable, because the expansion and con-
densation of that metal are more exact than those of spirits of wine.
The exterior sensations, and the disposition of the body, are often in
opposition to the evidence of the thermometer. These instruments
are therefore indispensable. The American cultivator of silkworms
must not be alarmed at being told, that a thermometer is an indispen-
sable instrument to his success: for ample experience has proved,
that it is impossible to ensure it without one; and no one should at-
tempt the business upon a large scale, and expect all the profit which
will result from his labors and capital expended, unless the heat of
the rooms is thus regulated. We all know the extreme atmospheric
variations which often take place in the course of twenty-four hours,
and these are highly injurious to silkworms. The whole, or the
greater part, of a crop ef worms, may be destroyed by a cold night;
or, if not destroyed, their growth will be checked, the spinning of
their cocoons be delayed, or rendered irregular and tedious; and they
will also be of a less size than when the heat of the room has been re-
gularly preserved. ‘Thus, whether amusement or profit be the object,
a thermometer is essential. ‘The instrument, as will be hereafter seen,
is also necessary to determine the proper degree of heat in the water
in which the cocoons are to be put to wind off their silk.

It will be asked, do the people of Connecticut use thermometers? If
not, do they not succeed without them? It is believed that they are
not employed; and the consequences are, that millions of worms must
die from the causes mentioned; that the profit is thus greatly dimin-
ished; and that many worms which do survive, become debilitated,
spin small cocoons, and produce diminutive moths, and bad eggs.
Hence the race is liable to degenerate. The people of Connecticut are
not aware of the importance of a thermometer, or they would not be
without one; and it only requires a single person among them te use
one, and thus to demonstrate his greater success, to induce the practice
to become general. The expense of a thermometer is trifling, and be-
sides its utility in the business of rearing silkworms, it will be found
a source of amusement to the owner and his’ family, throughout the
year, by enabling them to ascertain the precise temperature of the sea-

5 Faia PAG
sons, and to judge of the comparative degrees of it in different years.

Ill. Of the hot-house, or room in which the silkworm sheuld be
hatched.

The first use of the thermometer should be in the hot-house, which
is destined for the hatching of the eggs.

As it may be more favorable to our intérests that the silkworm
should be developed whenever we find itconvenient, and as this in-
sect must be reared in a season which; in’our climates, has not the re-
quisite warmth, it is therefore indispensable to create an artificial tem-
perature suited to its progress. A small room or space should be pre-
ferred to a large one, as it is thus more easy to regulate the heat, and
as italso saves fuel. Silkworms have been hatched in a small apart-

[175] 60

ment about twelye feet square, and capable of commodiously hatching.
not only ten, twenty, or thirty ounces of eggs, but even two hundred,

if required. The small apartment must be particularly dry, and should
contain all the necessary implements that may be wanted. The fol-
lowing details may be thought too minute, but this should not deter
from giving every explanation deemed requisite in so important an art.

This small apartment should contain,

Ist. A stove of moderate size, not made of iron, because the heat
could not be regulated so accurately, but of thin bricks. It must stand
out inthe room. It is calculated to raise by degrees, slowly, and at
will, with little wood, the temperature of the room. *

2d. Several boxes or trays, either made of thick pasteboard, if they
are not jarge, but if large, of thin boards.t The size of these boxes
should vary according to the quantity of eggs which are to be hatched.
Yor an ounce of eggs, the space of about eight inches square is required.
This may give an ‘idea of the size and number of boxes that may be
wanted, and we shall see hereafter how useful it is not to depart from
this rule. The depth of the wooden trays or boxes, must, of course,
be in proportion to their size. ‘The boxes should all be distinctly num-
bered.

3d. Some wicker trays or tables.

These wicker trays should be placed horizontally against the wall,
supported upon two pieces of wood fastened into the wall. When there
are many of these wicker trays to be disposed of, they should be put
one above another, with an interval of about twenty-two inches be-
tween them. These trays are for the purpose of holding the boxes in
which the eggs are to be hatched. ‘The boxes must be so disposed as
to allow of easy inspection, that they may be examined as often as
necessary. Care should be taken that the wicker trays be not too close.

4th. A flat spoon for stirring the eggs well.

5th. Several thermometers. They may be hung in various parts of
the stove-room; or, still hetter, if laid by the side of the boxes, indicating
the precise temperature of every part of the stove-room. For, it must
be observed, the temperature varies in different parts of the room, par-
ticularly between the part next the stove and that nearest the door.
‘This observation may be of use, as it may enable the cultivator either
to force or retard the silkworms by some days; thus to hatch them as
the mulberry leaf beeomes fit for their food, which, in some positions
and soils, is earlier than in others.

6th. A few light portable trays, for moving the small boxes which
contain the young worms, or for moving them when they are more ad-
vanced. They should be made of thin board, about one foot in breadth,
and long enough to fit across the width of the feeding frames or hur-
dles: the handle should be fixed in the centre, so as to allow of their

* The porcelain stoves imported from France, for about $10, or the tile stoves
made at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, would answer well. ‘Turf, tanners’ waste bark,
orcharcoal, are the materials for fuel.

Shallow bandb»x¢s are very convenient for a s:nall quantity of eggs.

61 [175 J

being carried firmly with one hand. They must be smoothly finished,
that the silkworms may mount upon them without difficulty. The
ledges around three sides ought to E>
be aboutan half inch deep. The an- Ain
nexed eut will give a correct idea of cE gs ye
their form. > eM ER

7th. An air-hole or ventilator in the floor of the room with a sliding
panel to open and close it, but which, in general, must be closed; it
may be used to temper the heat, should it have exceeded the degrees
which will be pointed out as necessary for bringing forth the silk-
worms. We have thus the means of making a gentle current of air be-
tween this air-hole and the door, to correct the excess of heat indicated
by the thermometer.

8. A glazed window to, light the stove-room. It is a vulgar error
to imagine that light is not as necessary to the animation of the silk-
worm, as to that of every other living thing. The light does not in-
eommode the silkworm, until it has reached its perfect state of moth,
as we shall hereafter mention.

These are all that are required to furnish a stove-room. This room
may be used for rearing the silkworms, as well as for hatching them;
and being heated with little expense, might hatch silkworms for any
number of persons.

IV. Of the hatching of the silkworm.

When the cultivator has observed the state of the vegetation in the
mulberry leaf, and imagined it fitting to have his silkworms hatched
in ten days, he will put the eggs in the boxes in the proper quantities.
He must weigh them, and keep a register; in which he must note his
observations upon the course and progress of the insects, and thus at.
once secure theory and practice; beginning by marking the day and
hour upon which he sets the box in the stove-room, and also the num-
ber of the box; and, in short, every thing that may be worthy of no-
tice. ‘The wicker hurdles should have paper laid inside of them, and
the distance before preseribed to be left between the boxes, is to pre-
vent the silkworm from going from one to the other. If the temper-
ature of the stove-room should not reach 64°, on the day fixed upon
to put in the eggs, it is necessary to light a little fire, that it may rise
to that degree, which ought to be continued during two days. If the
thermometer indicate that the exterior air is above 64°, the shutters
should be closed, and the door and the ventilator opened, to create a
draught and cool the stove-room. The third day, the temperature
should be raised to 66°, the fourth day to 68°, the fifth day to 71°, the
sixth day to 73°, the seventh day to 75°, the eighth day to 77°, the
ninth day to 80°, the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth days to 81°.*

* The propriety of attending to the gradual increase of heat in hatching the eggs,
is so reasonable, and so conformable to all experience, that it cannot be too strongly
insisted on. Great heat, suddenly applied and continued, never fails to push on the
worms too fast, and to render them red when they first come out. The nearer the
American cultivator is able to keep tothe degrees of the thermometer which Dan-
doto has pointed out, the more certain will be his success.

[175 ] 62

The following are the signs of the speedy vivification of the silk-
worm:

The ash-gray color of the eggs grows bluish, then purplish; it then
again grows gray, with a cast of yellow; and finally, of a dingy white.

If the eggsof silkworms belonging to different persons, are put into

the same stove-room, great differences will be observable, not only in.

changes of color in the eggs, but also as to the period of hatching the
worms. ‘The insects of the eggs that have been preserved through
the winter in an even and gentle temperature, and those of the eggs
which have undergone maceratien,* come forth in four or five days
sooner, namely, at the 71st, 73d, or 75th, degree of temperature;
whilst those that have been kept in a very cold atmosphere, appear
some days later.

This stove imparts to each egg the degree of heat necessary to
change the embryo it contains into the worm. When the eggs have
been kept in a certain degree of warmth, it requires less stove-heat
to develope the silkworm. This is so true, and so worthy of notice,
that we find, if, in the winter, the eggs have been kept in an atmo-
sphere of 55°or 59°, or heaped together, they spontaneously come forth,
or without the aid of the stove, when the room is but slightly warmed,
and before the mulberry tree has given any sign of vegetation. In
this case, these worms must be thrown away, unless other food is at
hand upon which they can be sustained for a time. This circum-
stance is, therefore, of essential consequence, and should be noted te
prevent its occurrence. A little delay in the hatching of the worms
is no loss; whereas it may be a very serious loss, if we anticipate, by
a few days, the proper period of hatching. To backen them, when
very near the time of coming forth, by altering the temperature, in-
jures them materially. To prevent the loss of worms thus permitted
to hatch too early, they may be fed on lettuce, upon which it is well
ascertained that they can be well sustained in their early stage. The
experiments of General Merdaunt, in England, were referred to long
since.t Miss Rhodes fed them, upon two occasions, successfully,
with this food. She gave it to the first parcel for the first week, and
then substituted mulberry leaves. Upon a second occasion, the worms
came out on the first of June, and were kept on lettuce until the 24th
ef themonth. Mulberry leaves were then given; in less than a week
after the change of food, they began to spin, and the cocoons were as
fine and as firm as any she ever had. She did not lose adozen worms
of many thousands.t Her experienee has recently been confirmed by

* By maceration is commonly understood eggs preserved in bags, under cushions
or mattresses, or in blankets, and similar things, until the moment of putting them in
the stove-house.

This uncertain method must be injurious to the regular and secure developement
of the worms. It often happens that great quantities are spoiled by maceration, the
worms coming forth, and shortly dying.

It appears rational that, when there is a certain and regular method, we should
not adopt another, the result of which is uncertain and irregular, particularly when
this secure method is not attended by any great expense.

{ Bee, by Dr. Anderson. Edinburgh, vol. 8. p. 262.

+ Trans. Soc. Arts, Lond. vol. 4, p. 149.

63 f 175 J

that of Miss Pether, who fed silkworms on cabbage lettuce, until the
last change of their skins, when she substituted mulberry leaves until
they began to spin their cocoons. The silk produced under this treat-
ment was pronounced by a silk manufacturer, and three dealers in
silk, to be equal to the average quality of the silk of the continent,
and’ much superior to that of the East Indies. With an improved
mode of reeling, it would have been equal to the better sorts of
Italian silk.* Other food has also been employed with success. In
the valuable paper on the silk culture, before referred to, in the second
volume of the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society,t
it is stated that, in Italy, rose leaves are used; but the late vegetation
of that plant may prevent its general - use. Mr. Loudont mentions,
that M. Bonafous, an experienced cultivator of silkworms, found that
‘¢ dandelion sustained them until the fourth change, when the leaves
of the mulberry were substituted.”” If this plant should answer. in
the United States, the fact is important, as it is the first vegetable that
appears in the spring.§ Various works, during the last thirty years,
have repeated the following statement, viz: that Dr. Bellardi, of
Turin, after a number of experiments, found that young worms eat
dried mulberry leaves with avidity. The leaves must be collected
about the end of autumn, before frost, and in dry weather, and at a
time when the heat is greatest; then dried in the sun, and laid up ina
dry place, after they have been reduced to powder. When given to
the worms, this powder should be slightly moistened with water, and

a parcel of it placed before the. worms. This practice, according to
Du Halde,|| is pursued in China, with this difference, that the leaves
are merely kept in earthen jars.1

When the egg assumes a whitish color, the worm is already formed,
and, witha glass, may be seen within the shell. The eggs should then
be covered with white paper, well pierced with a particular instru-
ment;*™ the paper so cut as to cover them all. The worms will appear
upon this paper, climbing through the holes. A clear muslin will
do as well as paper. To collect the worms, small twigs of mulberry,
with only two or three leaves on them, should be laid on the paper,
and they should be increased as fast as the worms‘come out upon them;

* Trans. Soc. Arts, Lond. vol. 44, p. 71. Miss P. received a premium from the
Society forher silk. Mr. Swayne says that his worms, the eggs of which came from
Turin, obstinately refused to touch lettuce leaves. Trans. Soc. Arts, vol. 10, p.
187.

fT p. 352.

+ Gardener’s Mag. vol. 2, p. 346. Lond. July, 1827.

§ Both lettuce and dandelion were long since mentioned, as food upon which young
worms could be sustained. Essay upon the Silkworm, by Henry Barham. London,
1719, preface.

I History of China, vol. 2, p. 367. London, 1741.

{ The writer wishes it to be distinctly understood, that the above substitutes for
the proper food of silkworms ought only to be used when this cannot be had. Due
attention, except in a very late spring, will always enable us to accommodate the
hatching of the worms to the vegetation of the mulberry tree.

** A pricker, similar to that of a biscuit baker’s docker, will answer perfectly.
The use of the pierced paper must never be omitted.

[175 J 64

for, if they do not find the leaves, they get out of the boxes. Few
worms appear the first day; and if the number of them is very in-
considerable, they should be thrown away, because, when mixed with
the later worms, they would grow faster, and become mature so much
sooner that they would only be troublesome.

The worms which may have been managed according to the method
just stated, will always be healthy and strong. They will never be
red nor black, but of a dark hazel color, or chestnut, which is the pro-
per color they should have. When the worms are red at their first
coming out, itis a sign the eggs have either been bad, or ill kept over
winter, or overheated: that is, too much forced, when laid to hatch.
Worms of this color are good for nothing; and should be thrown away,
since they will not produce cocoons. * 1

To prevent the young leaves from drying, which they will do rapid-
ly, they must be put loose in clean stone jars, if convenient, covered,
and placed in a vault or cellar. A stock of leaves, at least for three
days, should always be in the house, to secure food in the event of
wet weather.

The essential point is to cause the eggs to be hatched with the
greatest ease. If the success of this operation be not complete, the
worms will probably be subject to disease through their whole course
of life, as will be shown.

The appearance of the new hatched worms is that of a woolly sub-
stance, of a dark chestnut hue, in which is perceptible a general stir-
ring of minute animals, rearing up, and presenting a black and shining
speck or head. While the eggs are in the stove-room, they should
be stirred around with the spoon two or three times a day. ‘This opera-
tion hastens their coming forth. When the temperature of the stove-
room is raised to 75°, it is advantageous to have two dishes, in which
water may be poured, so as to offer a surface of nearly four inches
diameter. In four days there will have taken place an evaporation
of nearly twelve ounces of water; the moisture, which rises very
slowly, moderates the dryness which might occur in the stove-room.
Very dry air is not favorable to the developement of silkworms.t

A prudent cultivator has done all in his power, when, on observing
the season favorable, and the bud of the mulberry shoots in a proper
degree of forwardness, he has put the eggs into the stove-room. Should
the weather suddenly change, as it did in Italy in the year 1814, it
is then of great use to have ‘the power of backening the hatching of
the eggs, without injuring the worms, and to prolong their two first
stages by a few days. To obtain this, the only method is, after the
worms have been removed into the laboratory about five hours, to-
lower the temperature to 73° from 75°; four hours after, further to
lower it to 71°, and the following day to 68°, if necessary.

* Stephenson: Trans. Soc. Arts. London, yol. 43.
+ In this place itmay be proper to caution the cultivator against exposing the

worms to the smell of tobacco, which is a cause of certain death to them. A number
was recently put ina box which i ad contained segars, and many of them died, although
the box was lined with clean paper. No smoking should be permitted in the room in

which sikworms are.

a5 fiz 4

This cooling of the ait diminishes the hunger of the young silk-
worm by degrees, and without danger; and, by these means, the
modifications are prevented, which, at 75°, would have brought on
the casting or moulting much more speedily. At 75°, the first moult-
ing is effected the fifth day} whilst at 71° if requires six or seven
days. The second moulting, which, at 75°, is wrought in four days,
at 69° and 71° takes six days for its accomplishment. Thus, by fore-
Sight and prudence, the proprietor will be enabled to gain seven or
eight days, which prevents any ill effect from the unfavorableness
of the season; and this time gained, it is evident, may be of the
utmost consequence. In 1813, the silkworms were reared in thirty-
one days, and it required thirty-eight days to raise them in 1814, to
allow time for the growth of the mulberry leaf: and there are not
comprised, in these seven days gained, the three days of delay in the
hatching of the silkworms, having perceived that the whole season
was bad. Those who are not careful thus to meet the accidental
untowardness of seasons, and by art to prevent their injuries, would
be obliged either to throw away the early hatched eggs, or to strip the
mulberry tree too soon, and injure the leaves which are to feed the
silkworm in its adult stages hereafter. These considerations must
strongly impress thé necessity of delaying the hatching of the eggs
by some days, rather than hurry their coming forth, particularly as
there is no fear, when worms are -reared in this secure manner, of
their being injured. Should there occur two or three hot days, these
would only accelerate the moulting a few days sooner. It is also
certain, that the later silkworms, in their last stage of progress,
make choice of the leaves suitable to their age, and particularly those
leaves which are quite ripened, which, for the proprietor’s interest, is
the most important period, as it is at that last period the greatest con-
sumption of the leaves occurs.

It is easy to imagine that it may often require more than three days,
even to bring forth the silkworms, from a given quantity of eggs. It
will be seen hereafter, that the moths do not issue from the cocoons in
less than ten days or a fortnight, according to the temperature to which
they have been exposed; and it is therefore evident, there may be a
difference of ten days or a fortnight in the laying the eggs. As the
eggs put to hatch aré not, therefore; all laid the same day; and are lia-
ble to the same degree of heat in the stove-room, some must come out
sooner than others:* hence, no one can say the late hatched eggs can be
either better or worse than the early eggs, because the embryo has re-
quired longer to perfect itself into the worm: this period is always pro-

_ * It does not appear correct to say that, because the eggs are not all laid in one day,
they cannot be hatched in one day. If we may argue by analogy, it is well known that
hens hatch eg'gs laid at various periods in a short time. Housewives well know, when
they choose eggs for setting, that, provided they be good eggs, their having been laid
at different times is of no consequence. ‘It would appear that it is not because the eggs
of the silkworms have been laid sooner or later, that they do not hatch at one time;

ut, more probably, this difference proceeds from the peculiar quality of the egg, and of
the care taken to surrourid it constantly with the degree of heat it may individually re
quire.

Qq

£175 J G6

portioned to the constitution of the eggs. These reflections should satisfy
those who have one box of eggs, and one single room to rear the worms
in, how much it imports that he should not reckon on the very late
hatched eggs, that he may not have worms of a day old mixed with
worms four days old, thus interfering with the general progress of cul-
tivation. The proprietor, on the contrary, who has many boxes of eggs
to bring forth, can dispose of the early or late eggs to other persons;
and, by these means, need never mix the silkworms of different ages.
Then, if one person holds those of the first day’s hatching, and another
holds the worms hatched the fourth day, no evil accrues; all proceeds
with regularity and ease, as each person has equal-aged silkworms to
attend to.

When the proprietor has only a small box of eggs to hatch, it is bet-
ter to cast away those that come forth the first day, and not to reckon
on those that are not come forth the third day; and thus, by having only
those hatched in the two intermediate days to attend to, much trouble
will be saved. It is far better to lose a few worms of the first day’s
hatching, and eggs not hatched the third day, than to suffer the incon-
venience, during the whole progress of rearing them: by adding a small
quantity of eggs to those that are next to be hatched, the loss is easily
made up. ‘These directions are recommended to be exactly followed
up; they will guide, simplify, and ameliorate the cultivation of silk-
worms. Ifthey are not attended to, the exact proportion of eggs which
produces the worms will not be known, and there will be constantly
on the tables worms of different sizes, with differing necessities, and
failure and trouble will ensue.

It is thought proper, in this place, to give the practice of a gentle-
man of Montauban, in France, who, according to Mr. Stephenson, had
uncommon success in rearing silkworms.

Having long observed that the worms which were first hatched,
turned out always to be more healthy and vigorous than those -which
were later in coming out, he made it a point to save no more than the
production of the three first days, throwing away all the rest. He
likewise made it a rule, upon their passing through their different
moultings, to take only the forward worms, throwing away regularly
all those which remain long in recovering from them: having, for
many year's, observed that those worms which are hatched after the
third day, always turn out weakly, and are tedious in all their opera-
tions. For the same reason, he rejected all those worms which linger
in getting over their moultings, which he ascribed to their weakness,
or to their being infected, in some measure, with some disease, which
generally carried them off before they could make their cocoons; or,
wf they did reach the length to make them, these were so light that
they were not equal to the expense of the leaves. When worms were
tecovering from their moultings, he saved only such as came away
the first two days, and threw away all that were not ready at the close
of the second day.

67 F175

it must be obvious, that this system is calculated to ensure a sound,
vigorous, and anqually improving breed. *

When the worms are laid upon the papers, they should be given
some young leaves, covering the spaces between the twigs with them,
that, by degrees, the whole surface may be equally spread with silk-
worms. In case they should get into heaps, a leaf might be put over
them, to which they will adhere; and, being gently lifted, it may be
put in any spot where the worms lie thinner.

Whenever silkworms are added upon the paper where some worms
have already been deposited, they should have food given them ; but
the worms that were first on the paper should not be again fed until
the other sheets of paper haye been filled, ‘Thus a fair number of the
first worms will receive the second meal at one time.

The worms take at least two days to come forth; consequently, the
first hatched will be larger than those that appear the second and third
days. Wehave stated above, that the thermometer proves, that a room
can never be heated to a degree exactly equal in every point of space.
There will exist the difference of a degree, and even more. By put-
ting the early worms in the coolest part of the room, and the late
hatehed worms in the hottest, and by feeding the latter rather higher,
itis practicable to bring them nearly to an equality.

It hasbeen said, that, if the worms which appear the first day are
in very small quantity, as it mostly happens, it 1s of no consequence,
because the main portion comes forth the second and third days. How-
ever, if it is required that those first hatched should be reared, they
ought to be put in an angle of the sheet of paper belonging to the num-
ber of their box, and only be allowed half the quantity of food which
is given to those later worms, on the first and second day.

In general, the silkworms come forth more abundantly in the fore-
noon, when the sun shines warmly into the room; the room being then
hotter than at night. The great alterations to which the eggs are ex-
posed, occur in the night: if those who have the care of the silkworms
at night, heap up the fire, that they may take their rest without having
¢o make it up, the augmentation of heat affects, and even spoils the
embryo.

It has been observed, that, some days, the hatching of the worms
was most abundant in some boxes, and equally so in all the hours of the
day asin the morning.

Where worms are fed on shares, an easy and beneficial improvement
would be, that all the eggs be hatched in boxescapable of holding twen-
ty or thirty ounces, constructed in the proportions before-mentioned,
and that as fast as the worms come forth, the sheets of paper should be

* Notwithstanding Dandolo is our chief pilot in the rearing of silkworms, it is deemed
important to direct the attention of the readerto the different practice of the experi-
enced cultivator referredto above. Ifthe direction of Dandolo,to throw away the worms
of the first and fourth days’ hatching, be not adopted, we should never omit to keep
the productions of those days separate from the others hatched on the two first days,
in order that each parcel may be brought forward as equal as possible, and thatall the
worms contained in it, may be inreadinessto form cocoons on the same day, or withip
two days of one another.

[ 175 j 68

arranged to receive the ounce of silkworms in regular order, as has alse
been before explained. By-this method, each person would receive
worms hatched nearly the same hour, perfectly equal. Whenall the silk-
worms are hatched, they should be divided into ounces, as nearly as pos-
sible, and put upon the sheets of paper. The earliest should be
given to those cultivators whose mulberry trees are most advanced.
Should the hatching continue three days upon this plan, it would make
no difficulty, as different persons would take the worms of various ages,
and thus each would have the silkworms of one period. It is a great
error to imagine that it can be advantageous to give a person silkworms
of various days hatching, to make up the quantity he is to receive and
rear; because those of the first day’s production are stronger than those
of the second day, or of the third and fourth days. We repeat it, the
essential point is to have the worms as nearly equal as we can bring
them.
pS

CHAPTER VII.

QF THE SMALL APARTMENT TO WHICH THE NEW HATCHED WORMS
SHOULD BE REMOVED, AND OF THEIR REMOVAL.

We shall, in this chapter, treat of the following subjects:

T. Of the apartment destined to receive the new hatched silkworms.
IJ. Of moving the silkworms directly after they are hatched.

L. Of the Laboratory destined to receive the silkworms newly hatched.

This small habitation is to contain the silkworm until its third cast-
ing of skin, or moulting.* The roam should be in exact proportion to,
the number of silkworms, and calculated for facilitating the attendance
upon them. Thus proportioned, it will be economical, as there will
not be that quantity ef fuel used, which it would take to warm either
one very large room or several small ones.

The worms proceeding from an ounce of eggs, require, until the first
moulting of the skin, a space of about seven feet ten inches square.

Until the second moulting, a space of about fifteen feet four inches
square.

"Until the third moulting, a space of thirty-five feet square.

* In explaining the use of the small laboratory, it will be shown how much more eco-
nomical it is, than apartments either too large or too small. However, others must be
guided by their own convenience, in making use of those rooms they find suitable. And,
should there be but one apartment for the rearing of the silkworms until the cocoon be
formed, it would be of small consequence, provided attention were given to maintain,
with exactness, the temperature, in all its degrees, which will be indicated. One room
suffices, particularly for those who hatch but a small quantity of sifkworms, if they have
wicker tables enough to admit of sufficient space between the worms. - These should
be two hundred and ten feet square, for disposing of the silkworms proceeding from
one ounce weight.

69 [175 ]

The hurdles or wicker trays should be placed above one another, at
a distance of twenty-two inches at least; and as many should be put, as
are required to give the space necessary for the quantity of silkworm
which are to be accommodated. .

The worms must be kept upon paper, which should line the wicker
trays, and extend a little beyond, to prevent the worms falling off.*
Upon this paper, which should be strong, ought to be inscribed the cor-
responding numbers to those on the boxes; thus avoiding every chance
of the silkworms of different boxes being mixed.

According to the size of the room, there should be one er more ther-
mometers, one or two small fire-places in the angles, one or two ventila-
tors in the ceiling, or inthe floor, and one or more windows; and also
asmany doors as may be convenient. In this room it might be proper
to place a stove, similar to that in the stove-room, as in cold weather it
may be used to save fuel.

The principal advantage of the small fire-places, is, not so much the
warming the air, as the making a draught or current through it, as we
shall show. hereafter, The temperature of this laboratory should be
carried to 75°: about two degrees lower than the stove room heat
which hatched the eggs. Experience teaches us that, as the silk-
worm grows older, and gets stronger, it requires less heat.

Such is the temperature that suits these insects shortly after they
are hatched. Should the season be peculiarly unfavorable, and the
vegetation of the mulberry tree checked, it might be necessary to
slacken the temperature, and thus gain a few days by gradually lower-
ing the heat to seventy-one degrees, and even to sixty-eight degrees;
but not beyond that.

I. Of the removal of the new-hatehed silkworm into the labora-
tory, or elsewhere.

The silkworm should be removed, as soon as.possible, into the
apartment in which they are to remain until their third moulting, un-
less it is intended they should be reared in the stove-room. If a dif-
ferent room is proposed for the rearing of these insects, until their third
moulting, it is because it is found both more convenient and more ad-
vantageous.

When they are about to be removed from the stove-room, three cir-
cumstances must be noticed, relative to the manner of transporting
them.

In the first place, whether the silkworms are to be reared in the
same house in which they have been hatched.

Secondly, if part of them are to be reared in the house, and the rest
removed.

And lastly, if all are to be removed.

1, Let us suppose all the worms are to be reared in the same place.

* The edges should also be turned up about an inch and a half.

[175 J 70

When the little twigs spread over the perforated paper which co-
vered the eggs of the silkworms in the small boxes, are loaded with
the young worms, these boxes are all put upon trays made to carry
them, and they are removed to the Jaboratory.

When all the sheets of coarse paper, accurately numbered, have
been laid on the wicker hurdles, the small box of the corresponding
number, is put on the edge of the wicker hurdle, and with a small
hook, the twigs, covered with the worms, are gently lifted off the per-
forated paper on the box, and put upon the paper laid on the wicker
hurdles. A hook should be used, as the touch of the hands might in-
jure the insects.* In laying the twigs on the paper, care must be had
to allow space enough for mulberry leaves to be put over the twigs
and between them, that the insects may have room to stretch and pro-
perly distribute themselves. It should be noted here, that the silk-
worms produced from one ounce of eggs thus disposed, should occupy
a space of twenty square inches. Each sheet of coarse paper, on the
hurdle, will cover a space of nearly twenty-two square inches: being
twenty-three inches long, and twenty-one inches wide. Having a
care to lay the worms in squares of ten inches, four sheets of paper will
be'the number required to hold the produce of one ounce of eggs,
which will exactly allow the worms the space they need, until after
their first moulting. The sheets of paper will be four times the size of
the small boxes, and those four sheets of paper must bear the same
number as the box; and thus the worms will not want moving till their
first moulting has passed.

As fast as the silkworms come forth, they should be moved in this
manner.

2, We are to suppose that a portion of the silkworms is to be reared
in the house in which they have been hatched, and the rest to be
reared elsewhere. ;

When the cultivator shall have taken home with him his proportion
of the silkworms upon these sheets of paper containing one ounce, he
must put the square of silkworms into four small squares of ten inches
each, thus forming four .quarters of one sheet, or rather four small
sheets. This division is easily effected, by passing the hands under
the litter of leaves to which the worms cling, and parting the leaves
gently, when it is required to divide the mass; it separates easily,
and may be subdivided at pleasure. The parts should be as even
as possible. If, in the first ages, all the care described is not taken,
numbers will be lost; they will be unequal, and contract numberless
diseases.

3. Weare to suppose all the silkworms are to be removed from the
house in which they were hatched.

In a box calculated for removing easily, and proportioned to the
size of the sheets of paper, should be put several of these sheets,
covered with silkworms in layers above each other, at the distance of

*The hook should be blunt, to prevent injury to the warms See plate 1, fig. 7,

71 f 176 4

uearly two inches; or eommon baskets may be used. The removal
in baskets may be executed in safety, with the following precautions:

1. Lining the baskets thoroughly with paper well closed, that the
exterior air may not strike the silkworms, particularly if it should be
cold.

2. Preventing the sheets of paper covered with worms, from touch-
ing each other, by putting slender sticks across to support the sheets
of paper, and avoiding their pressing together. This should be done
in as many layers, from the bottom of the basket to the top, as there
are sheets of paper covered with the young worms, leaving a distance
of four fingers between each.

3. To cover the basket very completely with linen cloths, to keep
off cold and sun.

4. To remove them between the hours of twelve and three o’clock,
that being the hottest part of the day.

5. To give the worms a small quantity of young and chopped leaves
if their journey is likely to. be three or four hours long.

The proportion of the boxes stated as necessary for hatching the
silkworms, should not be altered; as this proportion prevents any
necessity of ever touching the eggs, from the moment the silkworms
begin to appear.

The perforated paper being large enough to support a number of
small twigs of mulberry, it consequently enables usto remove a large
portion of the silkworms at once. In using these small boxes, the
egg shells will always adhere together, and when the boxes are lifted,
they should be slightly shaken horizontally, to move the eggs. If, in
moving them, some of the holes in the paper should be stopped up
with the eggs, it isof no consequence, as it willnot prevent the worms
climbing up.

Whenever a sheet of paper is prepared for the arrangement of silk-
worms, there should be inscribed upon the paper itself, the hour in
which the arrangement began; thus it will be seen in what time, and
in what progression, the silkworms come forth. A pencil may be
used, for the purpése of noting the sheets of paper.

—_——-<—--—

CHAPTER VIII.

OF THE REARING OF SILKWORMS IN THEIR FOUR FIRST STAGES.

In the preceding chapter it has been stated, that the space suitable
to the number of silkworms proceeding from one ounce of eggs,
should be, in the first age, that is to say, until the first moulting, 7
feet 4 inches square. Of about 14 feet 8 inches, until the second
moulting; and of 84 feet 10 inches, until the third moulting. The
space required until the fourth moulting, is 82 feet six inches square.

p sg 72

Those who have the means of extending these allotted spaces, may de
so by some feet; because it is certain, that the more room silkworms
are allowed, the better they eat, digest, breathe, perspire, and rest.
The spaces mentioned are sufficient, and present the advantage of fa-
cilitating the attendance on the silkworms, and economizing their
food.

It may not be without advantage, exactly to know, what quantity
of the mulberry leaf the silkworm consumes in its four first ages.

For the quantity of food fixed, the following circumstances must be
Supposed to exist:

That the silkworms are kept until the first casting or moulting, af

75° of temperature; between 73° and 75° until the second moulting;
between 71° and 73° until the third; and, lastly, between 68° and 71°
till the fourth moulting.
_ One of the foundations of the art of rearing the silkworm, is to
know and determine the various degrees of heat in which, according
to their ages, the silkworms are to live. If this precept is not rigidly
enforced, nothing can be performed with exactness.

The writer of an article upon silkworms, inserted in Rosier’s

“ Cour d’ Agriculture,” Paris, 1801, article Vers a Sote, thus ex-:

presses himself on this subject: ‘‘A sudden change from moderate
heat to violent heat, or, in general, from heat to cold, and cold to heat,
is highly injurious to silkworms. In their native climate they are not
exposed to these vicissitudes, and therefore thrive well, without requi-
ring all the care we are obliged to bestow on them. With us, on
the contrary, the temperature of the atmosphere is so variable, that,
without artificial means, we could not fix it in our laboratories for
rearing silkworms. If it should happen to be necessary to hasten the
worms, in consequence of the advanced state of the mulberry leaves,
it should be done gradually, so that they do not perceive the alteration.”

All the practical writers; expressly consulted on this subject, are
agreed. It is, moreover, conformable to the well known principle of
animal life, (which is always more or less affected by sudden changes
of temperature,) to hatch the worms by the gradual exposure of them
to heat. The American cultivator must always, therefore, bear it in
mind, if he expects to be fully paid for the trouble, time, and expense
bestowed on silkworms.

The English translator of Dandolo, has indeed inserted a note in
this place, containing a passage from the Abbe Sauvage, by which it
vould seem that young silkworms will bear, with impunity, a much
greater heat than the highest degree to which Dandolo limits them, in
their early age. Sauvage says, that ‘*he gave them 100° of heat dur-
ing the two first days after hatching, and about 95° during the remain-
der of the first and second age, and yet had a most abundant crop.”
But the translator has omitted to say that Sauvage does not recommend
the practice. On the contrary, this author expressly says, that “ he
leaves to his readers to follow as they please the two modes of rearing
the worms pointed out by him;” one with a more gentle heat, and
the other with an increased degree; and, in two places, (pages 22, 35

——

43 f 175]

2d memoir,) advises a mean between them. The experiment of Sau-
vage was a single one. Dandolo writes after years of practice, upon
a very large scale, and recommends the degrees of heat which always
ensured him success. Othér practical writers agree with Dandolo.
No one, it is presumed, will be at a loss to decide which of these au-
thorities is most worthy of being followed.

The silkworms proceeding from one ounce of eggs, consumie—

1st. In the first age, (that is to say, when all are hatched, removed,
and distributed upen the sheets of paper, which includes at least two
days,) six pounds of leaves well sorted, and chopped very small.

2d. In the second age, they consume 13 pounds of leaves, chopped
rather more coarsely than the food in the first age.

3d. In the 3d age, they consume 60 pounds, still less chopped.

4th. In the fourth age, £80 pounds, still less chopped than in the
third age.
_ Seme circumstances may modify the proportions above specified,
but these variations are not important, supposing the cultivator to aet
with considerate intelligence, and to time well the hatching of his
silkworms with the springing of the young leaves, and then their
growth with the progress of the leaf through the other stages of ex-
istence.

The only case in which the quantity of leaves fixed, in these general
rules, for the consumption of the worms, will be found unnecessarily
excessive, will be, if the worms have been ill attended and fall sick,
pine away, and that many die. The quantity of leaves necessary for
silkworms was determined, after having made the most exact experi-
ments repeatedly; taking for granted, that the silkworms are maintained
in the degrees of temperature indicated, and with the view, as much as
possible, to economize the leaves; because, when an exact sufficiency of
food is given to the worm, it eats with greater relish, digests well, and
is strong. A great object in the art of rearing silkworms, is, to con-
trive to obtain the greatest possible quantity of fine cocoons, with the
least quantity of leaves.

In managing upon this principle, the more leaves there are, the great-
er will be the proportion of cocoons, and consequently the greater the
profit. Over-feeding, however, must always be guarded against: it not
only causes a waste of leaves, but is the origin of many inconveniences
which assail the silkworm, as we shall show hereafter. The cares
which the silkworm requires in its four first ages, are neither numerous
nor puzzling; although it is in those ages, and particularly in the twe
first, that the strength of its constitution is formed, upon which the
ultimate success depends.

The two first days after it has cast the skin, it eats sparingly, and
then becomes voracious: this hunger soon diminishes, and even ceases.
These phenomena occur in every moulting. Thus, notwithstanding
the strength of its constitution, if it is not treated with the greatest care,
at those times when it requires care, it suffers, sickens, and dies: on
this ‘account, it is thought it might be useful to give in this and the fol-
lowing chapter, a diary of the eare to ke taken of silkworms, that it

10

[175 ] 74

may be known what is to be done for them day by day. A few gener-
al remarks, however, must be previously made, on the great difference
in result, which real care produces. *

The laboratories used, are of various sizes: that which will now be
referred to, is calculated for the reception of the worms proceeding from
five ounces of eggs.

It must be allowed that the advantage of the mode of rearing silk-
worms in question, might perhaps be trifling, if it were only in the
product of the hundred and ten, or hundred and twenty pounds of co-
coons from each ounce of eggs, which others obtain, consuming the
same quantity of leaves, and differing only in the hatching of two
ounces ofeggs. But, as before remarked, the great and principal aim
of the art of rearing silkworms, is to obtain from one given quantity of
mulberry leaves, the greatest possible number of cocoons of the finest
quality. It is not the trifling loss of an ounce of eggs which should
induce a change of system of habits, but the following advantages: for
it is a fact, that,

1st. When, with one ounce of eggs one hundred and ten or one
hundred and twenty pounds of cocoons are obtained, about one thou-
sand six hundred and fifty pounds of the mulberry leaf will be used.

2d. That when only fifty-five or sixty pounds of cocoons are produced
from one ounce of eggs, about one thousand and fifty poundsof mul-
berry leaves have been used. Under this supposition, it would appear
that two thousand one hundred pounds of leaves are requisite to pro-
duce one hundred and ten, or one hundred and twenty pounds of co-
coons.

3d. That one hundred and ten, or one hundred and twenty pounds
of cocoons, obtained from one ounce of eggs, are worth a great deal
more than a similar quantity obtained from two ounces ofeggs. It is
easy to prove these facts.

If one ounce of eggs shall have produced, by the means stated, one
hundred and twenty pounds of cocoons, they will be fine; three hun-
dred and sixty, at most,will produce a pound and a-half; and eleven or
twelve ounces, at most, of these cocoons, will yield an ounce of exqui-
sitely fine silk. Whenonly fifty or sixty pounds of cocoons come from
one ounce of eggs, it may generally be presumed that they are of in-
ferior quality to the above, and it will require four hundred at least to
make one pound and a half; and above thirteen ounces of these cocoons,
instead of eleven or twelve ounces, to form one ounce of silk. More-
over, when the worms have not been properly managed, there is no
certainty as to the quantity of the cocoons that will be gathered; and it
happens, continually, that the same cultivator will, from the same

* The greatest enemy of the silkwormis the red ant,the attacks of which insects must
be carefully guarded against. To this end, all nail holes in the walls of the apartment
should be filled with mortar; the sides ofthe breeding frames ought not to touch the
walls, nor ought their posts to reach to the ceiling. Streaks of thick molasses must also
be made round the lower parts of the posts. Ifthe worms be fed on tables, or move-
able frames, similar to those of the Rev. Mr.S wayne, the same precautions may be used,
er the legs may stand in a plate or bowl of water.

Cockroaches and mice mustalso be carefully guarded against.

75 rye

quantity of eggs, and the quality of the leaves, obtain at one time a
number of cocoons, at another time few, and sometimes none.

This chapter shall be divided into four paragraphs:

Rearing of the hatched worms until the end of the first age.
Rearing of the worms in the second age.

Rearing of the worms in the third age.

Rearing of the worms in the fourth age.

Pe ores

1. REARING OF THE WORMS IN THE FIRST AGE.

We left in the small laboratory the worms hatched from the eggs at
75° temperature, and distributed upon sheets of paper, in squares of
about ten inches. Let us now begin their training. Supposing it is
required to rear five ounces, which form a good sized laberatory, the
space and quantity of leaves must be proportioned to the stated number
of silkworms. j

First day’s training.—When the worms have accomplished their
first. casting of skin, they should occupy a space of nearly thirty-six feet
eight inches square; hence the sheets of paper containing the worms,
should be put upon wicker tables or trays, of these dimensions.

The first day after the coming forth, and the distribution of the
silkworms, they should be given in four meals, about three pounds
three quarters of single soft leaves, chopped very small, dividing the
time, so as to allow six hours between each meal; giving the smallest
quantity for the first feeding, and gradually increasing the quantity at
each meal.

It is very beneficial to chop the leaf very small during the first age,

and to scatter it lightly over the worms. The more the leaf is chop-
ped, the more fresh cut edges are there to which the young insects fas-
ten themselves. In this manner, a few ounces of leaves will present
so many edges and sides, that two hundred thousand insects may feed
in a very small space. In this state, they bite the leaf quickly, and
it is consumed before can it be withered.*

A quantity of leaves, ten or twenty times more abundant, that is
not chopped small, would not be sufficient for this quantity of worms;
because they require to find at once, and in a small space,the means
of feeding easily.

* It would seem to be unnecessary to chop the very young leaves, so repeatedly in-
sisted on by Dandolo. When a whole young leaf is placed on worms recently hatched,
they eat through the middle of it, and ascend to the upper surface, on which they con-
tinue to feed, until the whole leaf is consumed. After some days, they prefer to eat
the edges of the leaves: injury might even ensue from the quantity of moisture, which
the young insects would imbibe from the bruised edges of the young and chopped
leaves: cultivators must make comparative experiments to determine the point.
When the leaves have attained some size, then the chopping of them is indispensably
requisite. For asmall quantity, the semicircular double chopping knife recommend.
ed by Dandolo, and figured in plate 2d, fig. 3d, answers well. Upona large scale,a
straw cutting box may be used. In both cases, the knives should be kept very sharp,
to prevent the bruising of the leaves. It is important to remark, that the leaves must
not be cut until the moment they are wanted; nor must any leaves be given which are
covered with a substance like manna.

a4

[17s] 76

The worms must be fed regularly four times a day, and so managed
as never to give the whole quantity at once, as stated above; because,
after the distribution of each meal, it is better to observe if some food
should not be added in different spots. Itis sometimes good to give
them a little food at intermediate times, as will be seen hereafter.

The quantity of food fixed, which will be again specified, is that
necessary for the whole day. In about an hour and a half, the silk-
worm devours its portion of the leaves, and then remains more or
less quiet.

Whenever the food is given, care should be taken to spread and
widen the small squares by degrees. If any of the chopped leaf should
be scattered, it may be swept with a small broom into its place again.

Second day.—On this day, about six pounds will be needed, chop-
ped very small. This will suffice for the four regular meals, the first
of which should be the least, increasing them as they proceed, as was
done in the meals of the first day.

The worm now begins to change in appearance; it no longer looks
so dingy, or so bristled; the head enlarges, and whitens considerably.

Third day.—This day twelve pounds of soft leaves, chopped very
small, will be required for the four meals; the worms will now feed
with avidity, and nearly the two-thirds of. the sheets of paper should
be engrossed by them.

To satisfy the increased hunger of the insects, they should be given
apound and a half of leaves slightly scattered over them; should they
devour jt quickly, in an hour they should have an intermediate feed-
ing, about half the quantity of the first meal, scattering the leaf very
sparingly. ‘This day the head of the silkworm is much whiter, the
insects have perceptibly grown larger, and scarcely any hairiness can
be perceived on them with the naked eye. The skin is of a sort of
hazel color. When seen through a magnifying glass, their surfaces
Jook shining, and their heads are of a silvery bright appearance, like
mother-of-pearl, and rather transparent.

Fourth day.—This day six pounds twelve ounces of chopped leaves
should be given, for the quantity should be diminished as. the appetite
decreases; the first meal should be of about two pounds four ounces,
and the other meals should decrease in proportion as the quantity of
leaves given before appears not to have been thoroughly eaten. _

The cultivator must regulate the intermediate meals ypon the appa-
rent appetite of the silkworms, taking the food for them from the
quantity of leaves allotted for the whole consumption of the day.
The space on the sheets of paper, must visibly get covered with the
worms. It is important, in this first age, to give the worms a plenty
of room, by gently separating and spreading them, to avoid, as much
as possible, their sleeping in heaps together. The constant care of
enlarging the squares by degrees, when the worms are fed, will gradu-
ally lead them to stretch out as they grow, and prevent their getting
jnto heaps, which is very injurious to their constitution, health, and to
that equality of size which it is so desirable to maiptain among them,

7 c 175 J

At the beginning of this day, many of the silkworms begin shaking
their heads, which indicates that they feel overloaded by their skins.
Some of them eat little, but keep their heads reared up: with a mag-
nifying glass it may be seen that their heads are increased much, and
grown very shining. The whole body of the insect seems transpa-
rent, and those that are near their time of moulting, when seen against
the hight, are of a yellow livid tinge: towards the close of this day,
the greatest number of the silkworms appear torpid, and eat no more.
As a general rule, it is proper here to apprize the cultivator, that, dur-
ing the time of moulting, the worms must not be disturbed, for the
process of changing their skins will thereby be intenrupted. ‘The
hurdles should be cleaned before and after every moulting, untii the
fourth age, once during that age, before and after the fourth or last
moulting, and every two days during the fifth age. *

Fifth day.—This day one pound and a half of young leaves, chop-

ped small, will be about sufficient. They should be scattered yory
lightly several times in the day on the sheets of paper, where ‘hore
appears still to be worms feeding. Should the worms have joi of
feeding, it would be unnecessary to distribute any further ou ntity.

What has been said as to the different variations of quantity »equired
by the silkworms of this age, 1s applicable to all the otherages. Eco-
nomy and regularity in the distribution of the leaves cannot be too
much urged.

‘Towards the end of this day the worms are torpid; a few begin to
revive.

After the first moulting, the silkworm is of a dark ash color, show-
ing avery distinct vermicular motion. ‘The rings that compose its
body, stretch and shrink more freely than heretofore.

It must here be repeated, that it is of the utmost import that the food
should now be chopped very finely, first witha knife, and then with
a double-bladed hashing tool.

When the weather admits of it, the leaves should be gathered several
hours before the meal is given; they last very well a day, and more, if
kept in a damp cool place, where there is no draught of air. It is al-
ways desirable the leaf should have lost its first sharpness, and not be
given to the worms till six or eight hours after it has heen gathered.

A general view of this paragraph will now be exhibited, and a few
observations added that appear to be useful.

The first age of the silkworm, reared in the temperature indicated,
is almost always accomplished in five days, exclusive of the two days
employed in their coming forth, and being removed and distributed.
In this first stage, the silkworms proceeding from five ounces of eggs,
have consumed thirty pounds of picked leaves, chopped small; in add-
ing four pounds and a half, the refuse picked off the leaves, the weight
will make thirty-four and a half pounds of mulberry leaves, or about
seven pounds of leaves from the tree to each ounce of silkworms.

* Nysten, p. 105. Recherches sur les Maladies des Versa Soie, p, 105—Paris, 1808.
F é P P ?

f 175 J 78

To complete the exactness of these observations, we must add two
other alterations, to which the silkworms are subject before their
moulting. ;

1. We have seen that.to form an ounce of silkworms just hatched, it
requires 54,626 worms. After the first moulting, 3,840 are sufficient
to make up that weight. Thus the silkworm has increased, in about
six days, fourteen times its own weight.

2. Before: the above six days, the silkworm was about a line* in
length, and after those days it is about four lines long. .

In the first age, the air of the laboratory shouid only be renewed by
opening the doors. The’ necessary degree of temperature must be
maintained by the stove and wood fires in the fire-places; as we shall
show hereafter. Nothing further is necessary for the thriving of the
worms, and their healthy continuance.

2. SECOND AGE.

Nearly seventy-three feet four inches square of the table or wicker
trays, are needed for the accommodation of the worms proceeding
from five ounces of eggs, until the accomplishment of their second cast-
ing, or moulting. The temperature to keep the worms in during their
second age, should be 73° and 75°, as before said. The insects should
not be lifted from their litter until they are nearly all revived. The
manner of removing them will be shortly explained. There is no harm
in waiting till they are all well awake and stirring, even should it be
for twenty or thirty hours from the time when the few first began to
revive.

When a great number of worms issue from the sheets of paper where
they were placed, it is a sign that they should be removed from their
litter, and by removing them a little sooner the others will soon re-
vive also.

We have said already that*during the first age most cultivators
destroy the lives and the health of a vast number of worms, by not
attending to them sufficiently. Thisinequality, and the evils resulting
from it, are caused, Ist. By not having placed the silkworms in a
space proportioned to their growth, in the course of their first age,
which has allowed of some having fed well, while others could not feed;
of some remaining under the litter, others upon it, which latter had the
benefit of free air, instead of a close mephitical atmosphere; some began
to fall into their torpid slumber sooner than others, and, being under
the leaves, have moulted the last; others, in short, became torpid latest,
and revived first, because they were upon the surface of the leaves,
unloaded and unoppressed.

2d. By not having placed the sheets of silkworms hatched the first
day, in the coolest parts of the laboratory.

3d. By not having placed the latest hatched worms in the hottest
part of the Jaboratory. :

* A lineis the twelfth part ofan inch.

79 | [175 ]

4th, and finally, by not having given the last hatched silkworms in-
termediate meals, to bring on their growth a little faster. It follows
from this want of attention, that when the silkworms should pass from
their first casting or moulting, to the second, some worms are torpid,
some are reviving and beginning to feed, and some have not yet fallen
into the torpor which is to precede their change; and thus, on one
wicker hurdle may we see silkworms of all sizes, which is very trou-
blesome, to say no more; there is, besides, a great chance of the small-
er worms perishing in their progress. All these lasses will be ayoid-
ed by strictly following the rules given.

First day of the second age.

(Sixth of the rearing of the silkworm. )

For this day will be needed nine pounds of young tender shoots, and
nine pounds of mulberry leaves, well picked and chopped small.

The space of seventy-three feet four inches square, of hurdles, re-
quired for the second age of the silkworms proceeding from five ounces
of eggs, should be duly prepared; and when nearly all the worms are
roused, and begin moving their heads, and rearing up as if they sought
something, those at the edge of the paper having already left the litter
on which they had lain, preparations should be made to remove them,
that the sheets of paper may be cleansed. The worms should be re-
moved from those sheets of paper first, where they are perceived to be

-most revived and stirring. ‘Small twigs of the young shoots of the
mulberry tree, with six or eight leaves on them, should be put over
the silkworms; these boughs should be placed so that when spread out
there may be an inch or two between them. When one of the sheets
of paper is thus covered with silkworms, another is begun, and so on,
till all are completed. This must be done speedily. There should be
some boughs left, which will be wanted. These boughs will gradual-
ly be entirely and thickly covered with worms. The small portable
trays should be ready, upon which the boughs covered with worms must
be put quickly, when taken off the sheets of paper.

Instead of forming small squares, as was done for disposing of the
new hatched worms, long strips should be laid down the middle of
the wicker hurdles, prepared so, that by widening’them on each side,
when arrived at the consummation of the second age, the whole space
of seventy-three fect four inches of the hurdle should be entirely co-
vered by the silkworms.

The portable trays carry and place with ease the small boughs
loaded with silkworms, and, by inclining them obliquely upon the
hurdle, slip off the boughs gently into the strips allotted for them :
being careful, lightly with the hands, to move those that may not be
properly placed, filling the vacant spots with them, so as to render
the distribution regular.

This operation concluded, some worms will be found to have re-
mained upon the litter; with fresh boughs, these may be remoyed as

{175 | 8d

the others were, and distributed upon the hurdles; should any after
this remain torpid in the litter, they may be.cast away. It is observ-
able, that the silkworms like the tender boughs so much, that they
are found heaped upon them, even when they have entirely eaten the
leaves off, and never leave them to return to the litter below.

An hour or two after the worms have been placed upon the hurdles,
they should be given a meal of three pounds of leaves chopped small.

When the boughs are stripped of the leaves by the worms, there
will be bare spaces in the paper, and the boughs swarming with worms.
To remedy this, the leaves should be gently laid on those bare places,
and the worms stretching upon them, will equally spread and fill the
strips. The space occupied by the worms should be widened a little
when they are first fed. It should be remembered to sweep up, with
a small broom, the leaves that may be scattered.

In the remainder of this day the silkworms should have, in two
meals, the remaining six pounds of chopped leaves, with an interval
of six hours between each, or according to the hours of the day which
remain.

When the silkworms have been removed to the clean hurdles, those
they have left should be thoroughly cleaned, the sheets of paper
cleansed and rolled up, and taken out of the laboratory. .

From the first day of the rearing of silkworms, until the first moult:
ing, they consumed thirty pounds of leaves.

Second day of the second age.
(Seventh of the rearing of the silkworm. )

This day will be required about thirty pounds of chopped leaves;
this quantity, divided into four portions, should be given at intervals
of six hours, the two first meals less plentiful than the two remaining.
It is very necessary gradually to widen on both sides the strips in
which the worms are distributed, that, at the close of the day, two-
thirds of the allotted space should be covered.

The body of the worm now acquires a clear hue, the head enlarges
and becomes whiter. Should some places be thinly covered with
worms, by placing small boughs where the worms lie thick, they will
fasten on them, and may then be removed to fill up the places which
were not sufficiently covered; the equality of the worms being very
desirable, it should be constantly attended to, and those means prac-
tised which have been stated through all the moultings, and whenever
circumstances require them.

Third day of the second age.
(Eighth of the rearing of the silkworm. )

This day thirty-three pounds of chopped leaves, well picked, will
be necessary, and this time the two first meals should be the largest.
The leaves should be distributed in proportion as they are wanted, and

81 i Lee

with attention, because the voracity of the silkworm abates towards
evening; anc many worms show, by rearing their heads, and not eat-
ing, that they are approaching the period of torpor, and some already
are become torpid. The strips should continue to be widened, so that
at least four-fifths of the hurdle should be covered.

Fourth day of the second age.
(Ninth of the rearing of the silkworm.)

This day only nine pounds of picked leaves, chopped small, will be
required. The silkworms sink into torpor, and the next day they
will have cast their skins, and will be roused, and thus will the second
age be accomplished. If, between the moultings, any worms should
appear sick, and cease to eat, they must be removed to another room
where the air is pure, and a little warmer than that they have left, put
on clean paper, and some fresh teaves chopped fine given to them.

The alterations which the silk worm undergoes, besides that of the
moulting in the second age, are as follows: :

Their color becomes of a light gray; the hair is hardly to be per-
ceived by the naked eye, and becomes shorter; the muzzle, which
in the first age was very black, hard, and scaly, became immediately,
upon moulting, white and soft, but afterwards again grew black, shin-
ing, and shelly, as before. As the insect grows older, at each moult-
ing its muzzle hardens, because it needs to saw and bite larger and
older leaves.

There appear now two curved lines, opposite each other, upon the
silkworm’s back.

The length of the silkworms, in the first age, was rather less than
four lines; in the second age, of rather more than six lines. .

In four days it has increased its average weight fourfold: when is-
suing from the first moulting, 3,240 silkworms formed one ounce: at
this period, 610 will form this weight. Sa.

As the insect grows, it breathes more freely, its excrements are
- more plentiful, which, as the number of hurdles also increase in the
laboratory, makes it necessary that the interior air should be more re-

novated; and to effect this, the ventilator in the floor, and the aperture
made in the door, should be opened.

Should there be no wind, and the external air be cold, the ventilator
may be left open until the thermometer has lost a degree, or, indeed,
two complete degrees. Then all should be closed ; the temperature

_ again rises, and thus has the interior air been thoroughly renewed and
purified.*

* Great care must be taken in picking and sorting the leaves for the worms of the
. first ages, such as picking off all the twigs and stalks of the Jeaves, and to clear them,
as much as possible, from all useless parts. This operation is most essential in the
two first ages. The sorting and picking is of importance, inasmuch as it enables us
to put 15 or 20 per cent. less substance upon the trays, or frames, than would other
wise be done, and which the worms do not eat.

il

f 175 | 82
3. THIRD AGE:
First day of the third age.

Tenth day of the rearing of the silkworm. }

Tn this first day, fifteen pounds of the small shoots will be necessary,
and equally as much of the picked leaves, chopped rather less than
hitherto; and, at the close of the age, may be still more coarsely
chopped.

The temperature of the apartment, during this third age, should be
from 71° to 73°. The worms that have accomplished the second age,
should not be removed from the wicker hurdles, until they are all
nearly roused. Part will rouse the ninth day; part the tenth. There
would be no harm if those first revived should wait twenty-four hours,
till the rest are all roused.

It is very easy to know the worms that are revived in this age:
they issue from their old skin with so different an aspect, that any
body may distinguish them without the aid of description. A never-
failing sign that the silkworms are roused, is an undulating motion they
make with their head, when horizontally blown upon. The impres-
sion of the air thus forcibly blown over them, is disagreeable and
painful to them, when they have newly cast their skins; but gentle
motion of the air through the laboratory is pleasant to them, and does
them good, provided the renewed air is not eolder than their usual
atmosphere.

They should be removed in the same order and manner as in their
former age.

The space of 174 feet allotted to the third age, should be disposed
in a strip dewn the centre of the wicker hurdle, and of nearly half
the width of the hurdle, so as to leave rather more than a quarter’s
width down each side of the strip. When the space is well ascertained
which the silkworms are to occupy in their different ages, there is
nothing more useful, and more economical, than to remove, cleanse,
and place them in the manner described. Once placed upon their
wicker hurdles, they are no more to be touched until their moulting
is*accomplished. ‘They feed well, without interfering with one an-
other, and without requiring to have the intervals on the sheets of pa-
per cleaned. Their litter does not become mouldy, unless there should
be a very unusual and continued dampness of weather.

The fifteen pounds of young shoots afford the silkworm its first
meal, as in the preceding age. When they have eaten the leaves upon
the shoots, they should have a second meal of about seven pounds and
a half of the leaves—carefully filling with leaves the space between
the shoots, to equalize the distribution of the worms upon the strips.

It must be unceasingly repeated, to ensure the silkwormscentinuing
of an equal size, the cultivator must always watch those persons who
distribute the food, that it may be perfectly even, and all the worms
emabdled to partake of it. A waste of leaves is not only a real loss,

83 i 175 4

but also is apt, by thickening the litter in heaps, to ferment, and
thereby cause disease.

The worms should have their last meal this day, of seven pounds
and a half of leaves, which completes the feeding of the day.

Should the removal of the litter be late in the day, so that the silk.
worms could not be given the three meals, that portion of the leaves
may be added to those of the following day. Two active, handy per-
sons, should take but one hour to remove and distribute the worms
upon 174 feet of hurdles.

As fast as the worms are lifted off, the litter should be carried out of
the laboratory, rolled up in the sheets of paper. When taken out, the
litter should be examined, in case any of the torpid worms may be re-
maining in it; and if this is done in any place sheltered from rain and
wind, far from injuring the worms, it will tend to rouse them sooner
than they would have roused in the laboratory, to which they must be
taken back, by offering them young shoots, to which they will fasten,
and thus be carried safely.

The latest worms should be placed apart, as their next moulting will
_ be a day later also; or, should it be desired to bring them on equally
with the others, by giving them rather more space between them on
the hurdles, and putting them in the hottest part of the laboratory, this
may be managed.

Now, as the worms begin to eat more, it is useful to employ a square
basket, with which twice the work may be done in feeding the worms,
compared to the usual method of holding the shoots and leavesin an
apron, and feeding the worms with one hand only. By meansof this
basket, which may be suspended with a hook, and slide in a groove
along the edge of the wicker trays, the feeder may arrange and dis-
tribute the food with both hands, and thus feed two trays of worms
at once, by standing on high steps or ladders.

After two or three meals this day, there isa very sensible change in
the silkworms. They are much larger, their muzzle is grown longer.
and their color clearer. ;

Second day of the third age.
(Eleventh of the rearing of the silkworm. }

_ This day 90 pounds of picked leaves, chopped, will be needed.
The two first meals the least copious, because, towards the close ef
the day, the silkworms grow voraciously hungry.
The strips should be widened whenever they are fed, to allow them
room.

Third day of the third age.
Twelfth of the rearing of the silkworm,

This day there should be given 97 pounds of picked leaves, chop-
ped. divided into four meals—the two first meals fhe most plentifik

[175 J 84

"Fowards evening the hunger of the silkworm deereases; consequently,
the last should be the least meal.

This day the silkworms grow fast, their skins whiten, the bodies
are nearly transparent, and the heads are longer. If a hurdle of
worms is seen against the light, before they are fed, they seem of the
color of whitish amber, and appear powdery. ‘The contortions they

egin to make with their heads, show that their change approaches.

Fourth day of the third age.

(Fhirteenth of the rearing of the silkworm. )

This day about fifty-two pounds and a half of chopped leaves will
be sufficient. The decrease of food is consequent upon the diminution
of appetite already mentioned; many of the worms are already torpid.

They should have four meals; the largest first, and the last the
least meal. Those only that seem to require it, should be fed.

Should a great number of silkworms on one table be torpid, while
others continue to require food, these should be given a slight meal,
without waiting for the stated hour of their feeding, to satisfy them,
that they may sink into torpor quickly.

Fifth day of the third age.
€Fourteenth of the rearing of the silkworm. )

This day twenty-seven pounds of picked leaves, chopped, will be
about the quantity; if itis not enough, more may be added: if too much,
less given.

These two last days, the silkworms begin to cast about some silk
down.

The insect seeks free space to slumber in dry and solitary spots,
rearing its head upwards, which is known by finding it on the edges
of the paper, where any stalks stick up, upon which it retires. All
of them not being able thus to separate from each other, are obliged to
remain upon their litter, but testify uneasiness by rearing up their
heads.

When on the point of sinking into torpor, they completely void all
excremental matter, and there remains in their intestinal tube, a yel-
low lymph alone, rather transparent, and which supplies almost all
the animal fluid in them. This is that which, before the surface of
the skin they are about to cast, becomes wrinkled and dry, causes
them to appear ofa yellowish white color, like amber, and semi-trans-
parent.

When the worms prepare for the third, and even the fourth moult-
ings, the air of the apartment should be gently agitated, but the tempe-
rature must not be much varied. This may be done by opening the
ventilators in the ceiling, and those in the floor.

¥

85 [ 175 9

Sixth day of the third age.
(Fifteenth of the rearing of the silkworm. )

On this day the silkworms begin to rouse, and thus accomplish the
third age.

The general view of this age presents the following result: In six
days the silkworm goes through its third age. In this age, those
Worms proceeding from five ounces of eggs, have consumed nearly
300 pounds of leaves and young shoots. _

The muzzle of the silkworm during the third age, has maintaine
a reddish ash color, and is no longer shining and black, as it appears
in the two first ages, but it is lengthened and more prominent. The
head and body are much enlarged since the casting of the skin, even
before they have eaten at all: proving that they were straitened in
the skin they have cast, and being now unconfined, the air alone has
expanded their bulk. This growth, which is considerable, -is more
visible in this age than in the preceding.

When this age ts completed, the body of the silkworm is more
wrinkled, particularly about the head; they are of a yellowish white,
or rather fawn color, and to the naked eye they have no appearance
of hairiness. In this third age, we first hear, when the worms are
fed, a little hissing noise, similar to that of green wood burning. This
noise does not proceed from the action of the jaws, but from the mo-
tion of the feet, which they are continually moving: this noise is such,
that, in a large laboratory, it sounds like a soft shower of rain; by de-
grees, when the worms fasten to their food, the noise ceases. The
average length of the silkworms, which was six lines after the second
moulting, is become, in less than seven days, above twelve lines. The
weight of the insect has increased fourfold in the same period.

It has been sufficient, during this age, to open the ventilator, the
door, and even the windows, when the weather was still and fine, so
as to lower the temperature by a degree only. In damp, close days,
a small wood fire, in the fire-place, renews the air, by drawing a cur-
rent, without injuring the interior atmosphere. During this age, it
never happened that the exterior temperature, although higher than
the interior, went beyond the prescribed limits.

4. REARING OF THF SILKWORMIN THE FOURTH AGE.

In this age, the worms proceeding from five ounces of eggs, should
occupy a space of about 412 square feet; the temperature should be
from 68° to 71°. In this fourth age, as in the fifth, there will proba-
bly be days in which it will not be possible to maintain the tempera-
ture of 71°, because of the heat of the weather as the season advances;
and in spite of artificial means it may very probably rise to 73° or up-
wards.

This augmentation of temperature does no harm. It is sufficient
that the circulation of air be not interrupted. The moment it is per-

, 175 j 36

ceived that the exterior atmosphere begins to heat the laboratory, the
ventilators should be opened, as well as all apertures on the side ex-
posed to the sun. In the space of two hours, some of my laboratories
have been observed to rise from 71° to 80°. All the apertures were
then opened, and the air being stagnant, some faggot wood was burnt
in the fire-place, to establish acomplete curreatof air, and thus change
the air of all the rooms thoroughly. If instead of thus acting when
the heat of the season ceases suddenly, (which augments the fermenta-
tion of the litter,) we should exclude the exterior air from the labora-
tory, we may chance to lose whole broods of silkworms; because, as
they grow, the mass of leaves and litter increasing, the dampness pro-
ceeding from it will more quickly produce fermentation, the heat
would also augment, and the air would soon be not only moist but
pestilential.

As before said, the silkworms should not be lifted off the hurdles,
after they have completed their third age, uatil they are nearly all
well reused; because, should the first roused have to wait a day and
a half, it will not hurtthem. Those early roused should be put in the
coolest part of the apartment, and the late roused worms in the warm-
est part. If thisshould be troublesome, it may suffice to give the latest
roused worms more space, by keeping them farther asunder, and they
will soon come up to the others. It 1s easy to tell, by the thermome-
ters, which parts are constantly the hottest, and this knowledge will
serve to render all the silkworms even sized. All this care is indispen-
sable, if the worms are required to draw their silk equally, and at the
same period, particularly as there accrue great evils when some of the
silkworms rise too much above the others. It is after the third moult-
ing thst the silkworms should be moved into the large laboratory, in
which they are to remain until the end. The space of this large labo-
ratory should contain at least 917 square feet of wicker hurdles or ta-
bles. Experience constantly demonstrates the advantage of having
buildings proportionate to what is required of them, as much on ac-
count of economy of fuel, if the season be cold, as the convenience of
attendance. ‘There would certainly be no great objection should there
be two or three small contiguous buildings, instead of one large labo-
ratory, so that they afforded an equal space. The only advantage
that would thus be lost, would be the great facility enjoyed in a spa-
cious building, of establishing and maintaining constant and regular
currents of air. It must here be repeated how advantageous to the
art of rearing silkworms is the practice of distributing them in regu-
lar strips and squares, which should be extended and widened, and
eradually filled with these insects, as they accomplish their various
ages.

Pod. Because the leaf distributed uponevenly proportioned spaces, is
entirely eaten before it is withered and spoilt.

3d. Because, by this practice, the worms can feed with facility,
move with ease. and breathe more freely: all decisive advantages for
these insects.

87 [ 175 |

We must torego these advantages when the worms lie too thick.
In that condition they cover the surface so closely, that the leaves on
which they lie are wasted, as they cannot possibly eat them; while, on
the contrary, when they have a plenty of room, they seek, in moving,
every atom of the leaf, and eat it up. Besides, when straitened, the
action of their breathing tubes is hindered, and confined by the pres-
sure, either superior or lateral, of one worm against the other; whilst,
when in full space, the action of their respiratory organs is free, which
materially contributes to their health.

First day of the fourth age.
(Sixteenth of the rearing of the silkworm. )

On this day 373 pounds of the young shoots will be needed, and 66
pounds of picked leaves coarsely chopped witha large blade.

When the moment of removing the worms from the hurdles comes,
one or two hurdles only at a time should be covered over with young
shoots. ‘These shoots, loaded with worms, are afterwards put upon -
portable trays and removed, as in the first moultings. Should there
not be a sufficiency of small boughs, branches of 15 or 20 leaves,
tied together by the stalks, will answer the purpose. The stiffer
these leaves the better they remove the worms, and with less in-
convenience are they carried. This removal must be performed by
two or three persons; one to fill the portable trays, or two to carry
them, and one who will gently remove the siikworms from these trays
upon the hurdles in the space allotted for them. In this manner it
can be executed with ease and promptitude. The strips into which
are arranged the silkworms upon the hurdles, should occupy about half
the space of them.

It has been mentioned that the worms that are to occupy 174 feet of
hurdles must be placed in the middle of a space of about 412 feet 6
inches square.*

When all the silkworms that are revived have been successively
removed, there remain still some upon the 174 feet of hurdle, torpid,
that have not the strength to climb upon the shoots or branches of
leaves.

The early roused worms being removed into the great laboratory,
if they have eaten all the leaves on the young shoots and leaves that
served to carry them, and they remain without food, they should then
be given thirty pounds of leaves chopped a little: with these the in-
tervals between the young shoots must be filled, and the strips formed
into regular order, by sweeping into their place any boughs or leaves
that are scattered irregularly.

After this second meal, those worms that were heaped together will
be seen stretching out evenly. The other thirty pounds of leaves

* Itis important here again to caution the cultivator against giving the worms
branches or twigs with the fruit on them. If the worms eat the fruit they will become
sick, amd besides the Rtter is greatly increased by, not picking the leaves clean.

a

f 175 J 88

should not be given until the second meal has been consumed; and
should the young shoots and leaves not be required, they may be given
the next day.

Although it is not a general custom to chop or cut the leaves for
silkworms, in this fourth age, it has been found very beneficial to give
it to them, coarsely cut up; fresh leaves, slightly cut up, by exhaling
a stronger smell, stimulate their hunger, and the cut edges are more
easy to bite.

The late roused silkworms should be placed on hurdles, distinct
from the earliest worms.

At the end of this day, the worms begin to show some vigor; they
move quickly to the leaves; they grow perceptibly, lose their ugly
colors, become slightly white, and assume more decided animal action.

When all the silkworms are taken out of the small laboratory, the
hurdles from which they have been removed should be well cleaned.
This should be done quickly, if any of the silkworms are to be put
into the small laboratory again for the convenience of space.

Second day of the fourth age.
\ (Seventeenth of the rearing of the silkworm.)

For this day will be wanted 165 pounds of sorted leaves, slightly
cut up. The two first meals should be the lightest, and the last most
copious.

The worms grow fast, and their skins continue to whiten.

In giving the meals, the space occupied by the worms should be ~
widened.

Third day of the fourth age.
(Eighteenth of the rearing of the silkworm. }
For this day will be needed 225 pounds of sorted-leaves, a little cut. .

The two first meals ought to be the most plentiful; the last meal to be
of about 75 pounds.

Fourth day of the fourth age.

(Nineteenth of the rearing of the silkworm.)

This day the distribution of the cut leaves should be 255 pounds;
the three first meals of about 75 pounds each; the fourth of 45 pounds
only. The worms still get whiter, and at this time are more than
an inch and a half long.

Fifth day of the fourth age.

{Twentieth of the rearing of the silkworm. }

No more fhan 128 pounds of picked leaves will be needed this day;
because the silkworm’s hunger diminishes much. The first meal should

;

89 [175 }

‘be the most considerable. A g oteat number of the werms become tor-
pid on this day.

The leaves should only ‘be disuihiaed as they are wanted, and ais
on those hurdles where the worms are perceived not to be torpid, that

they should not be wasted uselessly. ~The worms are this day an inch
cand xo ono: say long.

r Ri a t

Sixth day of the fourth age.

Pri rs

(Twenty-first of the rearing « of the silkworm. )

Thirty-five pounds of picked leaves are enough for this day. It is
easy to find out where, and in what quantities, the worms need feed.

Since the preceding day, the silkworms begin to decrease in size, as
they have cleansed and cleared themselves of all nutritive substances,
before they sink into their torpor.

The greenish color of the rings of their body has disappeared, and
a, skin i is. quite wrinkled. Me

_ Seventh day te the fourth age.
(Poventy-sevond of the rearing of the silkworm. )

yg te My 3 *
The gitieetns. rouse in this day, : and accomplish their fourth age.

dn Boneraliziga: ee Ban cep let us suggest the following observa-

tions:*

In about seven days, the worms halt ee sped their fourth
moulting, and cast their skins.

They have consumed, in that period, 207 Sanath ‘of leaves for each
ounce of eggs.

In the seven days of the fourth .age, the worms which were about
ou inch long, have grown half aninch in length. In this age, their

weight is augmented fourfold.
i be the third moulting, 144 inseetsiveighed one ounce; it now ree
quires ‘only 35 to make up the.ounce.

_ After this moulting they are.of a darker color: grayish, with a red
cast.

During this age, shavings of wood should be burnt in the fire-places
three or fot ur times a day; dry straw willanswer the purpose also, as
this is done to renew and lighten the air of the room, without particu-
larly heating it; should it be necessary to heat the laborator y, that
should be done eathtes eH 0 gla or by burning large wood in the
pro pieuee.

* Mr. Stephenson atsouea that ‘fas soon as er of the worms have aed their
fourth moulting, all those which. rouse during the two first days should be put on one
hurdle, those of the next two day on nother, that each parcel may be carried on as
equally as possible. This remark may be useful to those who depend upon the pre-
carious temperature of the air, and do not use a stove. According to the system of
Dandolo, the whole period will occupy only two days:

12 we

[175 j 90

»/When straw or shavings are burnt, the ventilator should be opened
for the circulation of theair. If the ‘exterior temperature be not cold,
and the weather calm, the doors and windows may also be opened ;
when the interior temperature by these means is lowered half a de-
gree, the windows amd doors should again be closed, leaving the ven-
tilators open, and the temperature will rise again. Those “who have
Venetian blinds to the windows, should open the windows to allow the
air to enter. Persons who a tend silkworms should breathe as freely
in the great laboratory as in the open air; they should fecl no differ-
ence but that in the heat of the interior temperature, and the latter
in temperature, not in the closeness. Therefore, should the air
pear heavy, the fire of straw or shavings ought to be lighted, to retiéw
the air, which is done ina moment, In the laboratories described,
the interior air is more pleasant than the Epo air, from the eer
ful smell of the mulberry leaves. y i
In proceeding in the manner ‘geen. the silkworms wil :

' uh 4 “indy ill bom
r SR Oe Tega ip ¢ “f
rer =% aah gh dine Met

By i“

- A i te ‘anit
— pee fe Ix. ninieenee. mh. "
wel 7 Ht ig oe pg: is 4j ae to el
OF THE REARING OF THE SILKWORMS IN THE FIRST PERIOD OF THE
FIFTH AGE, OR UNTIL THE MOMENT WHEN THEY PREPARE TO RISE

ON THE HEDGES. es MARS WR trig sag
ea: kt | Weg a:

The fifth . age Re Ke siswrortiis is othe longest, and most decisive.
Previously, therefore, to resuming the ies of the daily vel

gress of the silkworms, a few practical observations will be given.»

Should the worms die in the first age, the loss is trifling, becau

expense is not prolonged; while, on the contrary, should the worms :

perish in the fifth age, the loss is considerable, leaves having been
consumed, labor paid fer, and other expenses incurred; besides
seeing the hopes of all that profit vanish, which had been reckoned
upon.

"Thi is then very neeiial to know the condition of the worms in the
fifth age, to learn how to manage, so as to ensure their health and
strength against the effects of a bad atmosphere, or other evils that
assail them. Yet

‘Ad The® silk wont grow in the fifth age, they are liable to i
evils, which attack them according to their strength, and to. their dis-
tribution in the laboratory, and may weaken them so as to cause their
speedy destruction. These are, 1st. the great quantity of fluid dis-
engaged from the insects, their dung, leaves and litter. 2. The damp
hot atmosphcre of the laboratory. These causes of disease, and the
means of preventing them, shall be treated of in the chapter on the
sliseases of silkwormes.

: y ‘ ae y
Pe. Sy | 54s

[ee ee ee ee ee

s

91 (175 J

Fda he TM Miibibadi alin’ ip wil

0# THE REARING OF SILKWORMS UNTIL "THE APPROACH OF THEIR
' MATURITY. m

( ‘The worms have now approached the time when they prepare to

rise, and when they reject the food which they had lately so voracious-

ly devoured. .

First day of the fifth age. hy

Gt

(Twenty-third of the rearing of the silkworm. )

_ Since the preceding day, almost all the silkworms must have ac-
complished their fourth moulting, or casting of skin, and be already
roused. — ,

The laboratory should have uniformly 68° or 693° of heat. The
silkworms proceeding from five ounces of eggs, until the termination
of their fifth age, should occupy 917 feet of trays, or 183 feet 5 inches
for each ounce of eggs.

The silkworms proceeding from one ounce of eggs in the fifth age,
consume about 1,098 pounds of sorted, picked leaves, which makes
the quantity of leaves required by the five ounces to be 5,490 pounds
weight.

After the fourth moulting, the food should consist of the full grown
leaves of the oldest trees: for the appetite of the worms is great, and
they require the strongest nourishment to strengthen them, and to pro-
mote their growth. ‘Their last feed should be given late at night, or
just before going to bed, and as early as possible in the morning.*
_ To facilitate their removal, branches to which the leaves are attached,
may be given.

As soon as the branches are loaded with worms, they should be
taken off, and put upon the little portable trays. If the silkworms of
one wicker tray are almost all roused, they will be sufficient to fill the
space of rather more than two wicker trays; and there should be form-
eda space in the middle of the two wicker trays, of about half the
width of the tray.

_ When five hundred and eight square feet are filled, the trays that
are left empty should be cleaned. ‘The hurdles must be cleaned every
two days during the fifth age.t

If, in cleaning, any worms should be found roused, by putting some
shoots or leaves, they may be taken off, like the others; should some
rouse after this, they may be taken up with the hand, and put with
the others; but if any remain still in torpor, they must be: cast away.
» The sheets of paper with the litter must be rolled up, as was done
in the former age, and poured into the basket prepared for this, which
is to be carried out at once. ”

In observing the litter when it is removed into a dry place, should -
some roused worms be found in it, they may be placed distinct from

* Stephenson.
~ Nystenr, page 103

Fae F 92

the others, in the warmestparts of the laboratory, with more o spacey
that they may thrive faster, and be even with the early worms. The
worms should cover rather more than half the space allotted to them.
Of the six persons, required to perform this task, one or two of the most
handy and neat should be directed to lift and put the silkworms on
the portable trays; two should carry them, and one should remove and
place them en the wicker, while the others roll the papers and Litter,
clean the hurdles, and carry out’ the dirt.

If it is judged necessary, another person may be employed 1 in waist?
buting shoots to the later silkworms, which’are but'just poneine , that
all things may proceed without bustle or confusion. ats

Should it be deemed advisable to‘divide the operation of cleaning
and removing, it may be done by cleaning only half the wickers in
the morning, and the other half in the evening; in which case, the
worms whose changing 1 is deferred to tlie evening, must have one or
two meals given them;’ yet changing tliem‘all at once, and it may be
done in four hours, when the worm is steatly, is deemed preferable.

The ninety pounds of shoots and leaves on which the silkworms’

were removed, furnish them with an abundant meal:‘the other ninety
pounds of sorted leaves should be divided into two meals, which should
be given them every six hours. In giving the first meal, straighten
the lines of the strips on the hurdles, by sweeping any straggling leaves
or worms into regular order. At the third meal the strips should be
widened a little. Should there bejtoo many worms in some parts,
they should be taken to cover the barer parts of the wickers.
The silkworms appear tolerabty strong this first day.

If the exterior temperaturé be mild, and little different from that of

the laboratory, it might: be left open Serhile cleaning, to admit, on all
sides, a free current of air. Shavings must also be burned to make a
blaze; this is particularly né#essary, when the cold or dampness of
the weather precludes opening all the apertures of the laboratory while
cleaning. In cases of cold and high winds, the upper and lower ven-
tilators may be kept open, which will renew the air as much as the

blaze; and, in all cases, the thermometer and hygrometer must posi-’

tively regulate all proceeding by their indications.
Second day of the fifth age.
(CEwenty-fourth of the rearing of the silk worm.)

For this day will be wanted two hundred and seventy pounds of
leaves, sorted, divided into four feeds; the first, which should be the

least, of about fifty-two pounds, and the last, which i is the most plen-.

tiful, of ninety-seven pounds weight.

Indj stributing the food, the strips should be widened gradually.

At the close of this: day the worms are much whiter and considera-
“bly developed.

~— es

93 [175]

Third day of ol ace.
(T wenty-fifth of the gone of the silkworm. )

This day the silkwworms wilh Tequire about 420 pounds of sorted
leaves. The first feed should be of 77- pounds; the last feed should be
the largest, and of about 120 pounds weight.

The worms continue to whiten, and mary appear upwards of twe

inches long.

They could eat, on this day, a larger quantity than specified; but
itis thought most ‘beneficial not to add to this quantity, that they may
thoroughly digest it; besides which, this treatment strengthens their

- constitution, and makes them livelier. The strips they occupy should
he widened, whenever they are fed.

yen: Ars Fourth day of the fifth age.

_

(Twenty-sixth of the rearing of the silkworm.)

This day the silkworms will want five hundred and forty pounds
weight of sorted leaves; the first feed should be of one hundred and
twenty pounds weight, and the last of one hundred and fifty.

_ The worms now are beginning to grow voracious and stron ger; some
are two inches and a half wy

Fifth day of the fifth age.
i (Twenty-seventh of the rearing of the silkworm.)

The worms will this day want eight hundred and ten pounds ofa pieks
éd leaves; the first feed of one hundred and fifty pounds, and the last
meal of two hundred and ten pounds weight.

If necessary, the silkworms should have some intermediate food;
when the regular distribution of leaves is devoured inless than an hour
and a half, the worms must not be suffered to fast five hours, but re~
ceive some leaves in the interim; particularly if there should have been
wickers on which the worms had not been as well fed as the others at
first; for although the quantity of food for this day has been fixed, it is ‘
always necessary to be regulated by experience. Should the worms
want more food, they must have it.

In the course of the fifth age, the wicker trays should be cleaned.
If the litter is dry and fresh, they need not be shifted till the evening
of this day, or the beginning of the second day; but this must depend
on circumstances, and the convenience of the cultivator. Care must
be taken in distributing the last meal on this day, only to feed four
wicker trays at a time, to allow of time‘insensibly to lift off the silk-
worms before they have finished eating the leaves given them. As.
this time the worms are not to be removed, the ‘wickers must be
leaned after another manner, The following is the manner of clean-
ing. them:

1
[ 175 7 94
oe unit , thy My

The portable trays are Dat on the edges of the wiekers, and when.
the leaves are loaded with silkworms, they are put in single layers on
the portable trays. When several of these are filled, the litter, with
or without the sheets of paper, must be carried off in square baskets,
which are hung near the wicker trays; the litter being removed, the
paper should be swept and cleaned with light brooms; the sheets of
paper are laid down again, one after another, and the leaves, with the
worms, replaced on them. This is repeated until the litter has been
entirely changed throughout the laboratory.

Upon a small scale, the shelves or hurdies may be cleaned by placing

a line of fresh chopped leaves the whole length of the hurdles,
near the worms, which will immediately attach ” themselves thereto.

They may then be taken up by means of the leaves and stalks they -

cling te, and be removed to another hurdle or shelf, when the litter

they have made can be swept away, and removed from the room.

When one basket is full, it is carried out, and another substituted.
Great care should be taken not to hurt or bruise the worms in re-
moving them. Six persons, at least, should be employed to perform
this cleaning of the litter expeditiously, and in their peer are not
included those who carry the litter out.

The silkworms that have been cleaned should be fed, hail those that
are to be cleaned last, may be fed before they are cleaned, that none of
them may fast too long A

It must not be forgotten that, Ruriee this period, as the case may
require, there should be light blazing fires burnt; the fumigating bot-
tle* should also be passed twice round in the laboratory, and the win-
dows and ventilators opened according to the state of the exterior at-
mosphere; but, in all cases, the ventilators in the ceiling and floor, and
all the doors, must be open. If the exterior air be very damp, the
small blazing fires may be frequently repeated; and if they raise the
temperature too much, it may easily be lowered by opening the ven-
tilators and windows, being guided by the thermometer and hygrome-
tern

Sixth day of the fifth age.

(Twenty-eighth of the rearing of the silkworm.)

The silkworms should have 975 pounds of picked leaves, divided
into five feeds; the last of which should be the most plentiful. The
silkworms now eat most voraciously.

If, after having distributed the leaves, the quantity appears insuffi-
cient npOn spre wickers, and it has been devoured in an hour,’ an in-
termediate meal should be added.

Knowing the quantity of leaves to be given in the day, itis easy ti
distribute them either into four or five. ‘meals, as it may appear to suit
the silkworms best. If the wickers could not be all cleaned in the
preceeding day, the operation may be finished this day.

“ See the chanter on-the diseases of sitkworms.

3
it ie are ba be

‘
¥
rs
g
'
}
i

95 [Laan

Some of the worms are now three inches long, and are become
whiter; to the touch they present a soft velvety surface, and are strong
and healthy. By giving more food to the worms last removed from
the hurdles, and by allowing them more space, they will soon equal
the earliest in size. by :

Seventh day of the fifth age.
{Twenty-ninth of the rearing of the silkworm.)

The silkworms will require this day 900 pounds weight of wel!
sorted leaves. The first meal should be the largest, and those follow-
ing should diminish; should there be any intermediate meals wanted,
they must be given as before.

Some worms will now be seen upwards of three inches long. The
extremity of the insect begins to grow shining and yellowish, which
shows they are approaching to maturity.

Some of them begin to eat with less voracity. They this day at-
tain their largest size, and their greatest weight. On an average, six
silkworms now weigh anounce. ‘Thus their weight has increased five-
fold in seven days since the fourth moulting, at which time thirty-
three silkworms made an ounce. ;

Lighth day of the fifth age.
(Thirtieth of the rearing of the silkworm. )

_ The silkworms this day must have 660 pounds of well sorted leaves
The proportion of leaves must diminish, as the appetite of the worms
decreases much. The food must, as usual, be divided into four messes;
give them the largest meals first, and gradually diminish. The first
meal of 210 pounds of leaves. a eas

That the maturity of the worms may be perfectly alike, some inter-

mediate food should be given according to necessity, to bring on those

worms that are backward. . oe We

During the last days of the rearing ofthe silkworms, they should be
fed with the best sort of leaves, always culled from the oldest trees.
. The silkworms now advance towards maturity, which may be per-
ceived by their yellow color, which increases from ring to ring. Their
backs begin to shine, and the rings lose their dark green color. The
advance to maturity is also denoted in some of them, by the diminu-
tion of their bulk in the course of this day; and by their seeking’to
fix themselves to the edge of the hurdles to avoid the substances with
which they are loaded. —
. This day, and more or less speedily, according as the signs of ma-

tarity increase, and that the litter becomes moist, the wickers should
Fim in the manner before described, being very careful to take

e worms gently with the leaves upon which they lie, that they may
not be bruised. Light fires, and fumigate with the bottle, to purify

*
Ly

[ ‘Leases 56.

the air; the ventilators, and the use of the thermometer and hy grome-
ter are, in this change of litter, more essential than on any former.
change. * f

Fr
Ff

skate Ninth day of the Sith age Abe aeeear °

<a, Sapiens! + Rl SS
7 Thirty-first of the rearing of the alee orm. i. ~ aie

The silkworms this day need 495 pounds of leaves, which must be
alistributed as it may be wanted.

The yellow hue of the silkworms grows deeper, ‘their’ - backs. shine.
more, and, in some of them, the rings assume a golden appearance. —
The muzzle is become of a brighter red than it was in the beginning. _

From time to time, a gentle fire should be lighted, particularly in
the night; twice a day the fumigating bottle should be passed through
che labor atory; the ventilators should never be shut when the fire is
lighted, nor indeed at all, that the air may be renewed entirely.

“Although the silkworms reared according to the methods described,
have been. expesed to every variation of seasons, and to many acci-
dents that might have proved injurious to them, they have still been
found to preserve their full health and vigor.

It has already been said, that, should it be pee aihict from the heat
of the season, to keep the temperature at the degree fixed, it must be
as nearly kept as may be possible, by using all means of "cooling the
air, and causing a free circulation in the laboratory. The preserva-
tion of the proper temperature of the apartment, at this stage of the
worm, cannot be too seriously impressed upon the cultivator. If sud-
den and great heat in the weather should take place, as often happens |
at this time, serious loss may be suffered without proper precautions,
The increased heat to which the ‘worms are exposed, causes them a

ecase eating, to leave their eeding shelves, and to wander aboutthe r
in order to find: corners and pla “es to > form their cocoons, before the sl
fluid has been fully « ela Mee onttatareai thus defeating, inagreat mea-
sure, all the care previot ly estowed upon them. To guard a againsta
sudden heat in the weather t e window shudders must be ¢ sed while
the sun is beating on th mn, the : on in the ceiling, or other —
parts of the room, kept open, and, if possible, tubs of ice should be
hrought into the apartment, until thet ermometer shows a adiminution =
ef temperature to the proper degree. — The windows ‘must, also bev
opened every evening until sunrise next morning, and water §; prink-
jed on the floor to promote evaporatior a, and, consequently, a freshness
in ithe : air. . Under the head of the diseases ‘éf silkworms, it will |
seén that ; great heat in the weather, at this stage, will even kill 1

worms. The cHeets deseribed above, of a sudden inerease of “a in

the weather, which continued three days, were se | exempli ied last

summer, upon the worms ina large colableament§ bs ae, a we Be.
* It must be borne i in mind, that the dir ae Mr. Dandolée constan ay re fer to ers

a large laboratory, in which worms, the produce of five ‘ounces of (eggs, 2 @ rearing *) rs

When the air of the apartment is: sufficiently pure, and the emperature pro yy Ke.

regulated by the thermometer, a va be no necessity, for, fires, inless.in damp: oi

weather, nor for furmigations. aLe fag
ss ad .

or

97 [175 |

‘CHAPTER X.

4F THE REARING OF THE SILKWORMS IN THE LAST PERIOD OF THE
FIFTH AGE}; THAT IS TO SAY, UNTIL THE COCOON IS PERFECTED.

Observations on the subject.

The fifth age can only be looked on as terminated when the cocoon
is pertect.

The cleanliness of the tables in these last days of the fifth age, re-
quires great attention to preserve the health of the silkworms.

It must be added, that, if the quantity of leaves ordered for the
tenth and last day of the fifth age be insufficient, a very little more
should be allowed them; for they should now be stinted, even if there
chance to be some leaves left. And also, should the worms take
eleven days, instead of ten, to come to perfection, the same quantity
might suffice. There are causes we cannot trace, which hasten or

slacken the progress of the silkworms towards maturity by some
hours. *

Tenth day of the fifth age.

(Thirty-second of the rearing of the silkworm. )
Matured perfection af the Silkworm.

This last day they attain perfection, which may be ascertained by
the foliowing indications: a
Ist. When, on putting some leaves on the wickers, the insects get
upon the leaves without eating them, and rear their heads as if in
search of something else. Pe pe
2d. When, on looking at them horizontally, the light shines through
them, and they appear of a whitish yello:y transparent color.
38d. When numbers of the worms which were fastened to the in-
side of the edges of the wickers, and straightened, now get upon the
edges, and move slowly along, instinct urging them to seek change of
lace.
4th. When numbers of worms leave the centre of the wickers and
try to reach the edges, and crawl up upon them.
5th. When their rings draw in; and their greenish color changes to
adeep goidenhue. __
6th. When their skins become wrinkled about the neck, and their

bodies have more softness to the touch than heretofore, and feel like:
soft dough.

* The American cultivator must attend to this caution. The worms should be fed
four or five times a day at this time, and no more leaves given them than they can
eat. If too many leaves are given, they will dung on them, and; besides, increase
the trouble of cleaning the hurdles.

13

f 175). 98

7th. When, in taking a silkworm in the hand, and looking througls
it, the whole body has assumed the transparency of a ripe yellow plum.
When these signs appear in any of the insects, every thing should be
prepared for their rising, that those worms which are ready to rise’
may not lose their strength and silk in seeking for the support they
require.

| First preparation for forming the Hedge or Espalier.

A week or ten days before the worms are ready to mount, bundles

ef twigsof chestnut, hickory, oak, or of the birch of which stable
brooms are made, must be procured and prepared.

These should be arranged into bunches, that the worms may easily
climb up them, and fix themselves conveniently to pour out their first
downy silk, and then work their cocoons. These bushes should be
neither too thick set nor too bare. As soon as it is observed that the
worms want to rise, the faggots should be put up against the inside wall,
above the wicker trays, on the most convenient side, leaving fifteen
inches between each bundle.

The twigs or top branches of the bundles should touch the lower’

part of the tray above that on which they are placed, and, by being bent
down by the tray above, forny a speries of arch, upon: which we must
observe:

Ist. That the bundles sheuld be placed a little aslant, so that the:

worms that climb up may not drop off.

2d. That they should be longer than the height between the floor
and the wicker hurdles, or than the height between the lower wicker
and that above; thus they forma curve when placed between them, and.

in this manner the worms that rise upon the curving part, do not soil-

the worms that are climbing perpendicularly under them, when they
evacuate, which would be the case were the arch not made.

3d.. That the branches should be spread out like fans, that the air
tay penetrate through all parts, and the worms may work with ease..
When the worms are too near each other they do not work so well,
and form:double cocoons, which are only worth half single cocoons.
This inattention, which is almost universal, causes great loss every
year, which is little known, except by the manufacturers who spin
the silk, who are obliged to separate the double cocoons, from the
single—the silk being, of an inferior quality.

The bundles should be fixed into the wicker work of .the hurdles

and not into the paper, which requires only to lift the paper at the
édge of the wicker, to put in the ends of the faggots through the
wicker, so as to let them touch the edges. ‘This arrangement is alse
gonvenient for the cleaning of the hurdles, which must soon occur.
Mr. Stephenson directs that openings should be left at the tops of
the curves, because the worms always make choice of them to form
theircocoons. Another advantage arises from these openings, viz: that
the cabins will contain a greater number of worms than when these
vacancies are small. ‘The very small tender shoots must also be cut
off, as they are. not able to carry the weight of a worm, and might

——

a9 { 175 J

gccasion the loss of many of them by their tumbling off. The low-
est shelf should project three inches on each side, beyond the one
next above it, and the same difference must be made in all the
other shelves progressively upwards, in order to receive the worms °
which may fall from the shelf above. These projections should be
covered with brush, to break their fall: for the same reason brush
should be placed on the bottoms and entrances of the cabins, to aflord
places for the worms to form cecoons, in case they should be stunned
by falling, and disabled from again mounting on the branches.

Having thus placed upon each hurdle, and in their angles a sufficient
number of spreading bundles, the first worms that are ready easily
find their way up. If, in the course of this day, (which requires the
very utmost care,) in watching the hurdles, some worms should be
perceived ready to rise, they must be taken up and put near the ends
of the bushes. There should be also some dry twigs of oak, or other
wood, put upon the wickers, and when the worms rise on them, they
may be lifted and put close to the bushes, which will save the trouble
of constantly looking for the worms that are ready to rise.

It must be observed, however, on this subject, that, during the first
three or four heurs on which the silkworms give signs of rising, it is
not necessary to be ina hurry to make them climb up; for, by re-
maining seme hours on the hurdles, they have time to cleanse them-
selves by evacuation upon the litter.

Whatever may be the method followed in the course of this period,
it is always desirable that the little bundles of twigs should be well
_ placed, well arched, clean and light, and not thick; that, as before said,
the air may circulate frecly, and that the worms may work with ease
in them.*

Last feed to be given to the Silkworms.

The 240 pounds of sorted leaves which are still in reserve, should
be given by degrees, and according to their wants. The little appe-
tite of the silkworms, and their wish to rise upon the leaves, prove
that, even were they given more food at one time, it would only add to
the litter which would become dirty, because this is the period at which
they evacuate most. From this it is better rather to stint them in
each distribution.

The hours of feeding cannot be fixed in this last day; it cannot
even be known, whether there may not be required a small quantity of
leaves for the following day.

Cleaning of the hurdles; end of the preparations for the rising of
the Silkworms.

As soon as the worms are prepared to rise, the hurdles should be

* Instead of bushes, Messrs. Tcrhoven, of Philadelphia county, use frames for the
worms to form their cocoons in. ‘See plate Id, fig. 4, and the explanation of them,

£175 J 100

eleaned thoroughly. This operation, although tedious, is easy enough,
with the aid of the portable trays.

These portable trays cannot now be put on the hurdles, because the
cabins placed round them prevent it; however, they may be support- _

ed against the trays, so as to be able to use them within. When they
are placed near the trays, the ripe worms must be carefully put upon
them. Two or three portable trays should be filled. This done, the
litter should be emptied from the sheets of paper into baskets.

When one portion of the hurdles has been cleaned, the paper is to
be replaced, and the worms gently slided down upon it by slanting

_the tray. Upon a small scale, the fully ripe worms may be picked one
by one, and placed on the cabins, when they willimmediately mount.

Mr. Stephenson directs to place them at first in the middle of the ca-
bin ; if the sides are begun with, or the outer ends of the cabins, if
will be difficult to supply the middle with worms, without disturbing,
and even destroying some of those which are mounting on the sides, in
reaching in with the hand towards the middle.

_ They should, strictly, only be given the quantity of food they may
want, and that very sparingly. When the baskets are filled with
litter, they must be directly carried out of the laboratory. In this
manner, several persons may clean the hurdles ina few hours. The
silkworms, when put on the portable trays, should be handled with
the greatest gentleness and ease, leaving them on the twigs or bits
of leaves to which they are fastened, not to hurt them in tearing
them off. The slightest injury, at this age, is particularly hurtful to
them, because the vital action is much diminished. * we

In sliding the silkworms upon the hurdles, they should be placed
in squares of about two feet, beginning on the side upon which the es-
palier or hedge is already placed, and forming the squares close to
them, so that the silkworm may find no difficulty in rising: a distance
of eight or ten inches must be left between the squares.

In the centre of these squares should be fixed bunches of small dry
boughs. This operation may be performed by eight persons in eight
hours.

During the time of this operation, the exterior air should be freely
admitted on all sides, and may be drawn in by lighting a blazing light
fire in the chimneys.

All the ventilators should be open, as well as the doors and win-
dows, if there be no wind, and if the weather be not much below the
68th degree of temperature, which is the prescribed heat of the labo-
ratory. Although, generally, the air at this time of the year is nei-
ther cold nor windy enough to be obliged to shut up the laboratory, it
becomes necessary to take great precaution in admitting air. In such
cases, a part only of the ventilators should be opened at once. The
fumigating bottle should also be passed once or twice through the la-
boratory, and the hygrometer will show whether the air is grown suf-
ficiently dry.

During this time the worms continue to rise and climb, and thus

it is indispensable to finish the hedge, and to fill the hurdles with rows

.
i og ri en che ee

— = oe

101 ae

ef cabins. The first-row of inside bundles of twigs should be placed
at six or eight inches distance from one another, to form the hedge;
other small bushes must be stuck in between them, and form a species
of vaulted roof under the higher hurdle; it should not be too thick;
‘the small bushes may be stuck into the lower hurdle without taking
off the paper. Across the middle of the hurdle, and between the
squares into which the silkworms have been laid, should be stuck four
twigs in a bunch, and spread out like a fan, to admit the air, and that
the silkworms may be able torise and climb into every part of them
to make their cocoons. When the hedge is formed round three sides
of the wicker hurdles, and the groups or bunches of twigs are placed
in the centre of them, the worms should, with great care, be put
nearer the hedge, that they may climb with ease. The cabins should
be about two feet from one another, and will hold a great quantity of
silkworms.

‘As soon as the hedge and bunches are nearly laden with worms, other
small twigs should be put between the hedge and bunches, and be-
tween those bunches and the outside edge of the wicker trays. Thus
are formed parallel hedges across the wicker trays, at two feet distance,
and as all the top branches wave and bend under the wicker trays
above, or the ceiling, the whole presents an appearance of small
avenues covered in at top, and shut in at the end of the hedge, and
are called ‘* cabanes,”’ or huts.

This arrangement of cabins will generally suffice to receive all
the silkworms of a wicker hurdle: should there, however, remain
some silkworms on the tray when the cabins are nearly laden, a
small branch may be put against them, and thus prevent their lying
too thick together on the hedges. If eare has been taken to provide
long sweeping twigs, well curved at the top, and well spread out, that
the air may pass through them, the number mentioned will be found
quite sufficient to answer all purposes, and the silkworms will, with
ease, work well, not huddle together, and will not touch one another,
and not produce double instead of single cocoons.

' Two essential things should always be attended to. The first is, to
put those worms near the cabins which are perceived to be ready to
rise; and the second is, to give a few leaves to those worms that are
still inclined to eat, One or two careful persons should be thus occu-
ied.
‘ As long as the worms feel a wish to eat, were it only one mouthful,
they will not thinkof their cocoon, and it will happen, that, after climb-
ing, and even evacuating themselves, they sometimes go down again
for more food; they will also sometimes stop when descending, and
remain with their heads downward—the wish to eat having ceased be-
fore they reached the bottom; they should then be turned, so that
their heads may be put upwards, as the down position is injurious to
them.

These attentions which appear too frivolous, often contribute, how-

ever, to an abundant crop of the best cocoons, with few double ones.

[ 175 j 102

Separation of the Stlkworms which will not rise: eleaning the
wicker hurdles for the last tinze.

Four-and-twenty or thirty hours afier the worms have first begun te
rise, and when four-fifths have risen, there remain on the wickers
those that are weak and lazy, which do not eat, do not seem of the dis-
position of those that have risen, but remain motionless on the leayes,
without giving any sign of rising. These should be taken away, and
put cither in the small laboratory, or in any dry clean room of at least
73° of heat, where there are hurdles covered with dry clean paper, and
the hedge ready prepared for them.

As soon as they are thus placed, some will rise directly; others will
eat and thenrise, and so on till all will haverisen. These worms will
have acquired the vigor and stimulus they wanted, by being put in a
warmer and much drier apartment.

The great mass of silkworms in the large laboratory, in evacuating
themselves, often seil one another, whick will destroy their vigor, and
indispose them to rise; the best remedy is to remove them at once to a
dry and tolerably warm place.

Should these worms be very numerous, not only should there be
the hedge round the hurdles, but also the clump and hedge across, that
they may have every facility for rising offered to them.

If only apart of these worms appear inclined to rise, they should be
covered with some leaves and some twigs put over them, that, when
they climb upon these, they may be taken in the hand, and put upon
the cabins, as they are then ready to rise.

With this assistance, the lazy.worms will distribute themselves in
the branches, evacuate, and begin weaving cocoons.

Before these few worms are put on the cabins, we may form a sor
of support or couch ef wheat or rye straw for them among the branches,
to prevent their dropping off, and to give them time to fasten them-
selves to the branches. In this manner have been attained cocoons
from almost every silkworm.

Ali the silkworms being off the hurdles, having either risen or been
carried away, no time should be lest in cleaning the hurdles, which
gust be dene with the greatest expedition.

Care of the Laboratory until the Silkworm has completed its

jifth age.

ist, When the worms manifest a desire to rise, infinite care should
be taken to prevent the temperature of the laboratory from falling: [or
rising:] it should be maintained between 68° and 71° by means of the
ventilators in the ceiling and floor, which must be opened more or
less, according to circumstances; and the air may be circulated from
the contiguous apartments, by opening the doors into them.

It is proved that any violent agitation of air cramps the worms,
stunts them, causes them to drop off, and suspend the work they had
begun.

103 F iTs Pe

2d. When the worms are near rising, the air should be kept as dry
4s possible, that the paper on the wicker may dry when it is wet with
the moisure of the evacuations; and that the vapor which exhales from
the body of the insect, may be absorbed and carried off: the quantity
ef this is very considerable.

3d. Should any of the worms drop off that had risen, they should
be taken up, and carried into the apartment where the other later worms
were put, to prevent the late worms from weaving in the large labora
tory, when the early ones have finished their cocoons.

4th. When the silkworm has cast out the down which precedes
the silk, and it has just begun to wind its cocoon, as the air does noi
then directly strike upon them, the air may he freely admitted now
and then.

5th. When the cocoon has acquired a certain consistency, the labora-
tory may be left quite open, without fearing the variations of the at-
mosphere. The tissue of the cocoon is so close, that the agitation of
the air, far from being detrimental to the silkworms, agrees with them,
éven if it should be colder than the temperature fixes for the labora-
tory.

Mr. Stephenson directs that all diseased and dead worms should be
removed immediately, as the first will infect the healthy worms, and
the last, by causing a bad smelJ, would annoy those which are at work
in making their cocoons.

Although it may seem needless to those who inhabit warm climates,.
chat such minute details should have been gone into, yet, as in an ele-
mentary work, rules should be laid’ down applicable to all cases and toe
all places, in the art of which it treats—the endeavor has been made to
speak of every circumstance that might occur, and to provide for it:
All the care hitherto recommended, has tended—

Ist. ‘To preserve the silk, contained in the reservoirs of the silk-
worms, ina constantly fluid state.

2d. To keep the skin or surface of the silkworm sufficiently dry,
and constantly in the degree of contraction necessary, and without
which the silkworm would perish.

3d. To prevent the air from ever being corrupt, and which might
make the silkworm ill, cr suffocate it, at those very periods when it
most needs its highest vigor to pour outall the silk it contains.

If these rules are not observed with exactitude, there is danger of
the accidents occurring which it may be useful here to state.

1st. Too cold or agitated an air, introduced into the laboratory, may
mstantly harden, more or less, the silky substance of those worms on:
which it may blow. This substance thus not being fit to pass through’
the silk-spinning tubes, the insect is soon obliged to cease drawing:
gut its cocoon, and suffers. Then will many of those worms that are
not sufficiently wrapt in the silk, be liable to drop off at any moment;-
and Jessen the abundance of cocoons. ;

2d. 'Too damp an atmosphere, preventing the contraction of the
skin of the worms, which enables it to evacuate itself, and to exude
che silk.throngh the silk-drawing tubes. causes them to suffer, weakens

f 175 J 104

them, slackens their work, and gives them numerous disorders; which
cannot easily be defined.

3d. An atmosphere vitiated by the fermentation of leaves and dirt,
or by the later worms that lie on the litter, as well as by the defect of
circulation in the interior air, which renders the breathing of these in-
sects difficult, relaxes their organs, and also causes various diseases
among them. In such cases, many worms drop off, others form bad
cocoons, die within them when they are finished, and are spoiled.

4th. A case of very rare occurrence here, but which must be noted
_to complete the views on this subject, is, too warm and dry an atmos-
phere, which dries up the worms, producing too violent a contraction
of the skin, not proportioned to the vacuum which increases in the
animal by the slow pouring out of the silky substance, and by trans-
piration; and thus forces them to violent and fatiguing action in the
formation of the cocoon; in which case they employ the reservoirs of
silk too fast, forcing the silk-drawing tubes, producing coarser silk,
which thus never can have that fineness which it possesses when pro-
duced in a temperature of 69°. Having tried to expose a number of
silkworms to very dry air, at 100 degrees of temperature, several
thousand feet of the coarse downy flos, or bave, were obtained from
the cocoons by the common method of spinning; the weight of this
flos being six times greater than the flos obtained from cocoons form-
ed in atemperature of 69°.

This observation may explain why the silk produced in very hot
climates is stronger and less fine than that produced in temperate re-
gions, where the silkworms are reared at a lower degree of tempera-
ture.” ‘

The fifth age is accomplished, when the silkworm pours out its silk
and forms the cocoon.

The fifth age is perfected, when, on touching the cocoon, it appears
to have obtained a certain consistency. The silkworm has then cast
its envelope, is changed into the chrysalis, and has entered its sixth

age.

Quantity of vapor and excremental substance emitted by Silk-
worms, from the time they reach their full growth,until the form-
ation of the cocoon.

The calculation resulting from facts, will here be offered, by which
may be ascertained the quantity of substance which issues from the
silkworm towards the close of the fifth age, that this calculation may
show the evils which are constantly likely to attack alaboratory.

* The above remark applies to the East India silk, the inferiority of which will be
noticed hereafter, inan extract from the Minutes of the Evidence taken before a Com-
mittee ofthe British Parliament on the Silk Trade.

Count Dandolo has omitted a very important caution, which it is essential to attend
to when the worms begin to spin their coccons. It is to preserve the utmost silence
in the apartment, as the worms are very sensible to the least noise, and, if disturbed,
will for a moment, cease to spin. - Thus the continuity of the thread will be interrupt
ed, andthe value of the cocoon greatly diminished.

105 [ #75 ]

In the space of six or seven days, the bodies of the insects requisite
io produce only 600 pounds of cocoons, must have lost 700 pounds
weight of vapor, or gas, solid and liquid excremental substance.
This astonishing quantity of substance, execrated from the bodies of
the silkworms in so short a time, is of greater weight than the total

_. weight of the cocoons and chrysalis, which only weigh 600 pounds,

———

It. is scarcely credible that the bodies of the silkworms should yield
so much noxious matter in a few days, were it not demonstrated by
positive facts. ef

This large body of exhalation, were it stagnant in the laboratory,
might, in the later days, generate disorders quickly, and cause great
mortality at the very moment when the abundant crop of the cocoons
was most confidently expected. We must, therefore, feel the deep ne-
cessity of attentively following the prescribed directions for avoiding
this evil, Ailsa: ly

® ae

% i , “9 I nt
CHAPTER XI. Pe
oF THE SIXTH AGE OF THE SILKWORMS, OR OF THE CHRYSALIS;

GATHERING AND PRESERVATION OF THE COCOON.

The sixth age begins in the chrysalis state, and ends when the moths

appear, having left their shell in the cocoon that covered them.

The following are the necessary things that remain to be done:
1. To gather the cocoons. Fw Woes ‘om
2. To choose the cocoons which are to be preserved for the eggs or
seed. i ines

3. Preservation of cocoons until the appearance of the moth; we
shall then treat of ; .

4. The daily loss of weight which the cocoons suffer from the time

they are finished until the appearance of the moth.

+

ms : 1. Gathering of the cocoons.

Strong, healthy, and well managed silkworms, will complete their
cocoons in three days anda half at farthest, reckoning from the mo-
ment when they first begin casting the flos, This period will be
shorter if the silkworms spin the silk in a higher temperature than

‘that which has been indicated, and in very dry air.

_It is also more or less prolonged, if the silkworms are not well and
healthy, or if they are exposed to a colder temperature than has been
fixed: if they are exposed to transitions of heat and cold, to damp
and vitiated air, or to draughts of wind, before the cocoon is sufficiently

_ advanced to shelter them entirely; and, in short, if a great number of

silkworms rise long after the first have risen, which is always the con-
sequence of bad management and want of care.
| 14

Cee J 406)

To avoid the losses. whic h any slight inattention may have occasion-
ed, it will bebetter not to take off the cocoons before the eighth or ninth
day, reckoning from the time when the silkworms first rose. They
may be taken off on the seventh, if the laboratories have been« ) nduct-
ed with such regularity that the time may be known with certainty
when this may be done. “

Begin on the lower tier of hurdles, and take the cabins down gent-
ly, giving them to those who are to gather the cocoons. Place a bas-
ket between two of the gatherers, to receive the cocoons; another per-
son should receive the stripped bushes, which may be laid by for an-
‘other year. Ali the cocoons that want a certain consistency, and feel
soft, chasurl be laid aside, that they may not be mixed with better.
Empty the baskets upon burdlesvor trays, placed in rows, and spread
the cocoons about four fingers deep or nearly to the top of the wicker
tray. When the eocoons are deta chal, the down or flos, in which the
silkworms have formed the cocoon, should be taken off. If the co-
coons are for sale, weigh th sm, and send them to the purchaser. The
baskets, the floor, and all t ings used, should be cleaned. '

Pullein directs, when gathering the cocoons, to make four assort-
ments. 1. Those designed for breed. 2. The dupions. 3 3. The firm-
est of those which are to be reeled. 4. Those of a looser texture.

: 5 Sor the production of esss-

- About two ounces of eggs may be saved out of one pepe and a
half of male and female cocoons.

The small cocoons, ofa straw ular with frank ends and ine webs,
and which are a little depressed in the middle, as if tightened by a ring
or cirele, are to be preferred. There are no certain signs to distinguish
the male from the fe male cocoons: the best known are the following:

The small cocoons; sharper at one or both ends, and depressed in
the middle, generally produce the male; the round full cocoon, with-
out ring or depression in the middle, usually contains the female.
These, “according to Pullein, may be distinguished from the dupions
by the extra size, the clumsy shape; rather round than oval, of the
latter. As, however, all marks may fail, an extra number may be

kept of the best of those which are spun double, and when the moths
come out, the males and females being easily distinguished, an pedi

dion can ‘ea made from them to the defective side.

ss ah
By shaking the cocoon close to the ear, we may generally ascert ain

whether the chrysalis bealive. If it be dead, and loosened from ’

cocoon, it ypelde a sharp sound; when dead, it yields a dumb muffled
sound, and is more confined in tee ecocoon.* yeabaie”
Sauv: age says, that the dupions, or double cocoons, constantly pro-

duce a moth of éach sex; and, on this account, advises them to be se-
lected for seed; but itis a mistake to suppose that this equality in the
sexes of the dupions takes place, for Mr. Nysten found, that of 20 dou-

. ble cocoons which, he examined, seven contained two males; Six, two a

'» females; and seven, onemale, and one female. tay) hs

is ie
. ‘gy * Cours a’ Ngrich ture, voli 9, p. 509,
+ Recherehes stim des V ers Soie, p 168. wd

~~ Se

nbs 407 fre }

| 3. Preservation of cocoons intended for seed.
, Experience shows that where the temperature of the room is aboye
78°, the transition of the chrysalis to the moth state, would be too ra-
pid, and the coupling will not be productive. If below 66°, the deve- —
lopment of the moth is tardy, which is also injurious. Damp air will
change it into a weak and sickly moth. The apartment should, there-
fore, be kept in an even dry temperature, between 66° and 73°.
When collected, spread the cocoons on a dry floor, or on tables, and
strip them clean of down or flos, to prevent the feet of the moth being
entangled in it when coming out: while cleaning them, all those that
appear to have any defect should be laid aside: this is the time, also,
to separate the male and female cocoons, as far as we can distinguish
them A tig a
~Mr. Stephenson directs the selection of an equal number of males
and females, and to keep the cocoons of the same day’s mounting se-
parate, that the moths may pierce them at tie same time. Ifthe good
- cocoons, taken from the whole parcel, are all first mixed, and’ the
selection for those intended for breeding be made from this general
heap, many will be set aside, which were formed by worms that had
mounted upon different days, and which will be pierced by the moths ©
unequally, and hence there will not be an equal number of males and
females produced at the same time. ‘This irregular appearance may
cause the loss of a great many motlis or of several thousand eggs.
Pullein orders the choice to be made from those shelves, or arbors in
which the worms spun the earliest. But itis questionable, whether
the circumstance of early spinning, would affect the worm next season,
unless the temperature of the apartment in both seasons was equal.
Dandolo says, that the strength shown by a worm in forming a cocoon,
has no infiuence upon the fecundity of the male, nor upon the quality
of the eggs. Cocoons of various tenuity and shapes, have equally af-
forded him large quantities of well-impregnated eggs. Healthy worms,
of equal weights, have given cocoons which varied in weight.
When the selection has been made, the sorted cocoons must be put on
tables, in layers of about two inches, allowing the air to pass freely
through them, that it may not be necessary to stir them frequently;
but it is beneficial to stir them/round once a’day if the air be moist.
When the seed cocoons are not very numerous, they may be strung
upon threads and hung against a wall, or suspended from a beam.
Just so much of the middle of the cocoon is to be pierced with a nee-
dle as is sufficient to attach it to the thread. The middle is chosen,
because it cannot be ascertained at which end the moth will pierce the
cocoon. Place a male and female, alternately, upon the thread, that

_. they may be near each 0 er
‘If the heat of the apartme

ing the heat should bettiéd; such as keeping all apertures to the sun-

ny sides carefully closed, to cause thorough draughts of air to dry the

®

a

—. o>

:

when they come out.*
I caplet” a Be! *,adeae aitni
is above 73°, every, method, of dimin-

w ert mee «“ vy weed a

* Stephenson,

P 475 J 108

humidity that exhales from the chrysalides. Should the temperature
rise to 78° or 82°, the cocoons must be put into a cooler place, as a dry
cellar.

4, Daily loss in weight of cocoons, from the time of their forma-
tion till the moth escapes from them.

Ls
It is acommon opinion that the weight of the cocoon, after diminish-
‘ing, increases for a certain period. “This old error induces persons
to give their cocoons too soon to the spinner, before they lose their
weight, or too late, when they keep them back, in hope they will soon
recover weight. The following is the result of the decrease of 1 ,006
cocoons, in a temperature of between 71° and 73°.

Gathered from the cabins and cleaned, the cocoons

weighed - - ~ - - - - 1,000 ounces.
- First day following gt PES oui aM, Hh 991
Tenth day he he - - - - - 925

The decrease i in weight was gradual, but not regular. The cocoons
lose, in ten days, seven and a half per. cent. by the drying of the
chrysalis alone. The four first days, they lose three per cent. in the
the last days, they lose rather more.

It is aloss for the purchasers of cocoons to receive those that are
of different ages, because, when in some cocoons the moth is prepar-
ing to come forth, and other cocoons are not so forward, the spinners
are at a loss whether to let it come directly, or to kill the chrysalis to
preserve the cocoon.* Ifthe rules which have been recommended
are exactly followed, this loss will be avoided, and the cocoons will
be perfectly formed, and ready to be reeled off at the end of seven
days, reckoning: from the day they first rose upon the bushes or frames.

Great care must be taken to preserve cocoons from ants, which will
destroy them as certainly as they do the silkworm.

ee
CHAPTER XII.

adalah AGE OF THE SILKWORM:

Birth and proupi of the moth; of laying the eggs, and the preser-
vation of the eggs. i
:; is a
This seventh ad the last age of the tae comprises the entire
life of the moth. ©» ’ '

*In making a contract, therefore, in the early part of the season for cocvons, the
cultivator should attend to the above points.

7

409 false]

The formation of the moth, and its disposition to issue from the
cocoon, may be ascertained, when one of its extremities is perceived
to be wet, which is the part occupied by the head of the moth. A
few hours after, and sometimes in one hour after, the moth will pierce

_the cocoon and come out. Occasionally, the cocoon is so hard, and
so wound in silk, that the moth in vain strives to come forth, and dies
in the cocoon. Sometimes the female deposites some eggs in the co-
coon before she can get out, and often perishes in it. his circum-
stance has induced some to extract the chrysalis from the cocoon by
cutting it, that the moth may only have to pierce its thin envelope.
But Dandolo disapproves of the practice, (although he has performed
the operation with success, ) because it is tedious; and should the moths
be put on a plain surface, five in a hundred will not. be able to get out,
but will drag the envelope along, and at last die, not being able to disen-
cumber themselves. If the surface be not smooth, the moths will is-
sue with greater ease. It is very favorable to the moths when they put
forth their head and first legs, to find some substance to which they
may fasten, and thus facilitate clearing out of the cocoon by the sup-

port; for this reason they should be spread out very thin on tables,

_ covered with a muslin or linen cloth. The life of the moth lasts, in
Italy, ten, eleven, or twelve days, according to the strength of its con-
stitution, and the mildness of the atmosphere. With Mr. Dusar, of
Philadelphia, the moths lived from five to eight days. A hot tempe-
ssc accelerates their operations, and the drying which precedes their

~ death.

Hatching of the moths, and their preservation.
‘ eS ;

_ Cocoons, kept in a temperature of 66°, begin to be hatched after
- fifteen days; those kept in a heat between 71°, and 73°, begin to come
_ forth after eleven or twelve days. The room in which the moths are

produced should be dark, or at least there should be only sufficient
light to distinguish objects. This is an important rule, and must be
earefully attended to. The moths do not come forth in great numbers
the first or the second day: they are chiefly hatched on the fourth,
fifth, sixth, and seventh days, according to the degree of heat of the
place in which the cocoons are kept. The hours when the moths burst
the cocoons in greatest number, are the three and four hours after sun-
rise, if the temperature be from 64° to 66°. The male moths, the very
moment they come cut, go eagerly in quest of the female: when they
are united, they must be placed on trays covered with linen, and made
in such a manner as to allow it to be changed when soiled. Much
_ eare must be taken in raising the united moths. They must be held
_ by the wings, in order not to separate them: if this happens, they must
_ be replaced on the tables of the moths of their own sex. When one
~ small table is filled with moths in a state of union, they are to be carried
into a small room, sufficiently airy and fresh, and which can be made
very dark. Having employed the first hours of the day in selecting and
carrying the united moths, the males and females which are found se-

[ 175] aap.

parate on the tables, are to be brought into contact, put on other frames
and carried into a dark room. It is easy to ascertain if there are more
females than males. The body of the female is nearly double the size’
of that of the male; besides, the male which is single, beats about its
wings at the least approach of light. ‘The hour must be noted ,at which
the tables containing the united moths were placed i in the dark room.’
If, after this oper Bion is over, there still remain some moths of each»
sex, they areto be placed in the small perforated box, plate 1, fig. 4,”
until the moment favorable for their union arrives. From in to
time they must be looked at, to see if they separate, in order that they ‘
may be brought anew into contact. When any thing is to be done in’ q
the dark chamber, as little light as possible must be admitted, only suf-~ 4
d

ficient to distinguish objects. The more light there is, the more
the moths are disturbed and troubled in their operations, as light
is too stimulating for them. The boxes are very convenient to keep)
quiet the males whieh remain, and thus prevent the fine powder ad-
hering to their wings from flying about, and the destruction of their :
wings, and consequently, the loss of their vital power.’ The cocoons
must be removed as fast as they are pierced by the moth; for being | :
moist, they communicate their humidity to those which are still en-
tire. The paper, also, on the trays, when soiled, is to be removed,
and fresh supplied. Constant attention is required during the whole
day, a8 there is a succession in the process of hatching and union ‘of.
the moths, which occasionally vary in relative proportion to one an-~
other. Instead of a frame, paper may be used for the purpose of re-
ceiving the eggs. A few good cocoons will not produce a moth, ow=
ing to their hardness, which prevents the moth from making a hole bys ix
which to come forth. Be Ca 11 le cA a
2. Separation of the moth, and laying the eggs. td

If there be an excess of males, they must be thrown away} if of |

females, males must be allotted to them, which have already been in at
state of union. Great care must be taken, when the couples are sepa-
rated, not to injure the males. The male ought not to remain united
more than six,hours. After the lapse of that time, take the moth by
the wings and the ody, and separate them gently. | _ All the males
which are no longer in union must be placed upon the frames; the
most vigorous are “afterwards selected, and united with those ales.
which have not yet had a mate. Other ‘Vigorous males ust. be pre-_
served in a separate box, and kept i in darkness... When there is. ely

to be.a want. yf males, let them remain united te the female, tl 2 fi st
time only five hours instead of six. The females are n j
waiting for the male, even many hours; the only loss oF
of some eggs which are not impregnated. Six hours,
usual time tor the moths to. remain. united; for, i il pat t hae s of
the female will be full mpregnated, It is‘also the itn ‘practice not
to use the-male fora raion alc; but. Mr. Delonehamps, already
quoted, assures us that, in the event of havi ing more female than male

a

ie

MEE [ 175 J

moths, the latter may be again used to profit. In the year 1824, he raised.
many worms from eggs the produce of a sixth coupling, which were
fully equal to those produced from eggs at the first. The union conti+
nued never less than from twenty to twenty-four hours. The male,
after a sixth union, appeared as lively and as brisk as at first, but he
‘had no more females. ‘The eggs from even a thirteenth union of the
_ same male with different females, had all the characters of those of the
best quality. In these cases the disunion of the pair was, moreover,
never spontaneous, but always required to be effected by the hands.*
Before separating the sexes, prepare, in a cool, dry, airy chamber,
the linen on which the moth is to deposite its eggs. ‘The following is
the manner in which the cloth must be arranged: v ,
At the bottom of the tressel, plate 1, fig. 5, which must be about
four feet seven inches high, and three feet eight inches long, place, ho-
rizontally, on each side of the length, two boards, so arranged that
one of their sides should be nailed to the tressel, about five inches and
a half high above the ground, and that the other side of the board shall
be a little higher, and project outwards, Upon the tressel lay a cloth,
so that it may hang equally on each side. The ends of the cloth must
cover the boards below. The more perpendicular the lateral parts of
the tressel are, the less soiled will be the cloth, by the evacuation of
the liquid that comes from the moths. ‘The moths! which have been.
united six hours, are then to be gently separated, the females placed
on the frame, and carried to the tressel and placed on the cloth, one
over another, beginning at the top, and going downwards. Note the
time at which the moths are placed on the cloth, taking care to kee
those which are placed afterwards separate, to avoid confusion. The
females that have had a virgin mate must he treated in the same man-
ner as those which have been united with one that had been coupled
previously five hours. The females should be left on the cloth 36 or
40 hours, without being touched. At this time, if it be observed that
the linen has not been well stocked with eggs, other females must be
placed on it, in order that the eggs may be equally distributed. When
the heat of the room is 77° or 79°, or when at 65° or 65°, the eggs will
be yellow, that is, unimpregnated, or of a reddish color, that is, im-
perfectly impregnated, and will not produce worms. The temperature
of the room must therefore be kept between these extremes. Some-
times a female moth will escape from its mate before impregnation,
and produce many useless eggs. Mr. Swayne remarks, ‘¢ that he had
a cocoon of an orange color given to him, the moth of which happen-
ed to be a female. From this, by coupling with a straw-colored mate,
were propagated all that he had of an orange color. Hence he con-
cludes, that the color of the silk depends chiefly upon the female.?’t

in ee

‘

_* Essai sur L’Histoire, &c. p. 69. Should others have the same success as this au-
thor, many cocoons containing males which are preserved for seed, may be used for
winding, and comparatively a smaller number than females be kept for coupling. He
thinks that one-sixteenth part of males, in a parcel of cocoons, would be sufficient.

ed Bs. expefiment Of repeated unions sliould be made.

} Trans. Soc. Arts, London, yol, 7, p. 144:

[ 475 J 112 ‘

If this should be found a fact, we may have a rule whereby to avoid
the orange-colored breed, which are not approved of, by choosing for
eggs those female cocoons which are of a straw or white hue. The —
female cocoons, as before noted, are generally larger than the males
and not so much pointed as they are, and are without the ring or Ags
pression in the middle, which commonly distinguishes the cocoons
containing the latter. a fs he
Hight or ten days after the deposition of the eggs, the jonquil color
peculiar to them, will change to a reddish gray, and afterwards into a
pale clay hue. They are of a lenticular form, and on both surfaces
there is a slight depression.

3. Preservation of the eggs. . :

Collect the eggs which have fallen on the cloth covering the shelves
of the tressel, and put them in a box, in layers not more than half the
breadth of the finger. The cloths raised from the tressel when quite
dry, are to be folded and placed in a dry room, the temperature of ;
which does not exceed 65°, nor below the freezing point, 32°. If water 4
does not freeze in the room, in a dish, leave the cloths there until
spring. .

During the summer, the cloths must he examined, to remove in- |
sects. To preserve the cloths always in fresh air, place them on a frame ,
of cord, (plate 1, fig. 6,) which should be attached to the ceiling, and :
inspect them every month. ; |

‘There exists a notion that, every two or three years, the eggs should .
be changed. It requires little to be said on this egregious error. To ,
suppose that the good cocoons of a cultivator, after a few years are no i
longer fit to produce good seed, and yet that these cocoons can give ‘
good sced for the use of another, would be to admit a superstitious con-
tradiction, which reason, practice, and science, alike condemn. A
change of seed can alone be necessary, when, from great neglect for a
series of years of the worms, a diminutive race has been produced. |
Worms, properly treated, will never degenerate. ‘* Good keep will
always produce good worms.’’* On the subject of the degeneracy of :
silkworms in the United States, the most positive information can be q

iven. |
& Mr. Samuel Alexander, of Philadelphia, says: ‘* From my own ob-
servation, 1 am convinced that silkworms, cultivated in Pennsylva-
nia, instead of degenerating, improve; proof of which I possess, in
comparing the cocoon of four years since, with those of the last year.
I can say with truth, the worms hatched from the eggs I brought from
the South of Europe, have produced annually better silk + Dhetes-
timony of Mr. Sharrod McCall, of Gadsden county, Florida, is still
more decisive. A sample of beautiful sewing silk, sent with his com-

e : iat ee

* Mr. Russel Falley, of Ohio: Letter in answer to the silk circular. es
+ Letter in reply to ditto.

113 [ 175.
waunication to the Secretary of the Treasury, was part of a parcel pro-
duced by worms, the stock of which he has had thirty years, and they
were obtained from a maternal ancestor, who had possessed them
many years before. During all this long period, no degeneracy has
been observed. Let proper care be taken of silkworms, and no de-
terioration will take place. ‘The time has passed when the idle reve-
ries of Buffon, Robertson, De Pauw, and others, respecting the ten-
dency of nature, “to belittle’? and degenerate every thing foreign in the

-new world, were received as truths. Facts, proud facts, demonstrate

not only the gross absurdity of their positions, but the superiority of
every American animal and vegetable, when compared with similar
productions in the old world.

eon

CHAPTER XIII.

GENERAL VIEW OF ALL THE FACTS STATED IN THIS WORK, IMMEDI-
ATELY CONNECTED WITH THE ART OF CULTIVATING SILEWORMS.

In Italy, according to Dandolo, to compose an ounce of eggs of the
largest breed of silkworms of four casts, it will require 37,440. If
all these eggs produced a worm, and all the worms should live, about
373 lbs. of cocoons would be obtained; because 150 cocoons weigh
about one pound and a half.

For an ounce of eggs, of common sized worms, 39,168 will be re-

quired, and will yield 162 lbs. of cocoons: for about 360 cocoons weigh
a pound and a half. .

For an ounce of eggs of worms of three casts, it will require 42,200
eggs, which will yield 105 lbs. cocoons: for 600 weigh a pound and a
half.

From these facts it may be ascertained, by the quantity of cocoons
obtained, how many eggs have failed, and how many have died of va-
rious ages; it will afterwards be of use in determining which method
of rearing the worms is most favorable to their preservation. Thirty-
nine thousand silkworms, proceeding from one ounce of eggs, can
eat the first day, and lie easily in a space of about twenty inches
square.

Space occupied by worms in different ages.

The worms proceeding from an ounce of eggs, should have a space;

In the first age, of seven feet four inches square.

In. the second age, of fourteen feet eight inches square.

In the third age, of thirty-four feet ten inches square.

In the fourth age, of eighty-two feet six inches square.

In the fifth age, of one hundred and eighty-three feet four inches
square.

Ie)

It may be regarded as a general rule, that the worms ought not to
touch one another.

[ 175 J 444 | |
:
.
2
:

Quantity of leaves consumed by Silkworms in their different ages.

The result of a most exact calculation is, that the quantity of leaves
drawn from the tree, employed for each ounce of eggs, amounts to 7
1,609 lbs. 8 ounces, divided in the following manner: .

First age, sorted leaves - . - 6 lbs.
Second age, do - - ape
Third age, do - - - 60
Fourth age, do - - - 180
Fifth age, do — ae? 1,098

Picked leaves - 1,362

Two hundred and forty pounds eight ounces weight, lost in refuse
picked from the leaves, and by evaporation, make up the gross weight.

Facts relative to the cocoons containing the healihy chrysalis: dis-
eased chrysalides, and dead chrysalides.

When the cocoons are perfectly formed, they diminish, in the four
first days, three quarters per cent. each day; the other days, the dimi-
nution is very trifling.

Seven and a half pounds of cocoons, containing healthy chrysalides,
yield eighteen ounces of pure cocoons; which will give eight ounces
of silk when spun. This proportion of silk to cocoons, may vary ac-
cording to the ill or good management of the worms. In the unfavor-
able year 1814, Dandolo obtained fifteen ounces of silk from seven
and a half pounds cocoons, and thirteen ounces from the same quanti-
ty of refuse cocoons: we find one pound of coarse flos to nineteen of
cocoons that can be spun, and four ounces of flos to eleven ounces of
spun silk.

About 506 feet of the single thread, or fibre of silk from worms of
three casts, weigh one grain.

The cocoon of this worm yields 22°*. grains of silk; and, if we

Sa

from 3,000 cocoons, weighing 72 pounds. The same cocoon. yields
1,166 feet long of the single fibre. In an ounce of this spun silk will
be found a length of 291,456 feet.

The cocoon of the worm of four casts, yields 324, grains of silk,
because there are about 11 ounces of spun silk drawn from 1800 co-
coons, weighing 72 pounds. This cocoon yields 1760 feet of spun
silk; 421 feet 8 inches of silk from a cocoon of a worm of four casts
weigh a grain: 11 ounces of silk are drawn, on an average, from 750
cocoons, weighing 72 lbs. This cocoon consequently gives about
3,885 feet of spun silk; an ounce of this silk is 242,880 feet long. In
this are not included the first down taken off the cocoon, nor the flos.

ow ee ee eee ee ee a

116 [ 176 ]

We may conclude, that the silkworm, in forming this cocoon, draws
a thread of half a mile in length. *

It requires 12,860 cocoons, with healthy chrysalides, to weigh 1000
ounces. *

Seven pounds and a half of ‘‘caleined worms” contain about 44
ounces of pure cocoons, As these cocoons yield about 12 ounces of
spun silk, out of 21 ounces of pure cocoons, it is evident, that from —
500 ounces of pure cocoons, may be drawn—.

In spun silk, about 7 - ~ - 283% oz.
Coarse flos - - 3 £ x 213
50

Seven pounds and a half of stained cocoons, containing calcined
ehrysalides, that is, 120 ounces, contain about 50 ounces of pure co-
coons; but, as in stained cocoons, there is always a part of the sub-
stance spoilt, the spinner cannot foretel whether from seven pounds and
a half of cocoons, he will obtain one-half of the quantity that the
healthy cocoons would yield him; the less the silk, the greater will be
the proportion of coarse fios, and the flos is worth less than the co-
coons of the healthy chrysalis; one thousand of these stained cocoons
weigh a pound and a half.

Generally, it is not possible to separate the decayed chrysalis from
the cocoon, the worm being turned into a black soapy substance,
sticking to the inside of the cocoon, sometimes the mummy is black,
and sometimes detached. A part of these cocoons may he spun; but
the silk is never so fine as that from healthy cocoons. Hight hundred
and sixty of these cocoons weigh a pound and a half.

Facts relative to the production of eggs. ;

Three hundred and sixty cocoons, of the finest quality, weigh about
25 ounces. If we suppose half of these to be females, these will be
about 180. Each impregnated moth will lay, on an average, 510
eggs. This number is equivalent to 7% grains, as 68 eggs weigh a
grain. The 180 female moths, consequently, lay 91,800 eggs, which
weigh 1,350 grains, or about two ounces and one-third. If the 91,800
eggs yielded an equal number of silkworms, and if well managed, and
they each formed a cocoon, we should obtain 382 Ibs. S ounces of co-
coons, which the following year would yield eggs sufficient to produce
97,537 lbs, 8 ounces.t + Bonafous says, { that 14 ounces of cocoons will
produce, on an average, an ounce of eggs. According to Pullein, a
hundred pair of moths will produce about an ounce.

'* Inthe Abbe Rosier’s Cours d’Agriculture, it is stated that one ‘single thread,
forming a whole cocoon, is three miles long.
7 Dandolo. ' + Qe L’Educatian des Versa Saie, p. 85.

[175 J 116 ft
Quantities of silk yielded by various parcels of cocoons.

Eight pounds of cocoons, (16 oz. to the pound,) of the finest quali-

‘11 lbs. best cocoons, produced — - - - 44*

150 ounces (Italian, 28 oz. to the Ib.) will yield 11 oz.t the thread
of from 5 to 6 cocoons.

12 lbs. cocoons, 3,300, will make 16 ounces of silk, and 8 ounces of }
flos. {

Mrs. Williams§ obtained nearly one ounce and a half from 244
cocoons. Miss Rhodes|) had, on an average, one ounce from 360

~ cocoons, not including flos, and eleven ounces from 4,000 worms. She

says that Mrs. W. included the flos in her product: had Miss R.
done so, twenty-five instead of eleven ounces might have been had.
Thirty thousand produced five pounds avoirdupois. If troy weight
had been used, 21,600 would only have been required. One thousand
two hundred and seventy, gave her nearly four ounces of silk. Two
thousand eight hundred and ninety-three, produced exactly half a
pound of silk, and somewhat more than a quarter of a pound of waste
silk, or tow: on an averege, 360 cocoons yielded an ounce. Mr.
Swayne calculates, from the produce of 50 cocoons reared by him,
that 13,405 would have yielded five pounds of raw silk.f ‘Twelve
thousand produced 5 lbs.**

10 or 11 Ibs. (French, 12 oz. to the lb.) are required to make one
pound of silk thread, called tram, of from 8 te 20 fibres: 13 lbs. made
one pound of organzine. it

15 or 16 lbs. gave one pound of silk, ¢{

15 lbs. yielded one pound and a half silk, according to Dandolo.

ty, produced from 16 to 183-ounces of silk. 9
Eight pounds of the finest quality produced from 16 to 183 ounces Ah
of raw silk—6 to 9 cocoons per thread. ‘ B
Eleven pounds produced from 19 to 213 oz. avoirdupois, from 6- to ;

9 cocoons per thread; another parcel, same weight, gave the same
quantity of silk. {
55 lbs. of the second quality, produced 109 ounces of raw silk. q
55 ibs. of the first quality, 12 to 16 cocoons, produced 117% ounces i
ayoirdupois, which is about 16 per cent. less than the last parcel. :
15 lbs. green cocoons, best quality, produce - 202 oz. !

» 20 Ibs. second quality, (not well sorted,) - - 24 .
15 lbs. best green cocoons, produced - - 202 ;
10 lbs. second quality, - - ~ - ise

.

4

ee ee ee

* From Habersham’s MS. Journal of the silk culture in Georgia.

+; Trans. Amer. Phil. Soc. vol. 2, p. 366.

+ Pullein, p. 182. § Trans. Soc: Arts, London, vol. 2, p. 154,

“|| Trans. Soc. Arts, London, vol. 4, p. 149. .

| Trans. Soc. Arts, London, vol. 10, p. 181. ;

** Trans. Soc. Arts, London, -vol. 8, p. 165. The secret of this great production, |
for which the cultivator, Bertezen, an Italian, received the premium offered by the |
Society, was never divulged.

t{ Delonchamps, Essai, Kc. p.77. ++ Delalauze, Traite, &c. p. 290

117 [175 ]

8 lbs. from well managed worms, gave one pound and 2 quarter of
silk* in France. Twelve pounds produced the same quantity of silk,
in another house.

5 lbs. gave one pound at Varese, in Italy.t

10 killogrammes, (22 lbs. Amer.) gave one killogramme of silk—.
(2 Ibs. 3 ozs. 5d. avoirdupois. )

12 killogrammes (264 lbs. Amer.) of cocoons of a good quality, give
one K. of organzine, of four or five cocoons. Inferior cocoons will re-
quire 14 K. to produce the same weight.

For aK. of fine silk, of nine or ten cocoons, 11 K. of fine cocoons,
and 18 K. of the second quality will be required.

To make a K. of tram silk, 9 to 11 K. (244 lbs. Amer.) of cocoons,
are required, according to their quality. t One

Mr. Chasel, in the Isle of France, obtained 180 ounces, (French)
from 55,000 cocoons.

The estimates of the number of worms to make a pound of silk, are
as various as the proportions of cocoons to-the same quantity of silk.
The difference in both cases may proceed from the different sizes of
the worms, and the greater or less care in feeding them. Mr. Storrs,
of Connecticut, says that 4,000, and Mr. Tufts, of Massachusetts, that
3,000, are required to make a pound. Mr. Falley, of Ohio, estimates
that 5,000 are requisite.

iVeights of cocoons.—Produce of cocoons, and of silk from an
ounce af eggs.

Mr. Stephenson says, that 220 cocoons, tolerably good, weigh a
pound French. Three thousand cocoons of the worm of three casts,
weigh 72 pounds French, according to Dandolo.

In France, from 45 to 50 killogrammes of cocoons, ($0 to 100 Ibs.}
are expected from one ounce of eggs, carefully hatched and worms well
fed and attended. An ounce of eggs consists of about 40,000, half of
which commonly are lost from sickness in the worms. §

Two hundred cocoons from worms reared in the early settlement of
Georgia, weighed one pound. ||

At Washita, 240 cocoons, from worms reared by Judge Bry, weighed
one pound, ff

Three thousand three hundred cocoons weighed twelve pounds. **

In one establishment in France, 262 cocoons, in another 267, in a
third 271, and in a fourth 328 cocoons, weighed a pound of twelve
ounces.

These different results proceeded from diversities in the treatment. t?

* Stephenson, Trans. Soc. Arts, London, vol. 43.

} J. Murray, Treatise on Silkworms, Edinb. 1826.

+ Reynaud, p. 140.

§ Reynaud p. 358.

| MS. Journal of the Rev. Mr./Boltzius of Ebenezer, vol. 5, p. 855.
4“ Letter in answer to the silk circular.

** Pullein, p. 181.

tt Nysten, page 71.

ras J 4s

\

In Tuscany, 150 cocoons, from large worms, in a favorable year, and
208 in a bad year, weigh a pound of 12 ounces.

One hundred and ninety-five cocoons from small worms, (pestal- q

dini) in a favorable year, and two hundred and seventy-one in a bad
‘year, weigh a pound.” ,
In Pensylvania, 306 cocoons, from worms fed by the late Mr.

Busti,t and from 490 to 600 in the establishment of Messrs. Ter- '

hoeven, weighed a pound.

Eight hundred and eighty-two clean cocoons, from worms fed en-
tirely on the leaves of the native red mulberry tree, by Mr. Joshua
Pierce, of Washington City, weighed a pound, six months after they
were formed.

An.ounce of eggs will produce from 30 to 40 pounds of cocoons,

according to Mr. Delalauzet in France.

Mr. Stephenson says that, in Languedoc, one quintal of cocoons,
(104 Amer.) will yield from nine to ten pounds of spun silk; and that
from five to ten pounds of silk is the produce of an ounce of eggs: five
pounds are deemed a fair return.

Four cocoons from imported eggs, the worms fed by Mr. Dusar, of
Philadelphia, weighed each, with the flos, 243, 313, 262, and 283
grains, troy.

Proportion of eggs to cocoons.

In an establishment in France, where from 10 to 12 ounces of eggs
were for 22 years regularly hatched, each ounce produced from 63 to

aa
‘

95 pounds of cocoons, once only 63. In another, in which six ounces ~

were annually hatched, during ten years, each ounce produeed con-
stantly a quintal of cocoons.§ In Italy, according to Dandolo, the ave-
rage yield is only 45 Ibs., but he adds that 120 lbs. should be the pro-
duce. In another part, Novara, of the same kingdom, 100 lbs., and
at Varese, from 50 to 60 lbs. were obtained.|| In Tuseany, every
pound of eggs, (the pound reduced to nearly 12 oz.) yielded 100 lbs.,
_ in the establishment of Lambruschini.1 Dandolo says, that one pound
and a half of male and female cocoons will yield two ounces of eggs.
Sauvage** estimates the proportion of cocoons from an ounce of eggs
producing 40,000 worms, to be from 50 to 100 lbs. of cocoons; the
chance of success being in an increase ratio to the-proportion of eggs.
One hundred pounds of cocoons will be produced from one ounce,
while only 60 pounds will be the yield of one ounce, when ten ounces
are hatched together. This difference must certainly result from the
want of room for the worms proceeding from the larger quantity, and

* Trans. Georgophile Soc. of Florence, vol. 4, p. 411.

+ Memoirs Phila. Soc. forthe Prom. Agric. vol. 5, p. 266,

+ Traite sur des Vers a Soie, p. 290.

§ Nysten, Recherches sur la Maladies des Vers a Soie, p. 111.

|| Murray on the Silkworm, Edinb. 1826.

§ Atti della Soc. &c.—or Trans. of the Georgophile Soc. Florence, vol. 4, p. 411.
** First Memoir, p. 52. |

oS [175]

from the greater ease with which an ounce can be attended to while
hatching, than ten ounces. This reasoning applics also to the worms
while feeding.

Proportion of different qualities of cocoons, in various parcels, be«
fore and after being baked.

Ly ayy. he following facts, on this subject, are taken from the MS. Journal
left by Mr. James Habersham,* on the progress of the silk culture in
Georgia, while a colony.

50 Ibs. of green (unbaked) cocoons produced, of the first dbs. oz.

quality, hard and weighty - - - 27 00
of the second quality a little woolly - 10 04
of dupions, or double balls, - - 12.12

27 lbs. 2 oz. of green cocoons produced, of the first quality, 18 08
second quality, 5 02
dupions 3 08
18 lbs. 8 oz. of the first quality, weighed after being cured, 16 02

5 Ibs. 2 oz. second do. - - - 4 06

3 Ibs. 8 oz. dupions ~ - - 3 00
7 lbs. 33 oz. of cocoons produced, of the first quality, 5 012
second do - 1 082

dupions = - 0 09

Cocoons weighed after being cured.

18 lbs. S oz. of the first quality weighed ~~ . 16 02

5 Ibs. 2 oz. second do - - - 4 06

3 lbs. 8 02. dupions - - - 3 00

Mr. Habersham found, ‘‘ by sandry experiments, that cocoons lost
by curing, twelve per cent., in weight. ‘They were weighed forty-
eight hours, or less, after being taken out of the oven.

The following calculation of the labor attending and connected with
the culture of silk, in Connecticut, is by John Witch, Esq. of Mans-
field, Connecticut.t

One acre of full grown trees, set one and a half rods apart, will pro-
duce forty pounds of silk.

The labor may be estimated as follows:

For the three first weeks after the worms are hatched, one woman,
who is acquainted with the business, or children who would be equal
to such a person.

For the next twelve or fourteen days, five hands, or what would be
equal to five, if performed by children. In this period, two men,
with other help, would be employed to better advantage, than all wo-
men and children. ‘This period finishes with the worms.

* President of the Council of Georgia.
¢ Letter to the Hon. John Baldwin, Member of the House of Representatives,
January 17, 1829,

C175 4) 120

For picking off the balls, and reeling the silk, it will require about
the same amount of labor, for the same length of time as the last
meutioned period, which may all be performed by women and chil-
dren. The aforesaid labor and the board may be estimated at eighty
dollars, spinning the silk at thirty-four. dollars; forty pounds of silk,
at the lowest cash price, is now worth two hundred dollars—which
makes the following result:

40 Ibs. silk at $5 per pound - - $ 200-00
Labor and board - - $80
“Spinning - - - - 34
: a 114 00

Nett profit per acre - - - $64 00

The principal part of the labor may be performed by women and
children. But where the business is carried on to a considerable ex-
tent, it is considered more profitable to employ some men for the last
period of the worms.

—_———_.

AN ABSTRACT AND CONDENSED VIEW OF THE MODE OF REARING
SILKWORMS.

Procure eggs in February and March, and choose those of a pale
slate, or clay color; avoid all which are yellow, as they are imperfect.
Keep them in a cold dry place, (where water will, however, not
treeze,) until the leaf-buds of the mulberry begin to swell. If the
eggs be soiled, dip the paper or cloth to which they adhere, in water,
ence or twice, to wash off the coat with which they are covered, and
which will impede the hatching of the worms. Dry them quickly in
a-draught of air, and put them in one or more shallow boxes, lined
with paper; which place, if possible, in a small room, of the tempera-
ture of 64°,and keep it up to that degree for the two first days, by

“means of a fire in the chimney, or, still better, in a brick, tile, or
porcelain sfove; or, for want of these, in an iron stove; and use tan-
ners’ waste-bark, turf, or charcoal, for fuel, to promote and keep upa
regular heat, day and night. The third day increase the heat to 66°
the fourth to 68°, the fifth to 71°, the sixth to 73°, the seventh to 715°,
the eighth to 77°, the ninth to 80°, the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth, to
82°.* Itis impossible to expect regularity in hatching, if relianée be
placed upon our very variable weather; and it is the regularity of the
worms coming forth, which will ensure their uniform growth, save
much trouble in feeding and attending those of various ages, and cause
the whole, or the greater part, to form their cocoons at the same time,
provided proper care be given during their progress.

* For the importance of a thermometer, see n, 59.
a £

;

~

Se ee

2 — ek a Se

a a ee ee ee

124 , 175 j

When the eggs assume a whitish hue, the worm is formed: cover the
eggs with white paper, (never use a newspaper, ) pierced full of holes
the size of a large knitting needle; the worms when hatched will ereep
through them: turnup the edges of the paper to prevent their crawling
off. Lay twigs of the mulberry, having two or three dry and young
leaves, on the paper, to collect the worms, and more as they continue
tomount. For want of mulberry leaves, feed for a short time upon
lettuce leaves, perfectly dry; if large, they should be cut in strips, and
the mid-rib thrown aside. The worms first hatched are the strongest;
nevertheless, if only a few come out on the first day, give them away,
fo save trouble, and depend upon those which appear on the second
and third days. Give away, also, the produce of the fourth day, and
then the whole stock will go on regularly. If it be wished to rear all
that are hatched, endeavor to keep the produce of each day separate,
by numbering the boxes and shelves. When the leaves on the twigs
are loaded with worms, the boxes containing them are to be removed
to a new apartment, and the worms gently placed on clean stout white
paper, laid on frames filled with crossed rattans, (see plate 2, fig. 3,)
giving them a plenty of room. The shelves over which these frames
should slide, may be four feet square, and fixed to upright posts, (p. 55;)
or the apparatus of the Rev. Mr. Swayne may be used to great advan-
tage; (see p. 56, and the description.) They may be multiplied as re-
quired. Whether a distinct building or apartment in a dwelling house
be devoted to a large parcel, it is absolutely necessary to secure the
command of a gentle circulation of air, by having ventilators in the
windows,” floors, and doors. (Seep. 55.) Red ants are deadly ene-
miestosilkworms. To prevent their attacks, the posts containing fixed
shelves ought not to touch the ceiling, nor must the shelves reach the
walls; their legs should be smeared with thick molasses; those of Mr.
Swayne’s moveable frame may also be thus treated, or they may stand
in a plate of water. Guard also against cockroaches and mice.

The worms being all hatched, whether they are to remain in the first
apartment, or be removed to a distinct building, the heat must be re-
duced to 75°, for as the worms grow older they require less heat.

When a large quantity of worms are to be removed from the boxes,
the task is to be performed in the manner directed in p. 69. The mode
of transporting a parcel to a distance, is also given in p. 70.

First Age.

Thatis, until the worms have passed their first moulting, or changed
their first skin.

The apartment must be light, but the sun must not shine on the
worms in any stage.

Feed the worms with the most tender leaves, four times a day, al-
lowing six hours between each meal, giving the smallest quantity for

* One or more tin circular ventilators, in place of panes of glass, would always se-
cure aregular circulation inthe apartment: they could be stopped when their motion
is not required.

16

“

£978.) rae

the first feeding, and gradually increasing it at each meal between thé
moultings.

In about an hour and a half, the silkworms devour their portion of

leaves, and then remain more or less quiet. Whenever food is given,
widen the space for them. Scattered food may be swept into its place.

Experiments may be made, as to the comparative advantage of using
chopped or whole young leaves. Dandolo insists upon the necessity
of the former. If chopped, a sharp knife must be used, to prevent
the leaves from being bruised, and thereby causing the exudation of
water from them, which would prove injurious. Qn the fourth day,
the skin becomes of a hazel color, and looks shining; their heads
enlarge, and assume a silvery bright appearance. These are marks of
their approaching first change. Their food, on this day, therefore,
may be diminished, or when these appearances take place, but not be-

fore. Enlarge the spaces as the worms increase in size. The leaves”

ought to be gathered a few hours before they are used, that they may
lose their sharpness. They keep very well in a cool cellar three
days. The leaves ought to be gathered over night, for the morning’s
meal, to prevent the danger of collecting them in rainy weather.
The leaves must be pulled carefully, and not bruised. On the fourth
day, the appetites of the worms begin to decrease, preparatory to their
first moulting, and their food must be diminished in proportion as the
previous meal has not been completely eaten. If the precarious heat
of the weather has been depended on, the first change may not appear
until the sixth or seventh day.

In the course of the fifth day, all the worms have been torpid.
During this period, they must, on no account, be disturbed. A few
begin to revive at the close of it; some leaves may be then given.
After the first moulting, the wormsare of a dark ash color.

Second Age.

As the worms are fond of the young twigs, some of these should

be spread over them with the leaves attached, upon which the worms
will immediately fasten, and they may then be removed to a clean
paper; or lay a strip of chopped leaves near the worms, and they will
leave the old food. The litter is to be taken away; but, as some of
the worms often remain among the old leaves, they ought to be ex-
amined; to this end, the litter should be removed to another room,
spread out on a table, and a few twigs placed over it, on which the
worms, if any, will mount, when they may be added to the others.
This rule must be attended to after every moulting. The two first
meals of the first day, should be less plentiful than the two last, and
must consist of the most tender leaves. These must be continued for
‘food until after the third moulting.

If, between the moultings, any worms should appear sick, and cease

to eat, they must be removed to another room, where the air is pure,"

and a little warmer than that they have left, put on clean paper, and
some fresh leaves, chopped fine, given to them. They will soon re-
-gover, and then may be added to the others.

Fon

——

4a ie ( i75 |

On the third day, the appetite of many worms will be visibly di-
minished; and, in the course of it, many will become torpid. The
next day, all are torpid: on the fifth, they will all have changed thei?
skins, and will be roused. The thermometer should range between
73° and 75° in the second age.

The color of the worms in the second age, becomes a light gray;
the muzzle is white, and the hair is hardly to be seen.

It must never be forgotten, that, during the time the worms are oc:
cupied in moulting, the food should be greatly diminished, and no
more given than will satisfy those which have not yet become torpid
on the first day, or those which have changed their skins before the
others.

Third Age.

During this age, the thermometer must range between 71° and 73°.
All the worms should be roused before any are removed. The re-
vived worms are easily known by their new aspect. The latest worms
should be placed apart, as their next moulting will be a day later also;
er they may be put in the hottest part of the room to hasten their
growth. This rule.must also be observed in the next moulting. In-

_ erease the spaces.

The second day, the two first meals are to be the least copious, the
two last the greatest, because towards the close of the day, the worms
grow very hungry. The third day will require about the same quan-
tity as the preceding last meals; but, on the fourth day, as the appe-
tites of the worms sensibly diminish, not more than half of the form-
er feed will be required. The first meal is to be the largest: feed those
which will eat at any time of the day. The fifth day still less will
suffice, as the greatest part are moulting. The sixth day they begin to
rouse.

Fourth Age.

The thermometer should range between 68° and 71° If the
weather be warm, and the glass rise several degrees higher, open the
ventilators, exclude the sun, and make a slight blaze in the chimney,
to cause a circulation of the air. Widen the spaces for the worms.
The leaves must now be regularly chopped in a straw cutting box,
or with the chopping knife. The food is now to be greatly increased
on the second, third, and fourth days: on the fifth, less will be re-
quired, as, in the course of this day, many become torpid: the first
meal, on this day, should therefore be the largest. On the sixth, they
will want still less, as nearly all will be occupied in effecting their last
change of skin. Renew the air in the apartment by burning straw or
shavings in the chimney, and open the ventilators. If the evenings
be cool, after a hot day, admit the external air for an hour. None but
full grown leaves should be hereafter given to the worms; and they
must all be chopped. Avoid the fruit, as they would prove injurious,
and add greatly to the litter. On the seventh day, all the worms will
have roused, and thus finish their fourth age. !

£4a7s 124
Fifth age, or until the worms prepare to mount.

In a large establishment, the exhalations from the worms and their
litter, united to the heat of the atmosphere, sometimes cause great mor-
tality among them; the means of preventing which, are treated under
the head of diseases. But if proper cleanliness be observed, and a free
circulation of the air permitted, no sickness is to be feared. The ther-
mometer should be about 68°. The constitution of the worms being
now formed, they begin to elaborate the silk vessels, and fill them with
the silky material, which they decompose and form from the mulber-
ty leaves.

Give abundance of room; do not let the worms lie so close as to
_ touch one another; for their respiration willthereby be impeded; con-
tinue to feed regularly and fully, as the appetite of the worms now
becomes voracious; rather give food five times a day than four; even
six small meals will not be too many. The last meal should be late
at night, and the first of the next day, in the morning, at an early hour.
The worms are not to be again moved, and the hurdles must be clean-
ed, as directed in page 94. On the seventh day of the fourth age,
they have attained their largest size, viz: three inches long, and begin
to grow shining and yellow. The appetites of some diminish; but
that of others continues, and must be supplied, to hasten their maturi-
ty. The effects of a sudden increase of heat in the weather, at this
time, will be highly injurious—see p. 96. For the mode of preparing
the cabins for the formation of cocoons, and the treatment of the
worms, the gathering of the cocoons; the selection and preservation
of those intended for seed; the birth and coupling of the moths; the
laying and preservation of the eggs, see p. 97, and following.

With respect to the temperature of the room, in which the cocoons
intended to produce moths, are kept, the rule prescribed by Dandolo
should be attended to. _ If it exceed 73°, they should be put in a place
in which the thermometer will remain within the limited degrees.
Moderate temperatures are, without exception, best adapted to the
silkworm, the chrysalis, and the moth. Notwithstanding the difficul-
ty of ascertaining the male from the female cocoon, yet the advan-
tages of separating them are such, that the attempt is recommended by
Dandolo to be made. The benefits arising from the separation are, Ist,
that, before the moths unite, they would have leisure to evacuate the
excrementitious fluid they contain, the retention of which, as will be
seen in the chapter on the diseases of silkworms, is injurious to the
eggs. 2d, That the moths not united are only handled once. They
must now be watched, and after they have evacuated the fluid, they
are to be united, and put on a frame covered with linen, which, when
full, must be carried into the dark room, to remain during the time
they ought to be united.

If, through inattention, a store of leaves has not been provided, and
they are collected during rain, they must be thoroughly dried before
being given, as they will inevitably sicken the worms, if fed with them

when moist. To dry a large parcel, see the chapter on diseases of
silkworms

125 f 175 3
On early food.

Sow the seeds broad cast of the white, or of the native red mulberry
tree, in well prepared ground, as soon asripe; they will soon vegetate.
If the winter be cold, cover the plants with straw, or long manure.
The first season, they will afford a small quantity of leaves; but, if wa-
tered in dry weather, the leaves will be abundant in the second year.
The plants will grow better if the seed be sown in drills, thinned out
to proper distances, and kept clean. The leaves of these seedlings are
only recommended for the young worms, and as a resource for food
until the leaves of the standard mulberry trees have put forth. They
have already been proscribed as food for silkworms during their whole
vourse—p, 53.

eee) eee

CHAPTER XIV.

DISEASES OF SILKWORMS.

A careful perusal of the principal practical authors upon the rearing
of silkworms, and attention to their progress during the last season,
in a large establishment, have led to the conclusion, that the diseases
to which silkworms are subject in their various stages, may be referred
to the following causes:

Ist. Errors in hatching the eggs, and treatment of very young
worms. )

2d. Bad air of the district in which they were bred.

3d. Impurity in the air in which they are kept, arising from defi-
cient ventilation, from exhalations of the litter of the worms, and of
their manure, which has been permitted to accumulate.

4th. Too close crowding, owing to which cause their spiracles or
breathing holes, were stopped, and the expiration and inspiration of air
prevented.

5th. The quality and quantity of food.

6th. Improper change of food.

7th. Peculiar constitution of the air in certain seasons, against which
no precautions can ayail.

8th. Frequent changes of temperature in the room in which they
are kept.

I. Diseases from defect in the eggs.

1st. When the apartment destined for the coming forth, and laying
of the eggs of the moth is too cold, (54° or 59°,) the impregnating li-
quor will not be perfected; and, consequently, does not sufficiently
act upon the eggs, to give them the ash color, which, in the course of
fifteen or twenty days, indicates the perfect impregnation, The un-

F175 § | 126

impregnated eggs produce no worms, and those imperfectly impreg-
nated, bear in them the seed of diseases which destroy the silkworm
in various stages of its existence.

2d. When the room is too hot, (77° to 81°:) if the male delays
coupling, it loses much of the impregnating liquid. If united to the
female too soon, upon issuing from the cocoon, she has not time to
evacuate a superabundance of excrementitious fluid with which she is
Yoaded. She therefore becomes disordered, and the impregnating h-
quor of the male is weakened, by admixture with this matter of the
female; consequently, the eggs are imperfect.

3d. Dampness prevents the eggs from drying, the embryo becomes

affected, and diseases engendered.

4th. When the place, where the eggs were kept, or hatched, has
been or is damp, the slow and gentle evaporation of the matter con-
tained in the shell, by which it insensibly attains the state assigned to
it by nature, is prevented.

5th. When the eggs are too thickly heaped together, they heat,
even at a low temperature, and the embryo becomes injured.

No disease will occur, Ist. if the temperature of the place where the
moths are kept, be maintained between 68° and 75°. 2d. When the
apartments are dry. 3d. When cloths on which the eggs are deposit-
ed, are not folded too much, and are hung on the frames which have
been described.

2. Diseases from mismanagement of good eggs, and treatment of
very young worms.

1. When the embryo just verging to the worm state, in a moderate
temperature, is suddenly exposed to a much greater heat, its organs
become decomposed, and the shell of the worm will appear more or
less red, which is a certain sign of future disease.

2. When, on the point of transformation into the worm, the embryo
is suddenly exposed to a lower temperature; the damage is then pro-
portioned to the length of time the heat has acted upon the embryo.

3. When silkworms being just hatched, are exposed to a higher
temperature than that in which they come forth, or the contrary,

when the worms are exposed to a colder temperature than that in
which they come forth.

IJ. Diseases from the bad air of the district in which Silkworms are
reared.

Low marshy places, and those in which the air is liable to stagnate,
are very liable to produce disease. ‘The combination of heat and mois-
ture is death to them. On the contrary, it is universally agreed, that
high and dry places are not only peculiarly favorable to the growth
and health of the insects, but that the silk there produced by them, is
much preferable to that from worms reared in places less elevater.-

\

127 - £175 J

Ll. Diseases of Silkworms from impurity in the air of the
laboratory.
When the air of the apartment is not renewed, particularly in the
fourth and fifth ages, the damp stagnates in it, the transpiration is
checked, the dung and litter ferment, and emit noxious exhalations:*
the skins of the worms become relaxed, and disease follows in a few
~hours. The necessity of preserving a free circulation of pure air in
the apartment, has been often insisted on, in the preceding pages.
The prevalence of a superabundance of damp air, may be known by
the use of a hygrometer, or indicator of moisture, and it is easy to re-
move this, by employing the means suggested for expelling the heavy
air, and replacing it by light fresh exterior air.

On the means of purifying the air.

Hitherto it has been reckoned a good method of purifying the air
of a laboratory to burn some odoriferous or vegetable substance, to
produce a grateful smell, while, instead of purifying or improving the

air, by these means, they were rendering it considerably worse. It
has been erroneously imagined, that what usually occurs in our per-
ception of offensive effluvia, should be equally applicable to the
noxious qualities of the air, which, as they affect the lungs, have great
influence on the general system of animal life. The case is however
dissimilar; in producing a pleasant smell in the room of which the
air is vitiated, we do but disguise to the sense the bad quality of the
air we breathe, but the lungs are not less affected. We are then mis-
taken in employing such means in the laboratory.

In whatever manner any odoriferous vegetable may be burnt in the
centre of the room, and not in the grate, and however grateful the
‘odour may be, it. will consume a part of the respirable or vital air
contained in the room, and consequently must injure the air.t

We should here speak of the harm which may be done by the smoke
of chimneys which spreads often through the laboratory, and remains
stagnant in it. It is very certain that, if the smoke often infests the
apartment, it is to be feared we may see all the silkworms of a labor-

- atory perish in a moment.

Let us now mention the means of purifying the internal air of the
laboratory, and of neutralizing and destroying, in some degree, the
poison which exhales from the fermented substances on the wicker
hurdles, and to produce the drying of those that are inclined to fer-
ment. It must first be observed, that this remedy will not cost above
30 cents for a laboratory of worms proceeding from five ounces of
eggs. f

* It is surprising to find how large a portion of mephitic air disengages, particu-

larly in the fifth age, from the silkworms, in an establishment spacious eneugh to con-
tain the worms proceeding from an ounce of eggs.

} Mr. Nysten also gives his opinion, as to the total inutility of all perfumes to
purify the air of an apartment in which silkworms are kept, p. 105.

+ The use of the fumigating bottle and the hygrometer, can only be necessary in
very large establishments. Pure air, food regularly given, cleanliness, abundance
of space, and a proper temperature, are all that the silkworms require, to ensure
their health.

[4754 128

Take six ounces of common salt, mix it well with three ounces of
powder of black oxyde of manganese; put this mixture in a strong
bottle, with two ounces of water, cork it well with a common cork.

Keep this bottle in any part of the laboratory farthest from the
stove or fire-places. In a phial put a pound and a half of sulphuric
acid, (oil of vitriol,) and keep this phial near the other bottle, with a
small cordial glass and an iron spoon; and this is the manner of using
it: Put into the small glass, two-thirds of a spoonful of oil of vitriol,
pour it into the large bottle, and there will issue a white vapor.

The bottle should be moved about through the laboratory, holding
it high up that the vapor may be well spread in the air. .

When the vapor ceases, the bottle may be corked, and replaced:
even should there be no perceptible difference between the interior
and exterior air, during the fifth age of the worms, it is good to re-
peat this fumigation three or four times a day in the manner just ex-
plained. When repeating the fumigation, the quantity of oil of vitriol
poured into the large bottle may be diminished. The stated quantity
of ingredients will be sufficient fora laboratory of five ounces of eggs.
The bottle may be left open an hour or two in the last days of the
fifth age of the silkworms; and placed here and there in the labora-
tory, and even on the corners of the wicker hurdles, to diffuse the
vapor thoroughly.

This remedy may be employed, whenever, on going into the labora-
tory, the air appears to have an unpleasant effluvia, and that there is
any closeness, or difficulty of breathing.

1st. It may take place when the litter of the silkworm is removed,
particularly in the fifth age.

2d. When in moist weather the air of the laboratory continues
damp, even after having made the blaze, which renders the fermenta-
tion still quicker.

This fumigation may be of use also towards the end of the fourth
age, if the air be perceived to be impure. It may not be needed in
all cases, until after the fourth age of the silkworms, and at the be- ©
ginning of the fifth age.

If there are several small fire-places in the laboratory, and that blazes
are frequently made in them to agitate the air, fumigations will not
be so much required.

It must be observed that care should be taken not todrop any of the
oil ef vitriol, either on the skin or clothes, as it burns; and to hold
the bottle above the height of the eyes and nose, when it is open, be-
cause the vapor is very searching, and would be dangerous and un-
pleasant. Should the substances in the bottle harden, a little water
may be added, and stirred with a small stick. This easy remedy is
more powerful than all perfumes commonly used, and produces five
advantages in the laboratory. .

ist. The vapor in spreading immediately, destroys any unpleasant
effluvia. :

2d. It diminishes the fermentation of the litter, and dries it up.

3d. It neutralizes the effect of all the miasmata, and deleterious
emanations that might attack the health of the silkworms.

129 [175 J

4th. It revives the silkworms, gently stimulating them, because it
‘is composed in a great measure of pure, vital air.

5th. The vapor is notalone favorable to the health of the silkworms,
but influences the goodness of the cocoon. * ;

Of the Hygrometer.

Scientific men have invented various instruments fitted to measure
the quantity of moisture which the air may contain in any circum-
stances, using, in their construction, bodies which attract the dampness
from the air easily, and stretch by degrees, and which contract again
when the air is dry. A plate of common table salt, coarsely pounded,
may answer to show the moisture or dryness of the air. Hygrome-
ters of various materials have been constructed. The annexed cut,
will give a good idea of a useful, sim-
ple, and cheap one. The principle
upon which it is constructed, may be
thus briefly illustrated. The effect
which a moist atmosphere has on any
twisted cord, is that of diminishing
its length, by causing the spirals to
approach each other. If, therefore,
a long piece of string be attached to
the peg at B, and conveyed round the
pulleys C, D, E, F, G, with a weight
suspended beneath, we may, by referring to the index hand and scale,
readily ascertain the amount of moisture that has been absorbed by the
vegetable fibre. If the string be soaked in a solution of common salt
in water, it will more readily indicate any slight accession of humidity
in the atmosphere. t

It would be desirable to have two hygrometers in a large laboratory,
placed within a certain distance of each other, to ascertain the various
degrees of moisture in different parts of the laboratory.

*So much importance is attached to the use of the acid fumigations by Dandolo,
and others, that it has been thought right to retain his directions respecting them:
but itis proper to remark, that Mr. Nysten, after a course of laborious experiments
with them, and with other fumigations, comes to the decided conclusion, that they
are totally inefficacious as means of curing the actual diseases of silkworms. He even
found, in an experiment with two thousand sick worms, that more died in a room
where the fumigations were continually used, than in another, in which the pure air
was allowed to circulate freely among asimilar number. He allows, however, that the
fumigations may act asa preventive remedy, by neutralizing the bad air of the apart-
ment. It is with this view that Dandolo uses it. He confirms the repeated posi-
tions of Dandolo, and the experience of all practical writers and cultivators, that to
prevent the diseases of silkworms, it is only necessary to hatch the eggs in a regular-
ly increased heat, to feed the "worms with good and dry leaves, to keep them ina
pure air of the temperature prescribed above, and, finally, to observe rigid cleanli-
ness. He remarks that, it was not Paroletti who first used acid fumigations for
worms, but Rigaud de Lille, who says that he thereby diminished the mortality among
them; but candidly acknowledges, that he freely admitted the external air at the
same time.—Nysten sur la Maladies des Vers a Soie, pp. 101, 103.

tT. Williams. The Scientific Gazette, part 2d, p. 81. London, 1825

17

[175 J 130

When the hygrometer indicates a very damp state of the atmos-
phere, wood shavings or straw should be burnt in the fire-places, to
_ absorb the humidity, and replace it by the external air which is dried
by this same blaze. Blaze is preferable to mere fire, for two reasons:
the first is, that, for instance, with two pounds of shavings, or of dry
straw, there can be attracted, from all points, towards the chimney, a
large body of air, which issues at the flue of the chimney. While, in
the meantime, this air is replaced by another quantity of exterior air,
which spreads over the wicker hurdles, and revives the exhausted silk-
worms. This change of air may take place without effecting any ma-
terial variation in the degree of heat in the laboratory. If, on the
contrary, thick wood were employed, it would require more time to
move the interior air; ten times more fuel might be consumed, and
the laboratory would be too much heated. The motion of air, all cir-
cumstances being equal, is in proportion to the quantity of blaze of
the substances that burn quickly. When wood shavings or dry straw
cannot be procured, small sticks of dry and light wood may answer.
As soon as the flame rises, the hygrometer shows that the air has be-
come drier, and the degrees of it can be seen distinctly.

The second motive which should lead us to prefer the blaze, is the
light it diffuses. It cannot well be imagined how beneficial this light
is, Which penetrates every where, nor how much it influences the health
and growth of the silkworms.

IV. Diseases from want of room.

When silkworms lie so thick on the wickers, or feeding frames, that.
they eannot feed with ease, a difference in their development will re-
sult, and large healthy worms will be found mixed with small and sick-
ly worms. This mixture affects the periods of their transition; some
will be lively, some torpid, and others still requiring food previously
io their transition: this confusion kills great numbers, or causes them
to drag on a sickly existence.

Silkworms, as stated in their anatomical description, do not breathe
by the mouth, but by small apertures, which are placed near their
Jegs, and called stigmata, or spiracles. These breathing holes are al-
most all stopped when the worms are heaped together; hence their
breathing becomes difficult, their transpiration ceases, and sickness
takes place.”

V. Diseases from the quality or quantity of food,

Remarks and cautions on this head, will be found in the course of
instructions for rearing the silkworm; but it is proper to notice the
tode in which the food affects them. :

* Several thousand worms were killed in one case last summer, from the above
cause, near Philadelphia. See the account of the disease called tripes.

131 [175 ]

1. The preservation of the health of silkworms, depends essentially
on the leaves being perfectly dry when given to them. Wet leaves in-
variably produce a diarrhoea. ©

In the four first ages, the leaves may be easily kept two or three
days; but on the days when the silkworms are voracious, a number of
persons must be continually at work to provide for their daily con-'
sumption, and dry the leavesa day or two before they are wanted.

To dry in a day several hundred pounds weight of mulberry leaves,
proceed in the following manner: |

When the wet leaves are brought in, have them spread on brick
floors, or on earthen floors, which should be as clean as possible. Then,
according to the quantity, one or two persons must spread them with
wooden forks, turn them, throw them about, and move them much.
This, often repeated, very soon shakes off the wet. If the floor is not
of bricks, and the ground becomes wet, the leaves should be raked off
to another and drier part of the floor.

Although the leaf appears quite dry after this operation, it still con-
tains a great deal of water in its folds, and even on its surface.

Then twenty or thirty pounds of leaves should be spread upon a
large coarse sheet, and doubling it into the shape of a large sack, two
persons should hold the four corners, and shake the leaves well about
from one end of the sheet to the other, until they appear to be quite
dry, which will be the case ina few minutes.

Should it be required further to dry the leaves, by burning a large
heap of shavings, and some faggot sticks, and placing the leaves nearly
all round the fire, taking care to turn them well with clean pitch-forks,
they will become, by these means, as dry as if they were gathered at
noon on a fine day; it may be effected, as is required, in either way.
Should the leaves be only wet with dew, drying them with the sheet
will be sufficient.

2. The experienced Pullein says, that the leaves of mulberry trees .
which grow in moist grounds, or in places shaded from the sun, and
those from suckers produced from the trunk, roots, or principal arms,
being full of sap and moisture, crude and immature, will produce fatal
distempers in silkworms: even by giving them only one feeding, they
are surfeited, and throw out of their mouths a greenish liquor, and a

_elear humor out of the pores of their skins, and out of the little point

growing near the tail. This clammy moisture, by rubbing against
one another, closes up the spiracles, or breathing holes.

3. Young worms should invariably be fed upon young and tender
leaves. The strong nourishment derived from full grown leaves, as
has been already mentioned, produces disease in them. Old leaves must
be reserved for worms in their advanced ages.

4, Over feeding and scantiness of food, are the remote causes of dis-
ease. Unceasing attention should therefore be paid, to have the worms
regularly supplied with food, and in proportion to their appetites.

Ty . .
VI. Diseases from change of food.

When silkworms have been fed upon the leaves of the native red ~
mulberry tree, they sometimes become diseased, when these leaves

[478 3 19

are changed for those of the white species: and the same effect takes

place when the order is reversed. In the first case, if permitted, they

will eat so ravenously, as to be deprived of the ability to digest their

food, and will burst; in the latter, a derangement of their functions,

and general debility takes place. From the facts detailed in page 44,

of the leaves of both species of the mulberry being indiscriminateiy

eaten, when mixed, and given to the worms, it might be supposed

that no injury would arise from a change of the leaves of the white to
those of the red species, but the following case, among others which

could be cited, shows that the experiment is not safe. “On one oc-

casion, a neighbor being deficient in white mulberry leaves, about the

time the worms were preparing to spin, gave them a quantity of the

black [red] mulberry leaves. The worms fed readily upon them, but
immediately sickened, and performed their task of winding very im-

perfectly.””* It is possible, that, in this case, a partial cause of the

effect produced, may have been the quantity of the food given to the

-worms. The change of nourishment, when rendered necessary, should

be gradual. The danger arises, as in the preceding case, from a sub-
stitution of one leaf for another, in the late stage of their existence:

for it has been already observed, that, before this time, silkworms can

be supported upon lettuce and other leaves, and that afterwards resort
can be had safely and beneficially to those of the mulberry. A recent
experiment shows that, until this critical epoch no injury will attend

a change of the foreign for the native leaf. Mr. Prince, of Flushing,

Long Island, ‘¢fed some silkworms until they were half-grown, upon

the white mulberry, and then finished them upon the native species;

they grew so rapidly, that they commenced spinning in twenty-one’
days, and produced excellent silk.”

VIL. Diseases from peculiar constitution of the air.

The injurious influence of certain states of the air upon the produc-
tion of fruits, has long been observed by farmers and horticulturists,
particularly in respect to grapes; and the same influence is often ex-
perienced by the cultivators of silkworms. Dandolo has noticed the
extremely unfavorable state of the atmosphere in Italy in the year 1814,
These peculiar states of the atmosphere in certain localities, not being
referrible to its sensible qualities, renders it impossible to guard against
the injurious effects produced by them on silkworms.t

When such a state of the atmosphere takes place, we must be the
more particular and attentive in guarding against the usual and known
causes of disease. .

* George A. Tuffis, Esq. of Worcester county, Massachusetts: answer tosthe silk-
eircular.

+ It is much to be regretted that science has not yetenabled us to ascertain the pre-
cise causes to which the bad air, in particular places, is to be ascribed. The Eudio-
meter will give the constituent proportions of the air of a place; but repeated experi-
ments with if, on land and sea, in balloons, and steeples highly elevated, and in deep
eaves, inan orchard in bloom, and in the chamber where a malignant fever prevails, .
give results so very nearly similar, that it is impossible to ascribe the health of one
place, or the prevalence of an epidemic in another, to the greater or less abundance
of any postion of the airs which enter into the composition of the atmosphere.

133 3 [ 175 j

°

VII. Diseases from sudden changes of temperature.

The great importance of preserving silkworms uniformly in that
particular degree of heat which ample experience has proved to be
most proper for each particular stage of their short existence, has been
fully pointed out in the course of. the instructions for rearing them;
and as no cause will more certainly produce disease, than inattention
to this point, it is proper to notice it in this place. To ensure regular
growth to the worms, and the gradual evolution of their fine organs,
it is essential to protect them against sudden changes of temperature,
which often amount to 40°, in the United States, in the course of twen-
ty-four hours. Hence it is absolutely necessary to regulate the heat
of the apartment by a thermometer, and to warm it by means of a
stove of brick, tile, or porcelain, in preference to one of iron; be-
eause the heat communicated by any of the three first, will be much
longer uniform, than when one of the last is used. The tender na-
ture of the insect causes it to be extremely sensible to a diminntion of.
temperature, and when this takes place, to the extent ef several de-
grees, they become chilled and torpid, they cease to eat, the digestion
of their food is interrupted, their growth is checked, and the founda-
tion of disease is laid.

Again, danger to their health will arise from an incautious increase
of heat, after being thus chilled; and exposure to sudden and great
heat, when near the time of spinning, will cause silkworms to cease
eating, to become enfeebled and relaxed, and sometimes to die. The
Abbe Sauvage* particularly notices the danger to their health from
this cause. In the summer of 1825, vast numbers were killed from
it, in Mansfield, Connecticut. t

baal

PARTICULAR DISEASES OF SILKWORMS.

The Passis.—This disease appears after the first moulting, where
the worms advance unequally in growth; they are observed to be
short, thin, and without vigor or appetite: it is ascribed to their being
too much heated in their early state. ‘The remedies consist in sepa-
rating them from the healthy worms, putting them in another apart-
ment which is well ventilated, giving them tender leaves, and in pre-
serving them in a uniform temperature, which ought to be a little
higher than that in whichthe healthy ones are kept; for although heat,
unduly applied, was one cause of their disease, yet, when feeble, they
require more warmth than healthy worms to restore their vigor.

The Grasserie.—This appears towards the second moulting, and in
the third or fourth ages. It is ascribed to the food being too substan-
tial or nourishing for the young worms. ‘They eat, but they donot
digest their food: hence they swell, their bodies become o and
of a green color, and their skins tear from the least touch, e-

$i * 3d Memoir, p. 70. ;
7 Jolin Fitch, Esq»

f 175-7 184

times spontaneously from over distension. Their hodies are alse
_ eovered with a viscous oily humor, which transudes the skin. Mr.
‘Nysten says, that it is owing to the too glutinous nature of the food
given to the worm in the second and third ages; because he has seen
the disease attack worms when thus fed, which those that had eaten
tender leaves escaped; and from the prevalence of the disease in Pied-
mont, and in the Department of the Mouths of the Rhone, where the
Spanish mulberry, which has hard and large leaves, is cultivated,
whilst it is scidom seen in the Department of the Drome and Isere,
where that varicty of the mulberry is rare. If this theory be correct,
land it certainly is very rational,) the remedy is obvious: to feed the
worms in their three first ages with tender leaves, and to avoid the
variety of mulberry mentioned: this, by the way, it is thought, has
not been introduced into the United States.

The Lusette.—About the fifth age, silkworms are sometimes attack-
ed with a disease called /usette, or claireite, from the shining appear-
ance of their bodies. Their heads also increase in size; they cease
growing, and die without forming cocoons. On opening them, their
stomachs are found full of a glairy transparent fluid, without any re-
mains of food; and hence it has been justly ascribed to a neglect of
the supply of mulberry leaves. This theory was proved by Mr.
Nysten, who produced the disease by starving some worms for twenty-
four hours. The means of prevention and of cure are therefore ob-
vious. Care should, however, be taken to separate the affected worms
from the healthy ones, and to-supply them with food in a gradual man-
ner, to prevent an opposite disease arising from too sudden repletion. *

The Yellows.—This disease appears toward the end of the fifth age,
when the worms are filled with the silky fluid, and are about to spin.
The Abbe Sauvage ascribes it to exposure of the worms to sudden and
great heat. It consists in a yellowness and swelling of the body, an
enlargement of the rings, an appearance of the feet being drawn up
from the puffiness of the surrounding parts. The worms also cease to
eat, and run about, leaving stains of a yellow fluid, which exudes from
their bodies. The yellowness first appears round the spiracles, or
breathing holes, and gradually diffuses. It is a kind of anasarca or
dropsy of the skin, arising from the infiltration of the nutritive fluid
‘hrough every part of their bodies. The insects soon become soft,
and burst. The acrid humor issuing from them, will kill any worms >
that touch it. Sauvage also ascribes it to a defect of transpiration, to
indigestible food, and to exposure to cold during rainy weather; and
directs to dry the air of the apartment, by lighting fires in the chim-
ney of the apartment during rainy weather. The yellows or jaunesse,
and the grasserie, are deemed the same disease by Sauvage and Nys-
ten; but the grasseric is more serious when it occurs during the moult-
ing, tan when it takes place towards the last age. In the former, it
; al disease; in the latter, it is merely accidental. Whenever

ches sur la Maladies des Vers a Soie, par P, H. Nysten, p.116. Des Vers
a Sore, par M. Reynaud, p. 111, Paris, 1824.

135 [175 ]

they do-occur, they are to be dreaded, and should be attended to with-
out delay. Thediseased worms must be removed to a separate apart-
ment, where a change of air, aided by fires, may cure them. The dead
worms should be carefully buried, to prevent their being eaten by poul-
try. In one case of this disease, which occurred in Bucks county,
Pennsylvania, in the year 1772, oak leaves were laid in the way of the
worms, and were greedily devoured by them, and cured. In another,
these leaves were given by design, and with similar good effect. The
particular species of oak was unfortunately not mentioned.
_ . The Muscardine.—This is caused by a continuance of a hot, dry,
close, or calm state of the air; and shows itself by black spots in dif-
ferent parts of the worm. These spots afterwards become yellow, and
finally red, or of the color of cinnamon, which is diffused over the
whole body. The worm becomes hard and dry, and is covered with
a white mould. The disease appears in the fifth age. The remedy is,
to purify the air, by the use of the fumigations recommended by Dan-
dolo, and by the admission of fresh air from the external atmosphere,
and to cause it to circulate by means of ventilating openings in the room.

The Tripes, or Mort Blanc.—This disease appears during moist.
or rainy weather. Mr. Nysten proved by experiments,* that it also
proceeds from the confined exhalations of the worms and their litter.
They become flaccid and soft, and, when dead, preserve the semblance
of life and health; but they soon turn black, and become putrid. The
remediesare obvious: In the first case, the air of the apartment should
be warmed, and made to circulate, by lighting fires in the chimney;
and, in the latter, by removing the diseased worms to a clean shelf or
table in another room. The means of preventing the disease are,
uninterrupted cireulation of warm dry air, and rigid attention to clean-
liness.

The foregoing account of the diseases of silkworms ought not to
alarm the cultivator. They will be preserved in perfect health, if the
causes mentioned are avoided; or the prescribed means, if used in time,
will cure them.

—_<@—_—_

CHAPTER XV.

PREPARATIONS FOR REELING THE SILK.

Mow to take off the flos, or loose silk, from the cocoons: the rea-
sons for sorting them.

Before the cocooris are reeled, it is necessary to free them from that
loose, fuzzy silk which ison their outside, and is called flos; it being
of so fine and loose a consistence, and partly broken by taking it from
the branches, or frames, where the worms had spun them, that it ean-

*Sur les Maladies des Vers a Soie, p. 40.

‘Ee > ee

not be reeled off. ¥t may be taken off by opening it on one of the
ends of the cocoons, and then thrusting out the hard part of them,
clearing off, at the same time, the loose silk adhering close to them,
and mixing this part with the flos, to make ordinary cheap silk. Then
sort the cocoons according to their different degrees of hardness. If
the strong, the tender, and the double ones are mixed, the trouble is
not only greatly increased, but, in recling, the threads frequently
break, and the value of the silk is thereby lessened. For the proof of
_ this,-let us suppose only two cocoons, one compact and hard, and the
other of a loose and soft substance, thrown together into the hot water,
in order to be reeled off together, and to make one thread. If, now,
the water be sufficiently hot to let the hardest of the two cocoons
wind off with ease, by dissolving its gumminess, then that water will
be too hot for the other, the substance of which is loose, so that it
will run off in burrs; that is, flakes of the silk will come off without
being drawn to their extent; which burrs, as they pass the guide-wires,
will endanger the breaking of the thread, filling it also with lumps and
inequalities. On the other hand, if the water be of the proper tem-
perature for the soft cocoon, so as not to occasion the above incon
venience, it will then not be hot enough for the hard cocoon, so that
its thread will not be given off, without some stretch and violence,
which endangers its breaking, and giving the trouble of addinga fresh
cocoon; and, in both cases, the single fibres of the cocoons being une-
qually stretched in reeling, will make the combined thread the weaker,
and less even and glossy; since the single fibre of that cocoon which
was most stretched by the reel, will, upon disbanding, contract itself
more than the other, and be separated from it in some places. On
these accounts, having first separated the double cocoons, and also
those which contain nothing but flos, with any others, which, being
imperfectly formed, cannot be reeled, sort the perfect cocoons into
three kinds, according to their different degrees of hardness, which can
be readily perceived, and throw them into three different baskets.* _
The cocoons may be divided into two general heads, or classes; the
white and the yellow. In the yellow, we meet with all the shades
from a bright yellow, diminishing, at last, to white; some few are a
pale green. We may reckon nine different qualities of cocoons, which
are met with, more or less, in all filatures or reeling establishments. /
1. The good cocoonsare those which are brought to perfection, and
are strong, hard, of a fine grain, and little or not at all spotted.
2. The pointed cocoons are those, of which one of the extremities
rises up in a point. After having aflorded a little silk, the point which
is the weakest part, breaks, or tears, and it is impossible to continue
to wind them any longer; because, when the thread comes round to
the hole, it is, of consequence, broken, and the whole contains nothing
but ends. /
'- §. The cocalons are a little larger than the others; yet they do not
contain more silk, because their texture is not so strong.

* Pwlein on the culture of silk, p. 251.

i f re]

4, The dupion, or double cocoons, are so called, because they con-
tain two, and sometimes three worms. They interlace their threads,
and make the silk called dupion. .

§. The soufflons are imperfect cocoons, the contexture of which is
loose, sometimes to that degree that they are transparent, and bear the
same proportion to a good cocoon, as a gauze to a satin. -These can-
not be wound.

6. The perforated cocoons are so called, because they have a hole
at one end; for which reason they also cannot be wound. !

7. The caleined cocoons are those in which the worm, after the for-
mation of the cocoon, is attacked with a sickness, which sometimes
petrifies it, and, at other times, reduces it to a fine white powder,
without in the least damaging the silk. On the contrary, these co-
coons produce more silk than the others, because the worm is lighter.
They are to be distinguished by the noise the petrified worm makes
when the cocoon is shaken. In Piedmont, they sell for as much more
as the others. -It is very rare to see a parcel of 25 lb. of them at a
time: 6 lb. 3 0z. of these cocoons have produced 1 1b. fine silk, of five
and six cocoons. ae
_ 8. The good choquette, consists of those cocoons in which the worm
dies before it is brought to perfection: they are to be known by the
worms sticking to one side of the cocoon, which is easily to be per-
ceived, when, on shaking it, the chrysalis is not heard to rattle. These
cocoons aré of.as fine silk as the others, but they are to be wound se-
parately, because they are subject to furze out, and the silk has not so
bright a color, nor is it strong and nervous. |
9. The bad choquette is’ composed of defective cocoons, spotted or
rotten; many of these cocoons may be wound together; they make
very foul, bad silk, of a blackish color.

To judge whether a cocoon be good, observe if it be firm and sound;
if it hasa fine grain, and the two ends round and strong, and capable
of resisting pressure between the thumb and finger. The cocoons of
a bright yellow yield more silk than the others, because they have
more gum; but this accounts to the winder only, because all the gum
is lost in dying. “Pale cocoons have less gum, lose less in winding,
and take a better white or pale blue.*

To the foregoing kinds of cocoons, another is mentioned in recent
French works, and called sattiny. ts tissue_is coarse and like flannel,
and the surface shines. The silk of this cocoon is bad. .

As it will be useful to know the precise dimensions of a stove and
hasin used for heating water for cocoons, the following details are
given by Mr. Stephenson, of an establishment at Montauban, in,
France: Height of the stove from the ground, twenty-two inches;
length of the stove, twenty-nine inches and a half; breadth, twenty-
‘four inches; height of the iron bars for supporting the charcoal from
the ground, for holding the fire, twelve inches; width of the door, or
opening at the bottom of the stove for taking out the ashes, and for

* Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc, vol. 2.
1Q

[1754 138

giving air to the fire, nine inches; width of the door to put in the char.
coal, seven inches and a half; length of the oval copper basin built on
the top of the stove to hold hot water, twenty inches and three quar~
ters; width of the basin, sixteen and a half inches; depth of basin,
three inches and three quarters; breadth of the rim of the basin, one’
inch anda quarter. mi
- Instead of using a common stcve or furnace to heat water for the
cocoons, steam has been proposed and used by Messrs. Gensoul and
Aldini. Upon the plan of the first, the steam is admitted directly,
into the water co‘itaining cocoons intended to be reeled; but the last
- adopts another mode, which, upon a large scale, is certainly to be pre-
ferred. A copper boiler covered, and with a hollow bottom, has a
vertical tube adapted to the centre of the cover, with a cock, by means
of which, the water intended to furnish steam is admitted. This boiler
will hold four pints,* (French) and at the beginning of the process, it
is to be filled to nearly two-thirds. The vertical cylinder has a tube
with a cock, through which the steam is introduced into a wooden
tube, placed on its side, to the external surface of a vase above it, and
gives out steam at its extremity through a series of small holes turned
towards the bottom of the vase; the holes are to avoid the inconve-
nience arising from the too rapid escape of the steam. This vase is of
copper, and contains six pints of water. ' The steam-box is tinned on
the bottom inside, and a little inclined to the side of the boiler, with
which it communicates by a tube, with a cock, conveying back the
condensed steam to the bottom of the boiler. Thus the water in which
the cocoons are put, is regularly and permanently heated, without any
loss of water, supplying the steam, and without the injurious ebulli-
tion of the water which takes place when steam is introduced directly
into it, and which causes the rapid and irregular motion of, the cocoons
in the basin. i“
The annexed cut will give an accurate idea of the construction of the
apparatus of Aldini: Les

&
} Se Ht
fi — : aks a) TRY 4
i' Hei Tr .
By . ir
TEES, = Sra
CLF v ” Fe vs ; =>.
7 : au i bj SgeTRreSusevaeeuctme camp a HTL it TEER
ines : ay Hh f
J cei) oo aac i
OP ZR i ail
aie creat i
~~ pent Hike ——a —
Ee te rae SSS

Ss

Upona small scale, the common elay furnaces made in Philadelphia,
answer very well to heat water in a copper basin placed upon them.

The temperature of the water is to be regulated, Ist, by the nature
of the silk, resulting, in part, from the quality of the food upon which
the silk-caterpillars have been fed. ‘This is exemplified in a striking

® A French pint is about a quart American measure.
+ Recherches sur l’application extericure de la Vapeur pour e’chanffer eau dans
tafilature de \e scie: par le Chevalier Aldini, Paris, 1819.

139 [175 3
manner by a iaci recorded by Aldini,* which is, that, in Piedmont and
in Lombardy, the gummy cement of the cocoons is so easily soluble, as
to require the water to be heated only to 60° or 66° of Reaumur, (168°,
181° of Fahrenheit,) while the cocoons spun in the south of Italy, and
particularly in the Papal territories, require a heat of 80° of R., (212° ©
of F.) owing to the greater tenacity and solidity of the gum. 2d, The
State of the cocoon, as regards its firmness, influences the heat of the water,
as shall presently be mentioned. Experiments can alone, therefore, de-
termine the various degrees of heat requisite for the water in different
places, and for the several varieties of cocoons, and even for different
parcels of cocoons of the same sort. As this is a point connected with
the success of the operation, it affords another argument for the use
of the thermometer, in order to ensure it, and to prevent the delay and
trouble which will ever ensue from guessing at the heat of the
water, by dipping the finger in it. Our own sensations are very-
inaccurate tests of the heat of the water; the use of the thermometer,
besides saving much time and trouble to the spinner, will ensure an

evenness of thread, and perfection to the whole operation.t
__ The perforation of the cocoons by the moths, destroys the continuity
of the thread, and thus spoils them for reeling. They must, therefore,
be either reeled off, before the moths come forth, or after the worms
have been killed: the means of doing this, are, by exposing them to
the steam of boiling water, or to the heat of an oven. But as it isa
fact, well established, that cocoons reel more readily, and that the silk
is of a superior quality, when obtained without their having been sub-
jected to either ef these expedients, every exertion should be made to
reel them as soon as proper, after the cocoons have been formed.¢
When the business is conducted upon a large scale, it may be impossi-
ble to do this; in which case, the moths may be prevented from comin
forth at their usual time, by placing the cocoons in a cold vault, cellar,
or ice-house, as formerly mentioned on the authority of the Abbe Sau-
vage.

oe oie men are divided as to the best mode of killing the chrysa-
lis: some preferring that by steam, and others that by the heat of an
oven.—Both methods shall be described.

The academy of Nismes deemed it so important to ascertain the
best mode of killing the chrysalis, as to institute a set of experiments
on the subject, in the year 1809: and they. came to the conclusion,
that the steam of hot water effected the object best, without injuring
the quality of the silk. Six ounces of white cocoons were submitted

*Recherches, &c. &c. p. 23.
+ A mercurial thermometer, as already said, chap. 6, should be preferred, for those
made with spirit of wine are seldom accurate.

' . ¢Itis the general practice, in Connecticut, to reel off the silk, as soonas possible af-
ter the cocoons have been formed, and without killing the insect by either of the means
mentioned.

§ See chap. 1, at the close.—If placed in an ice-house, the box containing them
must be well covered to prevent the absorption of moisture.

five] 140

to a temperature of 75°* of steam in a close vessel, furnished with a sate-
ty valve for half an hour,t when the cocoons were taken out, and the
ehrysalides were found dead. ‘The texture and color of the cocoons
were uninjured, but their weight was reduced from six ounces to five
ounces three grains. {

The following description of a furnace for steaming cocoons in
France, is given by Mr. Stevenson:

‘< It is built of brick, the ground part holds the fuel, whichis placed
upon a grate; over that, and at a little distance, a eopper cauldron
is fixed to contain the water; above this is another grate, upon which
the cocoons are placed in a basket, the twigs of which are wide apart,
the more readily to admit the steam. To this grate and cauldron, ac-
cess is had by a door opening above the entrance of the fire. The fur-
nace is arched with bricks, that, when the door is shut; the steam may
be retained within; which, in the space of eight minutes, is found effec-
tually to kill the insects in the cocoons. The basket is then taken out
and put aside, to let the cocoons dry; another basket is then placed in
the furnace with more cocoons, taking care to keep up the fire so as to
have the water in the cauldron always boiling.’’

If the furnace be arched, a safety valve should be fixed on the top;
4 wooden cover would be safer, over which a woollen rug may be
thrown. - The foundation ought te extend beyond the body of the
brick work, and an opening in it left to admit air to the fuel, and to take
out the ashes. It should be provided with a sheet iron door with
hinges, havinga smaller door in it, after the manner of the door of a close
stove; over this opening a fire stone, or cast iron plate, must be placed,
to support the brick work above, and to prevent it from being injured
when the wood is put in. A vacancy of two inches must be left be- -
tween the boiler and the surrounding brick work, to cause the flame to
pass round it, before the smoke is permitted toescape. Fuel will thus
be saved, and the regularity of the heat be more certainly kept up,
which is an essential point to ensure the death of all the chrysalides.
That no doubt may remain on this head, the cocoons should be cover-
ed instantly, after being taken out of the furnace, with a woollen cloth,
one or two hours to confine the heat. They must then be dried with-
out delay, or the silk will be injured. Exposure to the air in dry
weather will effect this; in damp weather, they may be put in an oven,
gently heated, on clean cloths of linen or muslin, or in baskets.

* The French writer from whom this account is taken, does not mention the ther-
mometer used on this occasion. It was either that of Celsius, called the Centigrade,
sr of Reaumur, both of which are usedin France. The scale of Celsius, between the
freezing and boiling points, is divided into 100°. The freezing point is marked 0, the
boiling point 100° 75° of this, then, would be equal to 60° of Reaumur, or 167° of Fah-
renheit. ‘In Reaumur’s scale, the space between the boiling and freezing points 's
divided into 80°. The freezing pointis marked 0, the boiling point 80°; on this
seale 75° is equal to 202° of Fahrenheit, or 94° of Celsius. It is probable the writer
refers to Reaumutr’s scale.

+ This length of time is quite unnecessary, and even injurious to the cocoons,

fe - 7 > ee “ a ” 46 = ora
4 Traite complet de mechanique, par Borgnis, tom. 7, p. 15.’ Paris, 1820

14d fF 175 Y

’

To bake Cocoons.

In five er six days after the cocoons have becn detached from the
branches or frames, carefully pick out all the spotted cocoons, and put
the rest in long flat baskets, filling them within an inch of the top;
cover them with paper, and a wrapper over it; put these baskets in
an oven, the heat of which must be as near as possible to that of one
from which the bread is just drawn, after being baked.* After the
cocoons have remained an hour therein, draw them out, and to ascer-
tain if the worms be dead, take out from the middle of the baskets 2
dupion, and open it; if the worm be dead, it may be concluded all the
rest are so, because the contexture of the dupion being stronger than
that of the other coccons, it is consequently less easily penetrated by
the heat; it ought to be taken from the middle of the basket, because,
in that part the heat is the least perceptible. After the baskets have
been drawn out of the oven, cover them witha thick woollen rug,
leaving the wrapper as it was; and pile the baskets on one another.
If the baking hassucceeded, the woollen cloth will be covered with
large drops of water, the thickness of the little finger. The baskets
may stand covered thus for five or six hours, in order to keep in the
heat, which stifles those worms which have resisted the heat of the
oven. It is a favorable sign when some of the butterflies appear
alive among the baked cocoons, because it is certain the others are not
burnt; and in the attempt to kill the last worm, many cocoons might
be burnt, asthey would be exposed to more heat than that particular
worm. Ifthere be some strong and some weak cocoons, and there
has not been time to wind them while they are fresh, (that is, without
baking,) give the preference to the weak cocoons for winding, and
bake the strong ones; because the latter, containing more gum, sup-
port the baking better, and suffer less than the weak ones. If the
cocoons are bought, put them into baskets,; and set them in the sun-
shine, (if any,) in case the oven be full, in order tostun the worms, and
prevent them from injuring the cocoon during that time; place them
also for an hour or two, in the open air, before they are put into the
oven; because, when they are brought in and heaped on each other, .
they become heated and soft, and the exposure to the air restores
their firmness. When the cocoons are thoroughly baked, spread them
in thin layers on shelves, distributed into as many stories as the cham-
ber willadmit, two or three feet apart, above one another, and turn
them every day; for, if this be neglected, they would become mouldy,
and moths would destroy them. Jt is necessary to pick out the spot-
ted cocoons and the bad choquettes, which would communicate their.
infection to all the rest that may be near them; these should be wound
as soon as possible, to prevent them growing worse.

»*°The heat should be a few degrees under that of boiling water, or 212° of Fah-
renheit; 80° of Reaumur. The gven should not be hot enough to scorch a sheet of
paper.

£275 J 142

Of royal, perforaied Cocoons and Soujfions.

The royal cocoons are those kept for eggs. The worm having ”
made a hole for his passage, the silk is cut, the continuity of the fibre
interrupted, and cannot be wound, and is in the class of the perforated
cocoons. Neither can the soufflons be wound, because their silk, being
the produce of a weak, sick worm, has not the necessary gum; besides,
it.cannot be wound, because the fibres are interlaid and entangled.

“These cocoons may, however, be profitably employed for carding and
spinning, when subjected to particular treatment, which shall be here-
after deseribed. To calculate the value of these sorts of cocoons, the
following calculations may be observed, viz:

If the good cocoonsare worth == = Bs 100
The perforated are worth - 2 3 33%
The souffions do. = : 25 \
The royal cocoons do. . < bit 250

But if the royal cocoons are not picked out of the best for eggs,
they are worth only 200. The best fleurett is made of royal cocoons;
next in value is that of perforated; and the worst, of soufflons.*

Mode of reeling silk from the best Cocoons.

Pretiminary Remanxs.—The reeling must be performed in dry
weather, and when the air is perfectly calm. If done in a building or
shed, it shou!d be open on one side, to enjoy sun and air, and walled
on the other, to screen off the wind, which would blow about the fibres
and threads.

The softest water must be chosen for soaking the cocoons. The
proper temperature for it cannot be ascertained until the reeling is
commenced, owing to the diflerent composition of the silk. Some co-
eoons willrequire water heated from 168° to 190°; others from 190°
to 202°. Some point betwcen these extremes may be chosen to which
the water should be heated ina first experiment. One thing is certain,
that, in the United States, it must never reach the boiling point, or
212°. 4
The good cocoons, the white and yellow, are the easiest to wind.
The sattiny and the cocalons require water less heated than the others.
Tf hot water be used for the last, they furze out in winding. The
dupions, the choqueties, the steamed cocoons, and.those which have
been kept along time after being baked, require the hottest water.
‘The dupions require to be soaked five or six minutes before they can
be reeled. The cocoons in which the chrysalides have not been killed.
by either steaming or baking, give out their silk very easily, and in
svater less heated than the last mentioned sorts. The temperature of
the water most proper for each particular species of cocoon being as-
eertained by the thermometer, it must be kept to that degree by dip+

19

* Trans: Amer- Phil. Soc. rol. 2.

P r;
a —
aa ee oe eee

143 C. Tae

ping the instrument in it frequently; and the fire under the basin must
be lessened or increased as occasion may require. A little attention
will soon enable the person who has the management of the basin, to
preserve the water at the proper degree of heat. .

The recling is effected by the use of the apparatus represented in
plate 1, fig. 1.* The person charged with the management of the cocoons
in the basin, must be provided with a small whisk of broom-corn, or
of birch twigs cut sharp at the points, and, being seated behind the ba-
sin previously filled with soft hot water, and the basin placed upon a
furnace containing burning charcoal, she must throw into the water a
handful or two of cocoons of one sort and degree of firmness, and press
them gently under the water for two or three minutes, in order to
soften the gum of the silk, and thereby to loosen the ends of the fila-
ments. She is then to stir the cocoons with the end of the whisk, as
lightly as possible,t until one of the fibres, or filaments, adheres to it,
when, disengaging it, and laying aside the whisk, she is to draw the
filament towards her, until it comes. off quite clean from flos, or coarse
silk, which always surrounds the cocoon, and the fine silk begins to

‘appear: then, breaking off the thread, and collecting the flos first

taken off, she must put itaside. ‘The whisk is then to be applied again,
to get hold of the fine fibres, all of which must be set apart, each fibre
by itself, by fixing it to a piece of wood kept near to the furnace for
that purpose, or to a frame of wood placed all around, and on the edge

of the copper, till the whole, or the greatest part, are arranged in this

manner, which are thus in readiness to be thrown in, to form the thread
of silk to be wound off. This done, she is to unite a number of the
fibres, according to the fineness of the intended{ thread, and delivers
the compound thread to the reeler, who puts it through one of the
holes in the iron plate, placed horizontally above the basin containing
the cocoons and water. Another thread is, in like manner, to be pre-
pared, and passed through the adjoining hole. ‘This process is repeat-_
ed with the two other holes at the other end of the plate; the twe
threads are then crossed twenty or twenty-five times, and the ends of
each thread passed through the guide-hooks, (rampins,§) MM, of the
traversing bar I, and on the contrary side to the hole in the iron plate
through which it had previously been passed. They are then to be

* There are several kinds or patterns of reels. The one here referred to, was im-
ported by the writer from Genca into Philadelphia, in the year 1826, and answers
perfectly. Mr. D. Tees, No. 150, North Front street, and B. F. Pomeroy, corner
of Walnut and. Dock streets, Philadelphia, are recommended to those who wish to
have silk reels made.

+ The cocoons should be just touched. If they be struck roughly, the fibres of
the silk, in place of coming off singly, cling together in lumps, which prevents it
from winding off. ‘

+¥For fine silk, four fibres, from four cocoons, are to be passed through each
of two holes in the iron plate, most distant from each other. ‘The rule for inferior
cocoons will be hereafter mentioned. Two skeins of silk, from good cocoons, are
always reeled at the same time, whether the silk be fine or coarse. See plate

i, fig. 1.

-§ If these were made of brass wire, the threads would more readily pass through:
them, and not be soliable to rust. as when iron wire is used.

~

{175 ] 144

carried forward, and made fast to one of the arms of the reel N. The.

points of attachment of the two threads will be regulated by the dis-

tance between the rampins.* Both threads being fastened to the reel,

it is to be turned with a regular, even motion, at first slowly, until the
threads are found torun freely and easily: for it will happen that some
of the ends, which were taken to compose the thread, were false, be-
cause, in taking off the flos, there may be two or three breaches made
in the beginning of the fibres, which, in winding, will soon end, and

must be added anew to make up the number designed for the

thread. It might, therefore, be proper, in the beginning ofthe thread,
to put a few more cocoons than it is intended to continue, which will
soon be reduced to the proper number.

The crossing of the threads is so essential to their perfection, that it
must not, on any account, be omitted. It is necessary to promote the
dissipation of the moisture imbibed by the fibres, and thus prevents the
injurious glueing of the threads upon the reel. The friction of the
threads also removes the knots, inequalities, and roughness on them,
and causes a perfect adhesion of their fibres, and hence ensures their
strength, their uniform thickness, and cylindrical form, which other-
wise would be fiat.t Figure 1, in plate 1, will give a perfect idea of
this first step in the preparation of silk. It represents two threads
formed from 16 cocoons. | Phe

As soon as the pods begin to give the thread freely, the reel is turn-
ed witha quicker motion. If the pods leap up often, and beat against
the iron plate P, the motion of the reel must be slackened; and if the
threads come off in burrs, it must be turned quicker. Of this the

spinner, who has her eye upon the balls and thread, must, as she sees

occasion, apprize the reeler, and, at the same time, the fire must be
increased or diminished, that the reel may be allowed a proper mo-
tion, which ought to be as quick as possible, without endangering the
breaking of the thread, or hurrying the spinner, so that she cannot add
fresh cocoons as fast as the old ones are ended.

The quicker the motion of the wheel is, the better the silk winds off,
and the better the end joins tothe thread. One might imagine that the

rapidity of the motion would overstrain and break the thread; but,

{rom constant experience, it has been found that the thread never once
breaks from the rapidity of the motion, but, on the contrary, that the
quicker the motion is, the morc advantageous it is for winding the
sk tl,
sulk.

* The person having the management of the cocoons in the basin, should have

very smooth fingers, as the most trifling roughness of the skin will cause great em-

barrassment. If the skin of the fingers, therefore, of the person mentioned, be
rough, it must be rendered smooth, by being rubbed with sand-paper, or dog-fish skin.
{ Nouvelle Encyclopzdie Mcthodique, art. Soieric, p. 21. From this work it ap-

pears that the number of these crossings is prescribed by the 4th section of the law in ©

Piedmont, of long standing, for the regulation of the reeling of silk, to be 18 or 20
times at least. For coarser silk, the number of crossings isto be increased. The
various processes of the manufacture of silk in Piedmont, are regulated by law, (the
result of long experience as to the best mode of procedure,) and are enforced by a
strict inspection of public officers, in order to preserve the character, which the raw
silk and stuffs of that country has Jong enjoved ’ : j

so

145 [4759

While the reel is turning, the spinner must continually add fresh
libres to each thread as fast as she can find the ends, not waiting till
some of the number she began with are ended, because the internal
fibres are much thinner than those constituting the external layers; but
must constantly prepare fresh ends, by dipping the whisk among fresh
cocoons, of which such a quantity must be occasionally thrown into
the basin, as will suffice to supply the two threads which are reeling,
but not more; because, by being teo long soaked in the hot water, they
would wind off in burrs. The cocoons thrown in, must be often forced
under the water, that they may be equally soaked: for, as they swim
with their greater part above water, that part would remain hard and
stubborn, while the part which is under water would be too much
soaked; or some hot water may be thrown upon them frequently with
a brush, and also on the cocoons which are reeling, when they grow
dry at top, end yield the fibres with difficulty. The supplying fresh
ends, when the cocoons are exhausted, or diminish, or the fibres break,
is performed by taking one end of a fibre, and throwing it lightly on
the one that is winding, and rolling them between the thumb and the
finger, or gently pressing them.

As often, therefore, as the cocoons are partially wound, are exhaust-
ed, or the fibre breaks, fresh ones must be joined, to keep up the num-
ber requisite, or the proportion: thus three new ones may be wound,
and two half wound, or four new ones, and the silk will then be from
four to five cocoons. ‘The adroitness in adding fresh threads can only
be aequired by practice. The difficulty of keeping the thread even is
so great, owing to the increased fineness of the fibre inside, that, (ex-
cepting a thread of two cocoons,) we do not say a silk of three, of
four, or of six cocoons, but a silk of three and four, of four and five,
and of six to seven. In coarser silk, we do not calculate so nicely, as
one cocoon more or less: we say, for example, from twelve to fifteen,
from fifteen totwenty cocoons. In beginning a thread of ten cocoons,
from sixteen to twenty will sometimes be required to preserve a uni-
form thread, after a portion of the first layer has been wound off.

The quantity of silk which can be reeled in any given time, isin pro-
portion to the quickness with which the spinner can add fresh cocoons.
Thus, if we suppose that every cocoon, at a medium, will either break
or be wound off at the end of five hundred feet, then, if five such pods
are reeled together, a fresh end will be wanted at every hundred feet
that are reeled; if ten are reeled together, one will be wanted at every
fifty feet; if sixteen together, then at thirty-one feet, and soon. The
seldomer that cocoons end or break, the greater number of them can
one spinner attend, which shows the advantage of sound cocoons, of an
expert manager, and of every artifice, which can hinder either the
breaking of the single fibres, or of the whole thread.

When, in the progress of reeling off a set of cocoons, the fibre is ob-
served to diminish in size, in place of supplying additional fibres from
more numerous cocoons than were at first in play, in order to keep up

' 19

pare j 146

the uniformity in the size of the thread, the following practice 1s
adopted in the Cevennes, a famous silk district of France.*

‘««JIn preparing fine silk, the cocoons are not wound off entirely, so
as to leave the pellicle of the chrysalis bare, for two reasons: first, be-
cause the additional fibres required to be added, when the first and
strong part of the fibre is observed to be spent, might make the com-
pound thread too stout, and would thus cause a waste of silk; secondly,
because the fibre of a cocoon, which has been entirely wound off, be-
sides being weak, also aboundsin knots, which would cause it to break
in winding, and injure its uniformity, in which the goodness of the
thread mainly consists. ‘Therefore, in winding fine silk, when the co-
coon has given off three-fourths and a half of silk,t it must be replaced
by another cocoon ; the remainder of the first cocoons are to be set
aside, and their silk added to that of an inferior quality. When the
first parcel of cocoons is nearly finished, take out, with a ladle, all
those on which some silk has been left; let them be opened, the ehrys-
alides taken out, and the shells put in a basket, with the coarse fibres
first pulled off with the hands from the cocoons, which were ordered
to be laid aside. ‘These cocoons, which are partly wound off, must on
no account be permitted to remain in the basin: for they will obscure
and thicken the water, and injure the color and lustre of the silk,
which can then be used only for dark colors: besides this, the consist-
ence of the silk is injured, and waste ensues in the winding.”’{ The
shells are to be buried, to prevent them from becoming offensive ; or
they may be added to the manure heap. As a general rule, the water
must be changed when it is discolored.

When the spent cocoons leap up, and adhere to the iron plate, they
must be immediately taken away, else, by choking the passage, they
will endanger the breaking of the thread.

When the reel has remained any time idle, the thread between the
basin and the wires or rampins, must be wet, to cause the thread to run
easily. Keep also the teeth of the wheels, and the mortises, in which
the traversing bar plays, wet, to ensure regularity and ease in their
movements. In winding the good cocoons, some defective ones will
be found among them, which will not wind off, or are full of knobs;
these must be taken out of the copper, and kept by themselves; they
are called bassinats, and are to be wound apart as coarse as possible;
they make a foul silk. ;

‘The breaking of the fibres is principally owing either to bad cocoons,
viz: being ill formed, (as they will be when the worms were disturbed
and interrupted during their spinning,) or the fibres may break by an

*This appears to be a preferable mode, as regards ease of performance, and the
preservation of a uniformity in the thread, to the old plan of increasing the number of
fibres from fresh cocoons, to add to others which may be nearly spent.

¢ Reynaud says, p. 237, that a cocoon will preserve a uniform fibre for 300 feet.
A French foot is equal to 13 American inches.

+ De Versa Soie etde leur Education, selon la pratique des Cevennes: par M. Rey-
naud, p. 234, Paris, 1824,

In Italy, the pellicle or shell is used to make artificial flowers, which are said te
eee those from any other material. Essai sur Histoire, &c. par Delongchamps,
~P- .

147 of oa

improper regulation of the heat in the water: first, when it is not sufli-
cient to make them wind off easy; or, second, when it is too great,
and oceasions burrs, which may stop at some of the holes through which
the thread runs. Cocoons, also, which have two worms enclosed, will
perpetually break. The whole thread may also break, by burrs stop-
ping at the holes in the plate, or by the reel’s being turned by jerks.
It may be fastened, like the fibres, by laying the parts on one another,
and giving them a little twist. To avoid the breaking, occasioned by
burrs, the rampins should be just so wide as to let them easily pass.

It would be convenient for the spinner tp have a little stick erect-
ed close to the side of the basin, to hang her whisk on, and also a
sharp fork, with which she may draw away the spent cocoons; or
such, as being near spent, stick at the hgles'in the plate: and as the
whisk will frequently take up more ends than are immediately to be
added, and as the spinner will sometimes have occasion to empley both
her hands, the brush will, at that time, conveniently hang by the ba-
sin, while the cocoons, which are attached to it, remain in the water,
and the ends will be in readiness as they are wanted. When cocoons
rise to the iron plate, they are to be drawn down between the fingers
of the spread hand.

If the spinner be under the necessity of leaving off work for any
length of time, the cocoons should all be raised with a skimming dish
out of the water, till her return; otherwise, by oversoaking, they
would wind off in burrs; but it is best to continue the reeling without
interruption, and to let fresh, but equally experienced persons succeed
those who are tired.

The person who turns the reel, should have an eye to the threads,
and to the guide-wires (rampins) through which they pass, that he
may apprize the spinner when any thing is wrong: for her eyes will
be. sufficiently employed about the cocoons. The reeler might also
rectify any thing discovered to be amiss in those parts of the thread
which are near the reel: for one hand will always be unemployed, and
a stop must occasionally take place.

Though the reeler can change hands, as they tire, by turning, yet,
for ease, he might have a support for his arm opposite to the axle of
the reel, and so turn the handle only by that motion which can be
given to it by the arm moving upon the elbow as a centre.

As the heat of the water in the basin will require to be varied, ac-
cording to the ease or difficulty with which the different sorts of co-
coons give off their silk, the spinner should always have some cold
water within reach, in order to cool that in the basin quickly, when
the silk comes off too easily, and in burrs. The water is also neces-
sary for the woman managing the cocoons, to cool her fingers, and to
sprinkle the iron bar when it becomes heated. Some chips or shavings
should also be at hand, to increase the heat quickly, when the cocoons
do not yield their silk readily.

If there should happen to be any sand in the water, the heat causes
it to rise to the surface and fix on the cocoons—the thread of which
will break as if cut; for this reason, the utmost care must be taken to

Chan 148

guard against it, and to remove it. Previously to being boiled, the
water should be permitted to settle, and the pan must be carefully
wiped; if necessary, the basin should be covered while the water is
heating. If sand be perceived in the water, it must be poured off, and
the sand washed out, for a single grain may cause the fibre to break.

When the cocoons are first put in the water, if the silk rises thick
upon the brush, or comes in lumps, it is a sign that the water is too
hot; if the thread cannot be caught, the water is too cold. When the
cocoons are in play, if they rise often to the holes in the iron plate,
the water is too hot; if the cocoons do not fellow the threads, it is too
cold.

Keep an equal number of cocoons working at each end of the basin,
in order to preserve the thread of silk of an equal size. When there
are fewer on one side than the other, the silk becomes smaller at that
side, and the thread will break. Therefore, throw in the cocoons one.
by one, and never more than two at a time.

It will be seen, by observing the position of the thread upon the
reel, that the different layers do not lie parallel to, nor upon, but cross
one another. This is owing to the mechanism of the apparatus, and
is particularly contrived to effect this object, which is essential to the
perfection of the process, and one to which the acknowledged superi-
ority of the Italian silk is to be ascribed. Itis effected by the see-saw
or horizontal motion of the traversing bar, and is produced by the
different number of the teeth in the pinion of the axle, and in the
wheels at the ends of the shaft E, and in the pinions on the top of the.
post K, which catch and work upon one another. Without this cross-
ing, the threads, from their gummy nature,. would inevitably adhere,
and render the subsequent windings and twistings of the silk very
difficult; causing the threads frequently to break, and, when joined,
to form knots, which, in weaving, cannot pass through the reeds, and
hence injure the beauty of the stuffs. But the mechanism mentioned
of the traversing bar, prevents the threads lying over each other upon
the reel, until after it has made many revolutions. Borgnis* says, that
a thread cannot be found to occupy the same place it had at the com-
mencement of the reeling, until after eight hundred and seventy-five
turns of the reel. During this time, the exposure of the threads to the
air, causes the first layer to dry completely, and hence no adhesion be-
tween them can take place. The double irregularity of movement
which takes place between the traversing bar, and the axle which
moves it, forms also an internal motion, the effect of which is to imi-
tate, in the unravelling of the cocoon, the same method employed by
the silk caterpillar in forming it: for it is a fact, as before said, that
the silk fibres of the cocoon are spun on it in zig-zags, like those
formed by the silk reel, and, consequently, the operation of the reel is
an imitation of nature, of which the industry of the caterpillar, in-
structed by her, is the prototype. .

With the view of increasing the facility of drying the threads, the
law of Piedmont requires the distance between the posts or supports

* Traite de Mechanique, applique aux Arts, vol. 7.

149 ae

of the axle and the traversing bar, to be ‘‘ two aliprand feet,” or three
feet four inches and two-fifths, American measure. *

Seven rotations of the reel, cause the traversing bar to move five
times from side to side.

Dandolo says, it isa well known fact, that, of two reelers, each
reeling 72 pounds of cocoons of the same quality, one will obtain only
six ounces and a half, or perhaps still less, while another will turn off
eight ounces

Mr. Nouaille says, that ‘a woman at Novi, (Italy) experienced in
the business, with the assistance of a girl to turn the reel and attend
the fire under the caldron, can, with ease, reel off one pound of silk,
consisting of four or five cocoons, of the most perfect quality, in a day.t

When a desired quantity of sitk has been wound on the reel, pick
off all the loose silk; then take a little handful of the coarse silk, and,
after washing and squeezing it, dip it in cold water, and rub over the
silk on the reel, stroking up also the silk with the palm of the hand:
then turnthe wheel with all possible velocity, with open windows, if
the reeling has been done in a room, for about eight or ten minutes, to
dry the silk effectually; which done, take off the reel, put it in a dry,
airy place, but not in the sun. This is done to clean the silk and give
ita gloss. t

When one reel is taken off, another should be put on, that the work
may not be delayed. Every winding apparatus must have two reels.

In preparing the dupions for winding off, more are put into the basin
at once than of the finest kind. They must be first well cleaned from
the flos on their outsides. The water aiso must be boiling hot ; and,
as the silk they yield is of a coarser quality than the other, and has a
good deal of flos upon it, the person who turns the reel must take the
opportunity, while the one who manages the basin is preparing the
cocoons for winding, to clean and pick off the loose silk from that
which is on the reel. The dupions intended for ordinary sewing silk,
are to be wound from 15 to 20 cocoons. The rest may be wound as
coarse as possible, that is, from 40 to 50 cocoons. ‘These serve to cover
and fill up coarse stuffs, and are likewise used for sewing silk. The
good choquettes are to be wound according to the uses they are intended
to be put to, but not finer than from seven to eight. The bad choquette
may be wound from 15 to 20. The sattiny cocoons, so called from
their resemblance to satin, require water only moderately hot. The
proper heat will be found by observing the manner in which the silk
comes off from the first of them which are put into the basin; and, as
already said of cocoons generally, if it come off thick, cold water must

* This regulation constitutes the 6th article of the Piedmont law of April 8, 1724,
onthe silk manufacture. The distance between the axle of the reel and the travers-
ing bar, in the apparatus imported into Philadelphia, in 1826, by the writer, is four
feet eight inches.

+ Trans. Soc. Arts, Lond. vol. 6, p. 177.

+ This is the practice in France, according to Mr. Stevenson; but the'18th article of
the law of Piedmont, for the regulation of the silk filature, expressly forbids the
smoothing to be done inany way except with the dry hand.—Nouvelle Ency. Me-
thodique, article Soie.

f 175] 150

be added, until the proper temperature be attained. They must not
be Mowed to remain long i in the water, and there should be only a few
of these cocoons putin at a time. The water for the dupions and cho-
quettes must be changed four times a day.

Of disbanding the silk from the reel, and tying it in skeins: pre-
puration of the silk for use.

One cannot consider attentively the manner in which the silk is
reeled from the cocoons, without observing that the single fibres of
which the thread is composed are liable to suffer very different de-
_ grees of stretching as they are wound from the cocoons. If the co-
coons are not well sorted, this different degree of extension will be the
greater; and, even when they are sorted, they must still be subject to
the same, Hecative some are alittle longer i in the water than others, and
therefore give their silk easier; and also the weak latter, ends of some
cocoons wind off with the strong first part of others.

The fibres being thus stretched unequally, will occasion (when the
skein is taken from the reel too suddenly) those fibres which are most
stretched, to contract more than the others, by which their union will
be in some measure destroyed, and the thread composed of them ren-
dered less compact and firm, the fibres appearing in several places dis-
joined from one another. ‘To remedy this, the skein should remain
there six or eight hours, until the unequal extension which it suffered
in winding, is, by the stretch which it undergoes on the reel, brought
nearer to an equality; and, until the thread, by being well dried, has
its fibres firmly united.

~ When the skein is finished, there should be a mark tied to the end
of the thread, otherwise it may be difficult to find it, if it mixes with
the threads of the skein.

When the skein is quite dry, proceed to disband it from the reel.
First, squeeze it together all round, to loosen it upon the bars; then,
with a thread made of the refuse silk, tie it on that place where it bore
on the bars of the reel; then slide it off the reel, and make another
tie on the part opposite to the one first made; after which, double it,
and tie it near each extremity, and then lay it by for use or sale, in a
dry place.

After the silk has been taken from the reel, it undergoes the follow-
ing operations, to prepare it for putting in the loom:

ist. It is wound from the skein upon bobbins, in a winding machine,
(plate 3, fig. 1.) 2d. It is twisted on a mill, in the single thread—the
twist being i in the direction of from right to left, andvery light. 3d.
Two or more threads, thus twisted, are doubled, or drawn together
through the fingers of a woman, who, at the same time, clears them,
by taking out the slubs which may have been left in the silk by the
negligence of the reeler. 4th. It is then thrown, or organzined; that
is, two or more threads are twisted together, either slack or hard, as
the intended manufacture may require; but the twist isin an opposite
direction to the first twist, and it is wound at the same time in skeins

151 | [ 175 ]

upon areel. 5th. The skeins are sorted according to their qualities,
and then dyed.

Before the silk is wound upon the bobbins, it must be prepared by
breaking the gum at the four corners of the skein, which lay upon the
reel when wound off from the cocoons: this is done by rubbing the silk
in those places between the fingers, until the threads are entirely sepa-
rated. It must then be opened and spread out upon the wheel, and all
the straggling ends cut short, and the gouts cleared away.

The twisting of the compound thread is intended to unite the consti-
tuent fibres more firmly than they can be by the gum alone. This is
effected by the tramming machine, and the thread is called tram. It
is used for the filling of stuffs, and for other purposes, and is, more or
less, twisted according to the objects for which it is intended. The
whole process, as at present commonly performed, is described in the
preamble to Mr.Shenton’s account of his improved tramming machine,
to be given hereafter. His own apparatus will probably take the place
of those hitherto in use. ,

The annexed cut gives a view of an apparatus* to double and twist
silk thread, which will be found very useful for domestic work. The
operation of it is apparent from its construction. In place of working
it with the bobbins placed between the two upright posts, they may
be fixed upon their basis, as seen at @ &. In this case the threads are
conducted over a glass rod, on the top of the frame ec d, and, from that
to the spool e, placed above the box before the wheel. The axis of the
wheel is not parallel to that of the spool; hence, the band passing over
the wheel makes an acute angle with the axis of the spool. This ar-
rangement secures the point of the spindle in a hole which receives it.

ein a
Tc
Mo

er ee

‘|g
if da Se Se aR

a
Fin Oe
zm a

\F |

2 \
@

y 4,

aad Wo) organzine silk, the thread is first twisted from right to left, as al-
ready said. The silk, in twisting, turns off on other bobbins, some-

* From the Nouvelle Encyclopedie Methodique, article Soierie.

[475 4] 158

what larger than the first. ‘These bobbins are then to be exposed te
the steam of water. to which have been added two ounces of white, or
still better, Castile soap two ounces, eighteen ounces of olive oil, and
four or five pounds of wood ashes. The bobbins are to be put in a
kettle, the bottom of which is pierced, and placed over the vessel of
water, when it boils, with a cloth over it, and permitted to remain un-
til the silk begins to swell and to detach from the bobbins. They are
then to be taken away, and the second throw or twist given to the
threads, from left to right. The combination of these two throws is
called the pear/, as the organzine looks like a string of small pearls or
beads. It is easy to know if the second throw be perfect, by untwist-
ing part of the organzine, and when it is open, on slackening the hand a
littl e, each thread twists round itself in obedience to the first throw or
twist. The water may be filled up as it wastes, but the ashes, soap,
and oil, are to be renewed every day.

The warping machine is described in Rees’ Cyclopzedia, article Silk.
The figure is in the 4th volume of plates of that work.

The operation of organzining is described at large, in the explanation
of the plate of the throwing machine.

It is probable that Fanshaw’s new invention, asketch of which the
writer has fortunately obtained froma very recent publication, will
supersede much of the old complicated and expensive silk machinery.”

Preparation of the waste silk.

All the cocoons which have been pierced by the moths, those formed
with holes at one or both ends, the light cocoons deemed improper for
winding, after the insects have been “cut out, or threshed out, and the
pellicles remaining after winding off the silk, are to be coMentads and if
it be wished to retain the y ellow color, they are pul in a copper kettle
with water, and tramped with the feet, turning the cocoons, and adding
a little fresh water from time to time, until it be found that the silk se-
parates properly, upon tedding it out with the fingers. They are then
tied up ina clean eleth, which is dipped in a clear stream, or water is
poured on them, until it runs off without color, and spread out to
dry in the sun. Waste ae intended te remain white, is to be treated
in the following manner

Put the cocoons in a kettle of cold water, and let them lie twenty-
four hours: then boil them in a copper kettle, adding a quarter of a
pound of soap? for every pound of cocoons: when the soap.is dissolved,
tie up the cocoons in a clean cloth, put it in a kettle, and boil
until the cocoons have become white. The water should entirely
cover the cloth; then take out the cloth, and dip it in aclear stream, or
pour water on it till it comes off clear; then spread out the cocoons in
the sun to dry. Mr. Stephenson, from whose paper these directions
are taken, says the merchants prefer the silk cleaned by means of cold

* See the explanation of the plates.
+ The quality of the soap is of great consequence: brown soap must not be used.

~~

153 a [ 179]

water, to that which is boiled; alleging that the first loses less of its na-
tural gum, and takes all manner of dies better than that which has been
boiled. Before being spun, it is beaten with a rod upon a table, ac-
cording to Reynaud. A hatter’s bow would probably open and sepa-
rate the fibres more effectually. Would it not then easily form into
rolls by being passed through a cotton carding machine?

On spinning inferior qualities of silk.

In every filature, one or more reels are devoted to the spinning with
the carrelet,* the inferior qualities of silk which cannot be spun on the
common reel. The frame of the carrelet is longer than the silk reel,
and has commonly a wheel with four arms; but a wheel with eight will
do equal service, if two of them are moveable. The most essential
difference in the frames is that of the head pieces. To these are adapt-
eda board which carries two or four bobbins. If there are only two,
they are placed longitudinally, one above the other. If two threads
are to be wound at a time, two other bobbins are added, and placed
between the other two, in the same position. After the cocoons have
been thrashed, 2 number of the fibres are collected to form a thread,
which is passed through one of the two eyes of the board of the bobbins,
of the same form as that of the traversing bar of the silk reel; then it
is wound round both bobbins at the same time: being first carried to
the first and returning round the second, it passes between them, giv-
ing a twist to the part of the fibre which was extended from one bobbin
to the other. This is the only twisting which these threads receive.
The spinner then takes the same end and passes it through the eye of
the traversing bar, and, attaching it to the wheel, it is set in motion.
If it be wished to wind two skeins at one time, a second thread is pre-
pared, and attached to the second pair of cylinders or bobbins, whence
it is passed through the sécond eye of the traversing bar, and then fix-
ed to the wheel at a proper distance from the first end. The silk has
little uniformity, is of an obscure hue, and causes much waste in wind-
ing. It is used for black stuffs of an inferior quality.

Many manufacturers spin all their good silk, and that of an inferior
quality, upon the carrelet, to make the thread called tram. This is
slightly twisted, and is used for the filling of stuffs, and for inferior silks
for bonnets. One pound of cocoons is required to make one pound of
this silk. This thread wastes in winding, but as it is slightly twisted,
it parts with its gum more readily in boiling, and takes a finer color
than other threads. The dupions or double cocoons, are also reeled on
the carrelet. They require to be immersed five or six minutes in hot
water, to soften their firm texture. They are used to make sewing
silk.

* This apparatus is not mentioned in the French Encyclopedia, nor in Borgni’s re-
cent work expressly devoted to the machines used in the arts. The most diligent in-
quiry failed in obtaining an account or draught of it. The notice givenabove of its use.
is from the work before quoted by M. Reynaud. Any American would rendera ser-
vice to his country by importing the carrelet.

on

{ 175 j 154

The coarse fibres, which are first taken off from the cocoons, (a
directed in the passage on reeling, ) and laid aside, are called in France,
the fantasie. Two pounds of cocoons commonly yield about four
ounces and a half of this material, and sells in France for about a dollar
and a quarter for two pounds. It is first boiled to deprive it of gum,
then carded and spun. The best of it is used for the filling, after be-
ing slightly twisted, and the inferior quality for the chain of stuffs. In
Connecticut the coarse threads of the cocoons are made into a ball,
then reeled, boiled in soap and water, rinsed, dried, cut into one and a
half inch pieces, then carded on cotton cards, and spun like wool or
cotton.

The thread called in France filoselle, is made in part from pointed
cocoons, formed by feeble worms, or in cold seasons; the ends are
slightly covered with silk, and, not being entirely close, the water en-
ters and precipitates them to the bottom. More or less are met with
inevery parcel. They are first deprived of their gum, by being im-
mersed in plain water, or in soap and water, when the filoselle is wish-
ed.to be white, as before directed. When dried, this filoselle is spun
upon the distaff in France, and practice enables the women to form an
even and fine thread.

The filoselle thread, made from the tow of the seed cocoons, is es-
teemed of the first quality, giving no waste. It is spun upon the dis-
taff, in France, but may bespunon the wheel. It is prepared as above
directed, and is used to make stockings. The bourre, or waste, is the
produce of the remains of the various manipulations which silk under-
goes when manufacturing, as reeling, doubling, and milling. It is
carded and spun upon the distaff, and sometimes on a wheel.*

‘In France, the perforated and inferior cocoons, and the waste, are all
mixed, and prepared by an apparatus called a devil, to make sewing
silk. No description or draught of this could be obtained. The best
threads of cocoons are reserved for silk fabrics. In Connecticut, fami-
ly sewing silk is made frem the good cocoons, from which the moths
have escaped. The shrivelled.case of the pupa, and any eggs which
may have been deposited in the cocoon, are first taken out; they are
then boiled in soap and water, rinsed, gently squeezed, dried, and spun
ona foot wheel. Knitting thread for stockings and mits, is also made
from them. ‘They make the best sewing silk, by doubling the thread,
reeled from good cocoons, and twisting it on the common wool-wheel.
The skein is first boiled in soap and water, and it lies in a dish contain-
ing enough soapsuds to keep it moist, while the process of twisting is
going on.

The following communication on this subject, was made by Daniel.
Bulkeley, Esq. of Hampton, Connecticut, at the request of the Secre-
tary of the Treasury:

“ The raw silk is first spooled on bobbins, the number of which is in
. proportion to the size of the intended thread from the first spinning;
and, to facilitate the operation, they are put into warm water. The

* Reynaud, p. 251. 265,

155 F175 3

silk is again spooled, taking two or three bobbins, according to thesize
of the intended thread. After being spun, it is reeled into skeins, each
of forty yards in length, or half a knot of the country reel, as required
by a law of the State. About twenty-five of these skeins are put to-
gether, like a skein of cotton or woollen yarn. They are then boiled,
adding a small quantity of soft soap, or ley of wood ashes, to cleanse
them from the gum. They are then ready for dying.

“ Silk twist is spun in the same manner, except that it is always of
three cords. The winding of twist is dene on a machine imported from
England. ,

<¢ We have a small establishment for spinning by water, with a ma-
chine similar to a throstle frame of a cotton mill. The silk is first spool-
ed by hand, on bobbins, which are placed on the top of the frame; the
thread of raw silk passing from it under a wire, through a trough of
water, then through rollers to the spindle. A single frame may con-
tain from thirty to fifty spindles, and can be attended to by one per-
son. The doubling and twisting may be done on the same frame, at the
same time, by giving the bands to a part of the spindles a contrary di-
rection. As many threads are put to a spindle as are required to make
a thread of two or three cords. Silk spun in this way is far supe-
rior to that done by hand. The machine will spin from two to
three pounds in a day. <A pound of silk, after being spun and cleansed,
will weigh about ten ounces, and form one hundred and seventy skeins;
the threads of sufficient size to sew woollens. If spun finer, it will make
more. It increases little or nothing in weight when died. Silk is sold
by the skein; one hundred of which will measure one-third more than
half a pound of Italian or English silk of the same sized threads. One
woman can make from twelve to fifteen pounds of raw silk, in a season
of six weeks.”’

—— >

EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES.
Prats 1—Fieure I.

Silk Reel of Piedmont.—The frame is 6 feet 5 inches long, 43 by
3 inches thick. Distance of the upright posts A B, 4 feet 43 inches.

C C. Length of the braces of the frame, 20 inches in the clear.

D D. Legs of the frame, 2 feet 34 inches long. E, shaft with a
crown wheel at each end. The wheel F, 9 inches and 4, in circum-
ference, has 22 teeth. The wheel G, 10 inches and 2-}, in circum-
ference, has 25 teeth. This shaft has an iron pin at each end, 1 inch
long. The pin at the end G, plays in ahole in a shoulder near the top
of the post O, so as to enable the teeth of the wheel to catch and work
in those of the pinion at the_end of the axle of the reel, which axle,
by means of a pin at the end, also plays in a hole in the post 0. The
pin at the other end of the shaft, plays in a hole of the post K, and the
teeth of the wheel F work in the pinion H, fixed on the top of the post
K, by means of a burr screwed on the pin projecting from the post.

4 175 *\ 146

and passing through the centre of the pinion. This pinion has 35
feet. On the top of the pinion H, is a crank, having a sweep of 4
inches, and receives, on its top, the end of the iron wire-carrier of the
traversing barI. The crank is fixed half an inch from the commence-
ment of the grooves of the pinion. This crank is shown in the figure
H. I, a traversing bar, 2 feet 10 inches long, 3 of an inch wide, ¢
of an inch thick, playing through the posts B K: height of the post,
from the frame, 17 inches.

_ L. Aniron carrier of wire, No. 1, 18 inches long, fixed to the bar
I, to work free by a screw. ‘The other end is fixed by a burr, to the
pin passing through the centre of the pinion H.

M M. Two wire hooks or eyes, (rampins,) 7 inches and % apart,
at equal distances from the ends of the traversing bar, through which
they pass. The wires to the commencement of the turns of the hooks,
are 5 inches in length.

N. The reel; arms, 2 feet 2 inches and =}, long in the clear; 14 inches
wide, and 8, of an inch thick: rails 20 inches # long, 2 inches broad,
f, of an inch thick; two of the arms are jointed, to allow the skeins of
silk to be taken off, when reeled and quitedry. There ought to be an
extra reel to put in the place of the one taken off, to prevent the work
stopping.

O. Upright support for the axle of the reel, on the ends of which
the pinion is fixed, to work with the wheel G, at the end of the shaft
E. The pinion of the axle has 22 teeth. P. Aniron plate with four
holes, 12 inches long, slightly hollowed, projecting 32 inches from the

bar: the outside holes are 3 inches from the ends; from the centre of

one hole to that of the next, of aninch. Distance from the two in-
side and nearest holes, 4 inches and ~,.

Q. The copper basin to contain hot water, in which the cocoons are
immersed, when reeling off. It is 18 inches long, 1 foot broad, and
4% inches deep.

R. The furnace to contain charcoal, to keep the water hot.

Distance from the centre of the posts A B, and O K, 36 inches and
ahalf. Circumference of the reel 6 feet 11 inches. ,

Distance from the top of one arm, where it enters the rail, to another
arm, 18% inches. |

From the axle of the reel and the traversing bar I, four feet eight
inches.

Figure 2 shows the arrangement of the frames for rearing the silk
‘worms, in Dandolo’s laboratory.

Figure 3. A semicircular chopper with two blades. ~

Figure 4. Pierced box to place the moths in. See p. 109, 110.

Figure 5. Frame or tressel to be covered with a cloth, on which the
moths are to lay their eggs.

Figure 6. Rope frame to place the cloths on, containing the eggs to
preserve them until the spring.

Figure 7. Hook to remove the silkworms, when necessary.

— .-

~ =~

Lo’
PLare 2d—Fievre 1 Anp 2.

Indigo Cradle.—The end of the upright lever is attached to a cross
bar, the ends of which play in a bearing fixed on each side of the cradle,
and secured by screws.

From near the ends of the bar, a claw extends to, and embraces, the
journals, or arbors, at each end of the middle roller, lying on the bot-
tom of the cradle; the ends of the claws are divided for this purpose,
and permit the journals to play in them.

The roller is 12 inches long, and 42 diameter. There are two other
rollers, each a little longer, lying loose, and moved by the one fixed to
the claw. The whole is of cast iron.

Mr. Johnson, at the Foundry, Broad-street, Philadelphia, casts
these indigo cradles. ‘Twenty pounds of indigo are put in water, in
the cradle, over night, and then ground, either by hand or other pow-
er, until the indigo is reduced to the state of thick cream, and perfect-
ly smooth.

Prats 2d—Ficure 3 anp 4.

A frame filled with split rattans, used by Messrs. Terhoeven, of
Philadelphia county, to feed siilkworms on.

The ends of the rattans are put through holes in the frames, and fast-
ened by wooden pins, in the manner of rattan chair-bottoms. The rat-
tans are crossed by iron wires, and woven in by fine wire, rolled round
small pieces of wooden rod.

Fig. 4. A frame used by Messrs. Terhoeven, in preference to bushes,
for the worms to form their cocoons in. It is made of four slips of
wood, half an inch thick, and as long as the feeding frames are broad.
Their ends are pointed, and pass through two pieces of wood, half an
inch thick, four inches high, and three broad. Under the whole
length of the frame is a thin strip of board, nailed to the end pieces.
When one of these frames is filled with cocoons, it must he remoyed,
and an empty one put in its place.

PLatTEe 2d—Ficure 5.

Sholl’s improved Silk Loom.—A. A, the sills. B B, the breast rolls.
C, the cuttree. DD, theuprights. E, the burdown. F, the batton.
G, the reeds. H, harness. I, the breast rolls. K, the cheese. L,
the gibbet. M, treadles. N, tumblers. O, short counter meshes.
P, long counter meshes. Q, the porry. R R, cane roll posts. S, cane
rolls. T, the weight bar and weight. N N, counter weights. W,
the breaking rod. X X, cross rods.

The several advantages of this loom are stated by Mr. Sholl to con-
sist in the following particulars: Ist. It is not liable to unsquare, and
yet is more easily moved than the oldloom. 2d. It admits more light
than the common looms tothe workman. 3d. As the cane roll posts
are fixed to the floor by screws, the porry may. be made of any length,

f 175 | 158

by only screwing the cane roll posts nearer, or further trom, the breast
roll. 4. The gibbet is formed in the loom, and therefore the trou-
ble of fixing it is prevented. 5. The bridge of the battons are not nail-
ed to the block, but iron pins are put in the block, and partly go through
the bridge, fastened with glue, so that the silk cannot be injured as
formerly. 6. The battons rise as the work rises, and keep more true
than in theold looms. TZ'rans. Soc. Arts, London, for 1790.

Pirate 3d.—Fieure 1.

Winding Reel.—To wind the silk off from the skeins, in which it
is imported or made up, upon wooden bobbins.

The reel figured, is calculated to wind six threads at ence, but, by in-
creasing the length, it may be made to receive any number.

Each of the skeins is extended upona slight reel A A, called a swift:
it is composed of four small rods fixed in an axis, and small bands of
string are stretched between the arms to receive the skein; but, at the
same time, the bands admit of sliding to a greater or less distance from the
centre, so as toincrease the effective diameter of the reel according to the
size of the skein; because the skeins which come from different coun-
tries, vary in size, being generally an exact yard, or other similar mea-
sure of the country where the silks are produced.

The swifts are supported upon iron pivots, upon which they turn
freely when the silk is drawn off from them; but, in order to cause the
thread to draw with a gentle force, a looped piece of string or wire is
hung upon the axis withinside the reel, and a small leaden weight e be-
ing attached to it, will cause a sufficient friction.

B Bare the bobbins which draw off the threads; they are received in
the frame, and are turned by means of a wheel beneath each; the bob-
bin having a small roller upon the end of it, which bears by its weight
upon the circumference of the wheel, and the bobbin is thereby put in
motion to draw off the silk from the twist.

D is the layer, a small light rod of wood, which has a wire eye fix-
ed into it, opposite to each bobbin, so as to conduct the thread upon; and,
as the layer moves constantly backwards and forwards, the thread is
regularly spread upon the length of the bobbin. The motion of the
layer is produced by a crank fixed upon the end of a cross spindle, E,
which is turned by means of a pair of bevelled wheels from the end of
the horizontal axle upon which the wheels for turning all the bobbins
are fixed. ‘These winding machines are usually situated in the top

building of a silk mill, (when water or steam power are used,) the
frame being made of great length, and also double, to contain a row of
bobbins and swifts at the back as well as in front. The winding ma-
chines require the constant attention of children to mend the ends or
threads which are broken, or, when they are exhausted, to replace them
by putting new skeins upon the swifts. When the bobbins are filled,
they are taken away, by only lifting them out of their frame, and
fresh ones are put in their places.

159 175 J
Pirate 8d—Ficure 2.

A throwsting machine* intended to be worked by hand. _B is the
handle. It is fixed on the spindle R, which carries a wheel D, to give
motion toa pinion upon the upperend of a vertical axle H; this, at the
lower end, has a drum or wheel F, to receive an endless strap or band
@ a, which encompasses the oyal frame G, and gives motion to all the
spindles at once.

The spindles 4 & are placed perpendicularly in the frame G H; their
points resting in small holes, in pieces of glass which are let into the
oval plank G, and'the spindles are, also, received in collars affixed to an
oval frame H, which is supported from the plank G by blocks of wood:
dand a are small rollers, supported in the frame G H in a similar man-
ner to the spindles. Their use is to confine the strap a to press against
the rollers of the spindles with sufficient force to keep them all in
motion..

The thread is taken up as fast as it is twisted by a reel K, which is
turned by a wheel A and a pinion z upon the end of the principal spin-
dle R. The threads are guided by passing through wire eyes fixed in
an oval from L, which is supported in the frame of the machine by a
single bar or rail 72; and this hasa regular traversing motion backwards
and forwards, by means of a crank or eccentric pin #, fixed in a small
cog wheel, which is turned by a pinion upon the vertical axis E: the
opposite end of the rail Z, is supported upon a roller to make it move
easily. By this means the guides are in constant motion, and lay the
threads regularly upon the reel #, when it turns round and gathers up
the silk upon it, as shown in the figure.

One of the spindles is shown at 7, without a bobbin, but all the
others are represented as being mounted, and in action. A bobbin is
filled upon each spindle, by the hole through it being adapted to the
conical form of the spindle, but in such a manner that the bobbin is
at liberty to turn freely round upon the spindle. A piece of hard
wood is stuck fast upon each spindle just above the bobbin, and has a
small pin entering into a hole in the top of the spindle, so as to oblige
it to revolve with the spindle. This piece of wood has the wire flyer
6 fixed to it: the flyer is formed into eyes at the two extremities; one
is turned down, so as to stand opposite the middle of the bobbin e, and
the other arm 6 is bent upwards, so that the eye is exactly over the
centre of the spindle, and at a height of some inches above the top
of the spindle.

The thread from the bobbin e, is passed through both eyes of this
wire, and must evidently receive a twist when the spindle is turned;
and at the same time by drawing up the thread through the upper eye
® of the flyer, it will turn the bobbin round and unwind therefrom.

* This is taken from Rees’s Cyclopzdia, and is precisely the same as that repre-
sented in the French “ Dictionary of Arts and Sciences,”’ printed at Neufchatel, 1765.
and inthe Nouvelle Encyclopedie Methodique, Paris, 1786. The figures of the vari-
ous parts, and (be elevation of the machine, fill two foliopages. In France it is called
an ** ovale, ’?

[175 ] 160

The rate at which the thread is drawn off trom the bobbin, compar-
ed with the number of revolutions which the flyers make in the same
time, determines the twist to be hard or soft, and this circumstance is
regulated by the proportion of the wheel / to the pinion 7, from which
it receives motion; and these can be changed when it is required to
spin different kinds of silk. The operation of the machine is very
simple: the bobbins filled with silk in the winding machine, are put
loose upon the spindles at e, and the flyers are stuck fast upon the
stop of the spindles, the threads are conducted through the eyes of the
flyers 6, and of the layers L, and are then made fast to the reel K;
upon which it will be seen, that there are double the number of skeins
to that of the spindles represented, because one half of the number of.
spindles is on the opposite side of the oval frame, so that they are hid-
den. With this preparation, the machine is put in motion, and con-
tinues to spin the threads by the motion of the flyers, and to draw
them off gradually from the bobbins until the skeins upon the reel are
made up to the requisite lengths. This is known by a train wheel
work at 2 o p, consisting of a pinion m, fixed upon the principal spin
dle R, turning a wheel 0, which has a pinion fixed to it, and turning a
larger wheel p; this has another wheel upon its spindle, with a pin
fixed in it, which, at every revolution, raises a hammer, and strikes
upon a bell s, to inform. the attendant that the skeins are made up to
a proper length. When this machine is employed for the first opera-
tion of twisting the organzine, the wheel / must be larger, and the
pinion z smaller than is represented, in order that the reel K may be
turned slowly, and the threads will thereby receive a stronger and
closer twist. Also, the handle B is turned in an opposite direction to
that in which it must move for the final throwing off the two or three
twisted threads together: and, as it must also move for twisting the
raw threads together for the warp of silk stuffs, and for weaving stock-
ings, this reverse movement makes no alteration in the machine, except
that it will give twist in a contrary direction; for it is always necessary,
when two or more twisted threads are combined by twisting, that the
twist of the original thread shall be in an opposite direction to that
twist which unites them into one thread, in the same manner as for
making ropes: organzine silk being in fact small rope, and stocking -
silk or warp being only yarn. . The silk intended to be died is previ-
ously twisted very slightly in this machine; and of course in that di-
rection which will suit the purpose for which it is ultimately intended;
viz: whether for yarn or organzine.

Figure 3 represents a single spindle of a throwsting machine, G and
H represent portions of the rails or circles of the stage which supports
the spindle, and a@ a@ isa part of the rim of the great wheel of the cen-
tral axle. This wheel is not made in segments, but is made very truly
circular, and covered with leather on the edge, that it may act with
more force to turn the roller ¢ of the spindle. The point of the spin-
dle rests in a glass lap, supported by the rail G, and the roller ¢ is al-
ways made to press against the rim of the great wheel @ a, by a small
lever d, anda string, which, after turning over a pullev, has the weight

161 f 175 J

© made fast to it, to press the spindle always towards the wheel. In
this machine the thread is taken up by a bobbin K, is put into a frame
m, which moves on pivots, and by a weight » is pressed down, so as
to make the bobbin bear upon the edge of the wheel A, which is kept
in constant and regular motion by means of wheel work, which cannot
be well described. ore

The intention is that the action of the wheel /, to turn the bobbin,
being communicated by pressure against the part upon which the silk
is to wind, will be constant, and will not draw more when the bobbin
is large and full, or less when it is empty, as must be the case when
the motion is given to the axis of the bobbin.

After the silk is twisted ina right hand direction, if it be intended
for yarn or for dying; or ina left hand direction if it be prepared for
organzine, it must be wound on fresh bobbins, with two or three
threads together, preparatery to twisting them into one thread. This
is done by women, who with hand wheels wind the threads from two
or three large bobbins, upon which the silk is gathered instead of the
reels, and assemble them two or three together, upon another bobbin of a
proper size to be returned to the twisting mill. Machines are now in
use for winding two or three threads together.

This operation is slightly represented and described in Rees’s Cy-
elopzedia, a work which hasa general circulation in the United States.

The bobbins being filled with double or triple threads, are carried
back to the throwsting machine, and are there twisted together: the
manner of doing which does not differ from the operation before de-
scribed.

In this second operation, the silk is taken up by reels instead of
bobbins, and is thus made into skeins. The degree of twist varies
with the purpose for which the silk is intended, and the wheels which
give motion to the reels, are for this purpose adapted to the degree of
twist which the silk is desired to have. The silk being spun, requires
only the preparation of boiling, to discharge the gum, and to render
the silk fit to receive the die. Figures 4and 5 represent the zig-zag man-
ner in which the silkworm spins the fibres of which the cocoon is
formed. Figure 5 shows how the worm after working for some time
in one part, will suddenly extend the silk fibre, and begin at another
quarter.

IMPROVED ENGINE FOR TRAMMING SILK.*
By W. V. Shenton, of Winchester.

Transactions of the Society of Arts, London, Vol. 41, p. 169, 1823.

[2 silver medal was granted for this invention. ]

The only preparation which the raw silk imported into England
has previously undergone, is that of being wound off the cocoons;

ia One of these machines, imported by the Secretary of the Treasury, is now in his
office.
CN |

[ 175 ] 162

but as the filament of the silkworm is of extreme tenuity, it is neces-
sary, in the winding, to conjoin the filaments of from five to seven co-
coons, in order to obtain a single thread of the requisite staple. ‘The
raw silk, thus composed, is still, however, too slender for the purposes
of manufacture; and accordingly, the first process which it undergoes,
is that of uniting two, three, or four threads into one, previously to
giving it that kind of twist which is technically termed organzining.

The machine by which the union of the required number of threads
is effected, is denominated a tramming engine, and admits of a considera-
ble variety of structure: but the conditions absolutely essential im all,
are the following: first, that the silk may pass off easily, and without-
entangling, from the delivering bobbins: secondly, that a small and
equal degree of tension be applied to the threads as they pass from the
delivering bobbins, to the receiving one, so that the compound threads
shall be perfectly even; which obviously would not be the case, if one
of the component threads were quite loose, while the others were drawn
straight; thirdly, that the receiving bobbin ceases to revolve as soon as
any one of the component threads happens to break—an accident which
not unfrequently occurs; as, without such eontrivance, 2 thread would
be praduced of variable thickness, from the casual omission of one or
more of the component threads.

The operation of tramming, in some of the best constructed mills, is
performed in the following manner:

The delivering bobbins (varying in number from two to four, accord-
ing to the intended thickness of the component thread) are placed upon
as many vertical spindles, the vertical position allowing the threads te
quit the bobbins without any motion or revolution of the bobbins them-
selves. Some way above the bobbins, the threads pass singly betweer
two horizontal slips of cloth or felt, which, by their friction, give at
the same time a certain degree of tension to the threads, and clear them
from any dust or other light matter. Each thread then passes through
the eye of its own drop-wire, whence they all converge and unite in
the eye of the guider, from which the compound thread is distributed
on the surface of the receiving bobbinas it revolves. Hach drop-wire
consists of a piece of wire turned up, so as to form a right angle, ef
which the vertical leg is about two inches long, and is terminated by
an eye through which the thread passes; and the horizontal leg isabout
four inches long, terminating likewise in an eye, through which passes
a pin, connecting all the four drop-wires, and forming a pivot, on which
each is capable of moving freely. Each thread, in passing through
the eye of its drop-wire, slips down a litilc, and, being in a state of mode-
rate tension, supports it at the elevation of half an inch or more above
the position to which it would otherwise descend. When, therefore,
a thread breaks, its. drop-wire immediately falls, and strikes on the
edge of a wire-frame, moving on a horizontal pivot, and so adjusted
that the weight of the drop-wire immediately inclines downwards that
side which it touches, and consequently raises the opposite side. To
this opposite side a tail of wire is attached, which, when raised, catches

on a kind of ratchet-wheel, fixed on the same spindle as the receiving

163 [ 175 Jj

bobbin, and consequently stops it. The broken thread being repair-
ed, is again passed through the eye of the drop-wire, and supports it
above the frame; the opposite end of the fiame then becomes prepon-
derant; the tail, or stop, descends out of the way of the ratchet-wheel,
and the revolution of the receiving bobbin immediately recommences.

This apparatus is very simple and efficacious, but is liable to two in-
conveniences; first, that the thread usually breaks close to the pieces
of cloth by which it is compressed, and some troubie and loss of time
are occasioned in drawing the thread out previous to tying it: second-
ly, that; when a smaller number of threads than four are trammed, the
vacant drop-wires must be removed, otherwise their unsupperted
weight would, as above described, throw up the stop, and prevent the
revolution of the receiving bobbin.

The contrivance by which Mr. Shenton effects the operation of tram.
ming, and avoids the above-mentioned inconveniences, will be evident
by referring to plate LV, of which figure 1 is an end view, and figure 2
a bird’s-eye view of his machinc—the same letters of reference denoting
the same parts in all the figures; @ a, the axis which gives motion to the
receiving bobbins /,/, by means of wooden rollers dd; they are made
ofany required length to suit a continued series of succeeding bobbins,
with a roller under each; the wooden axis which carries the receiving
bobbin, hasa leaden rollere fixed on it, which receives motion by mere
contact, on account of its weight. This axis is shown separate in
figure 3; pp are two pins fixed in the leaden roller e; s, another pin,
or hook, which holds on the bobbin by hooking under the staple ¢, of
the bobbin figures 3and 4. As the receiving bobbin revolves, it draws
the threads from two, three, or four bobbin & ¢ g g, as previously de-. -
termined; and in order to lessen the friction of these bobbins, which
are fitted on wooden pins w wu w w, the pins are perforated, and ride
upon a wire vw, and the bottom of these pins, and the loops which hold
the wires, are rounded; leaving just friction enough to keep the threads
extended. They are shown separate in figure 5. Now should any
one of these threads break, it is requisite that the receiving bobbin
should immediately stop; for this purpose, a crank-wire #2, with a
ketch 2, and a fixed crank 0, is placed near each roller; on this, four
light drop-wires kkk k swing freely, and they have eyes to hang on
the threads, which are their only support: these wires are shown a
quarter their real size in figure 6. Now, should either of ihe threads
break, the drop-wire which hung on it, would fall on the crank 0, and
cause the wire m to revolve, and bring the eatch m forwards from its
position, figure 8, to lay hold of the pin p of the roller e, as shown in
figure 7, and stop it immediately; then, as soon as the thread is mend-
ed, the thumb is laid on the tails w of the drop-wires, to bring up the
fallen one; the thread is then put in the eye, and the catch is withdrawn
by turning back the end m of the crank wire, and the work goes on.
There are two spare notches z x to lay the bobbin in, while joiniig
the thread, that it may be out of geer, and move freely tillsct right by
jand. 3

Now, the silk threads, on leaving the bobbins g ggg, pass separately

[175 4 164

over a glass rod z, and through the eyes of the drop-wires, and thei
gather together in passing through the eye of the guide-wire 7. In
order to distribute equally over the bobbins the silk threads thus ga-
thered together, an alternating motion is given to the sliding bar ec,
which carries the guide-wires /, by means of a pin 7, working in an
oblique or spiral groove in the block 4, fixed on the end of the axis a;
and the obliquity of this groove corresponds with the length the silk
is to be distributed on the bobbin, and therefore causes the sliding
bar to move to and fro that length every turn of the wooden roller, or
every four turns of the bobbin—the bobbin rollers being one quarter
the size of the wooden rollers d d.

The bars hAhh, which support the supplying bobbins, are so placed
as to make the bobbins stand at right angles with the thread when it
passes from their middle to the glass rod. It is best to make the four
eyes of the drop-wires lie para!lel to the glass rod, as their vibrations
on the threads will be more equal.

Figs. 8 and 9 show the tinned iron facings which are coiled round
under the bars at y, to support the crank-wire.

Fig. 10 shows how the guide-wires are bent and fixed in the sliding
bar.

gq, Fig. 2, are two sliding wires: it will be seen that where four
threads are tramming, it is drawn back; but where two threads are
tramming, it is pushed in to support the two drop-wires that are out of
use, and prevent their acting on the crank-wire.

Fig. 11 shows the manner of riveting the wooden rollers on the
axis, by cutting up a burr with a chisel on the angles z z.

Fig. 1 and 2 are a guard-rail.

Fig. 1 and 2 are one-sixth, the others are one-fourth the real size.

Improvement in the Silk Weaver's Draw Boy.—By Mr. E. Rich-
ards, of Bethnal Green.

Trans. Soc. Arts, London, vol. 49, p. 185.

In weaving plain goods, of every description, composed of silk,
wool, hemp, cotton, or flax, the threads composing the warp are form-
ed into two sets: the Ist, 3d, 5th, &c. forming one division, and the
alternate ones, the 2d, 4th, 6th, &c. forming the other: each set is
alternately raised and depressed, and at every crossing of the sets, the
shuttle, containing a spindle full of thread, is shot, or thrown from
one hand to the other, distributing the thread in its passage, in front
of every intersection of the threads that compose the warp; but in
figured silks, the threads of the warp are formed into more divisions
than two—the number varying according to the pattern; and in order
that each division may be raised or depressed with the necessary accu-
racy, each thread of the warp is passed through a loop in a vertical
cord, furnished with a weight at bottom, to keep it properly stretched,
and passing over a support at top. These vertical cords are called the
monture, and are collected into as many sets or lashes as the pattern
Fequires; it being understood that the cords of those threads which

165 [175 ]

are to be raised or lowered together, are to be included in the same
lash. The number of lashes required for very simple patterns, on very
narrow silks, is considerable, amounting to forty, sixty, or more. It
is obviously, therefore, in these cases, impossible to give motion to the
warp, by attaching a treadle to each lash. ‘The way in which the
lashes were actually raised, was to pass the end of each lash through a
hole in a horizontal board, to fix to the lash a piece of wood like a
bell-pull, and to employ a boy (thence called a draw-boy) in pulling or
drawing down each lash in succession, so that the weaver had only to
throw the shuttle and give directions to his boy.

Each cord of a lash having a weight hung to it, the aggregate weight
of the whole lash is considerable, so that the labor incurred by the
draw-boy was great, and considerable dexterity (the result alone of
long practice) was required to prevent mistakes, and much loss of
time. Hence the weavers were very dependant on their draw-boys,
and the idleness or illness of one of them threw the weaver, forthe
time, out of work.

Various ineffectual attempts had been made to supersede the living
draw-boy by machinery, but with little if any success, till Mr. Duff
brought forward an engine for the purpose, which was rewarded by
the Society of Artsin London, in 1810. Mr. Duff’s engine, by means
of a very ingenious contrivance, enables the weaver, by pressing al-
ternately on two pair of treadles, to produce the regular elevation and
depression of the lashes without the assistance of the boy.

The weight of the lashes, and the friction of the machine being con-
siderable, it was necessary to adjust, accordingly, the length of the
levers or treadles by which it was put in motion; in consequence of
which, atread of ten inches was thought necessary, that the weaver
might not be oppressed by the weight.

It was soon, however, found, in practice, that the exertion of rais-
ing the feet ten inches for every motion of the treadle, was excessively /
fatiguing to the weaver, and apparently occasioned a predisposition to
rupture, so that the machine came only into very limited use.

About two or three years ago, Mr. Jones, since dead, (an engine
maker) attempted to shorten the tread, by fixing on the axis of the
driving wheel two cranks, each about two thirds of the length of the
radius of the wheel; but the mechanical disadvantage at which they
worked, and the manner in which they were connected with the trea-
dles, increased the weight and friction so disproportionately to the ad-
vantage gained by shortening the tread, as to render it wholly inap-
plicable in practice.

About last Christmas, (1822) Mr. Hughes, a weaver, fixed a small
grooved wheel on the axis of the driving wheel, and connected it to
the treadles by means of two cords passing over pulleys. It might be
supposed that any advantage thus gained by shortening the tread,
would be counterbalanced by the increased weight required to be over-
come. This, however, is not practically the case. When the thigh
of the weaver is raised, so as to be nearly horizontal, as necessarily
happens at the commencement of a tread ten inches in height, the

‘PTs o 166

muscular force which ean be exerted by a given effort, is far inferior
to that which an equal effort will produce in a tread of five inches;
and hence, although the weight to be raised increases in proportion
to the difference between the diameters of the driving wheel, and of
the small wheel or pinion, yet the muscular advantage gained nearly
¢ounterbalances this increase of weight.

A real practical advantage, therefore, resulted from Hughes’s in-
vention, (although the mechanism employed is unnecessarily compli-
eated, and not judiciously disposed,) since, by means of it, work which
could not before be wrought by the machine, may now be performed
by it.

Mii order to relieve the weaver still farther, by diminishing the
weight on the treadle, and thus adapting the machine to heavier pat-
terns and wider silks, Mr. Richards, in 1820, attached to the pro-
longed axis of the machine, an arm, carrying a leaden weight of such
a magnitude as to counterbalance that of the lashes. The practical
advantage of this contrivance, was, however, diminished by the
weight being fixed in an inconvenient situation, and being liable to
jar the machine; in consequence of which, in March, 1821, Mr.
Hughes removed it from its original place, and fixed it within the
frame, on one of the driving wheels. A still further improvement in
tts position, was subsequently made by Mr. Richards, who has pro-
longed the axis of the driving wheel, giving it the form of a quadri-
lateral prism, and, on any part of this axis, which local circumstances
may point out as most convenient, the counter weight may be fixed
by screws farther from, or nearer to, the centre of motion, according
to the magnitude of the weight required to be counterpoised.

In order to render the above-mentioned improvement more intelli-
gible, not only to the silk weaver, but to the public in general, it has
been thought fit to give a representation, showing the connexion of
the immediate subject of reward, with the whole apparatus for weav-
ing silks as now employed in Spitalfields. ‘The Committee of Corres-

ondence and Papers were the more readily induced to adopt this
measure, as, hitherto, no correct representation of the silk-loom and
draw-boy had been published.

eS

‘References to the engravings of a Silk Loom for weaving jigured
silk, with Mr. Richard’s improvements on the Draw-Boy.

PLATE V.

Fig. 1 represents a cross-section of the draw-boy at the dotted line
@ a, fig. 2, with a side view of the loom, &c.

Fig. 2 is a section of the loom at the dotted line 5 4, fig. 1, toge-
ther with a side view of the draw-boy.

Fig. 3 is a plan of the draw-boy, with part of its frame.

Fig. 4 isa longitudinal section of the axle, &c. of the draw-boy-

{67 | 175 4

~

Fig. 5 is a cross-section of the axle of the draw-boy and figure box.
Figures 1 and 2 are drawn to a scale of three-fourths of an inch to 2.
foot; and figures 3, 4, and 5, to a scale of two inches to a foot.

The same letters of reference refer to the same parts in each figure.
AAA is the frame of the loom; B, the roll or beam on which the
warp is put; C, the cloth or breast roll; DD, the lay or bottom; E,
the reed; F F, a frame which supports and regulates the table of mul-
lets; G, the table, which consists of a number of thin bars, fixed in a
frame nearly in a vertical position, but which can be elevated or in-
clined at pleasure, by a hoop H. Between each of these thin small
bars, are placed one, two, three, or more, small mullets or pulleysecce,
over which pass the horizontal strings or tail d d d, by which the
lambs or headles II, J J, and K K, are suspended.

To weave plain cloth, only two leaves of headles are really neces-
sary; but, in fine webs, where many threads are contained in the warp,
the number of headles required in one shaft, would be so great, that
they would be crowded together, which would cause unnecessary
friction, and strain the warp. For this reason, a greater number of
leaves is used in weaving figured silks, &c. The number of these
leaves is so great, that thé shafts on which the headles are placed, are
obliged to be arranged in two, three, or more stages, one above an-
other, as shown im figures 1 and 2, at II, JJ, KK; so that, when the
lowest set of headle shafts I I, are raised to make the sheds, or opening
in the warp, through which the shuttle passes, they are in the situa-
tion of those at zz, and do not rise so high as to interfere with those
at JJ; and, when those at JJ are raised to7 7, they do not interfere
with those at K K; and those at K K will be raised to &&. So, by this
arrangement, there will be three times the number of the leaves of
headles, in nearly the same space, as when placed on the same level.

To each of the lower treadle shafts, are suspended three Jon
small leaden weights //7/, so as to keep the treadles straight and
perpendicular. The strings dd d, which suspend the treadles, are
extended across the room, and are made fast to a horizontal rod L;
which is also fixed by cords to the side of the room. M isa bar or
roll, which is suspended from the ceiling of the room, to support the
string or tail dd, &e. N is another roll, which is, itself, supported
by a frame from the upper part of the loom, and supports the strings
d d, &c., when the depression is made on them by the action of the
foot on the treadles O O,.P P, Q Q, from which the motion is com-
municated to the draw-boy, &c. R R is the frame of the draw-boy,
which must be fixed to the floor.

S is a square wooden bar or axle of the draw-boy, mounted so as to
turn backwards and forwards on two screwed centres ¢ e, figures 2, 3,
4, fixed in the ends of the frame RR. There are also fixed to each
end of the frame R R, and concentric to the axis of the screwed cen-
tres e e, a cylindrical ring mand 2, figures 3, 4, of brass or iron. One
end of each ring is made flat, with an internal flanch, for fixing it to the
end of the frame, and the other ends of the rings are formed into in-
clined planes. Qn the upper side of the axle 5 are inserted, in two

[175 ] 168

parallel grooves, two wooden racks/ and g, figure 3, so as to slide €a-
sily backwards and forwards. ‘The upper edges of the racks have
teeth similar to those of saws, but the inclined side of the teeth, in each
rack, is in contrary directions. ‘To one end of each rack is fixed a
piece of brass 0* and, and rounded off on the end, so as to act smooth-
‘ty on the circularly inclined planes m and. Beneath the racks are
concealed two spiral springs A A—the action of which tends to press
the brass ends of the racks against the inclined planes and n. T is
the draw-boy or bow, seen best in figure 5, which consists of a semicir-
eular piece of iron or brass, with a groove in the periphery, like a pul-
ley; and eaeh of its ends is divided, so as to form cleft hooks or claws,
which clip the strings or lashes above the knots 77; so that, when the
axle S is made to vibrate, the hooks g qg first draw a lash or string on
one side, and then on the other, alternately.

The draw-boy, or semicircle T, is fixed on a carriage U, called the
figure box, which slides easily upon the axle 5, and has two clicks, or
catches s and ¢, in the inside of the box, with a string pressing on the
upper side of each, and causing the clicks to act on the teeth of the
racks, fand g. V isa roller, supported by its pivots, on the upper
side of the carriage U, having the two pins, or levers wu and v, fixed in
it, opposite to each other, and projecting over the ends of clicks that
act on the racks; on the upper side of each click, is fixed a hook or sta-
ple, which connects the clicks to the levers w and v, so that when the
lever wis depressed, the click s is at liberty to act on the teeth of the
rack /, and at the same instant, the lever will be raised, and disengage
the click ¢ from the rack g; and when the lever v is depressed, the
elick ¢ will be at liberty to act on the teeth of the rack g, and the click
s will be disengaged from the rack /; consequently, only one of the
elicks can act on the racks at thesame time. The roller V, is kept in
either situation, by the action of a spring I, figures 3 4, fixed on the upper
side of the figure box, or carriage U, and having a double inclined plane
on the under side of it, near the point; the middle of which issituated
over the pivot in the end of the roller V, and it acts on a small pin,
which is fixed in the end of the roller, and on the upper side, and also
over the centre of the pivot, when the lever w and v are horizontal; con-
sequently when the lever wu is depressed, the pin, in the end of the roll-
er, will be turned in the same direction, and the inclined plane, near-
est the point of the spring I, will retain it in that situation, till the lever
» is depressed, which will cause the pin to raise the spring 3, and pass to
the other side of the inclined plane, when it will again be detained till the
carriage has arrived at the other end of the axle S. On the under side
of the roller V, and at right angles to the levers u and », is fixed an-
other pin, or lever w, which passes through a hole, ora short slitin the
middle ofa small bar 2, which is placed a little below, and at right.an-
gles to the axis of the roller, and also passes through each end of the
box U, and is at liberty to slide backwards and forwards; so that when
the box, or carriage U, has traversed over the numberof teeth requir-
ed in the rack, the end of the bar z comes in contact witha spring y.

* The letter 0, does not appear in the original plate.—Epitor.

~

169 [ 175 |]

Which is fixed on the axle S, between the racks,) and depresses it till
it overcomes the resistance of the bar x, &c. which will be thrust for-
wards, and act on the pin as in the underside of the roller V, and alse
turn the roller in the same direction, as by’ depressing the lever v,
which will disengage the click s, and engage the click ¢ in the rack g:
then the carriage will be in proper trim for traversing to the other end
of the axle S, which is performed by the action given to the treadles,
which is also communicated to the pulley 2, on the end of the axle S,
and therefore causes the axle to vibrate half a turn, each motion of
the treadles: as the axle is in the act of turning in the direction of the
arrow, the circular inclined plane m, acts against the end of the rack g,
and pushes it along the groove in the axle S, together with the car-
riage U, &c. equal to one notch or tooth of the rack; when the axle has
returned half way, the spiral spring # presses back the rack g to its
former situation, without moving the carriage U, on the axle S, (as
the rack is at liberty to slide in that direction under the click, without
butting against one of the teeth;) and by repeating another vibration of
the axle, the carriage will be moved forward another tooth, one tooth
each vibration, and so on, till the carriage has arrived at the other end
of the axle S, then the other end of the bar x, will be brought in con-
tact, and pushed against a spring z, (which is fixed on the upper side of
the axle, between the racks, at any required distance from the spring
y, between the racks, according to the number of strings or lashes 7 7,
that the figure may require, ) till the spring overcomes the resistance of
the bar x, &c. which turns the roller V, and changes the action of the
clicks s and ¢: then the carriage U will traverse back one tooth for each
vibration of the axle 8, by the action of the circular inclined plane m,
on the rack f, till the end of the bar 2 comes in contact with the
spring y, when the action of the clicks s and ¢ will be again changed.
Theracks fand g, both slide backwards and forwards, the extent of a
tooth, by the action of the two circular inclined planes m and n, for
- each vibration of the axle; but, as only one of the clicks is allowed te
act on the rack at the’same time, the motion of the other rack does not
interrupt the progress of the carriage U, &c. The frame which con-
tains the joint end of the click s, can be so adjusted by the screw 3, that
the carriage U will bestopped by each vibration of theaxle S, ina situation
differing by half a tooth, according as it traverses one way or the other;
so that a different set of strings or lashes 7, 7, &c. will be drawn at each
vibration of the axle, till the carriage U has traversed backwards and for-
wards on the axle S. W and X are two rails of wood, fixed on the
upper side of the frame R R of the draw-boy, and parallel to the axle
S; on the inner edge of the rails are fixed double the number of wire
staples 44, &c. to that of the teeth in the rack f and g;; the staples 4 4,
&c. act as guides to the’strings or lashes 7 7, which pass through them,
and are fixed to the rail Y, which has four rows of holes, through which
the strings 7 7, &c., are passed and retained by a knot on the under side
of the rail; the number of holes is equal, and opposite to those of the sta-
ples 4 4, &c. andis also parallel to the axle S. In the end of the rails
W and X are slits, through which the screws 5 pass, that fix them te

29

[3] 176

the frame; so that the staples 4 4, &c. in the rails, can be adjusted op-
posite tothe groove in theperiphery of the draw-boy; 6 6 are 2 thin rails,
or false tail boards, which are also fixed on the upper side of the frame
R R, and parallel to the rails W and X; the stringsr7, being made fast
to the rail Y, and passed through their respective staples 4 4, &c. have
anotherset of strings tied tothem at 10 10, called the false tails, which are
passed over and through guide staples on the upper side of two smooth
round rods, or arms§& 8, and then passed through the holes in the rails
6 6; and to the ends of the strings are appended small leaden weights,
or lingots, 99, &c. which draw the strings7 7, &c. so as always to keep
them straight; one of the rods, or arms 8 8, is attached to the upper
part of the frame of the loom, and the other ends are suspended by
strings from the ceiling of the room; to the upper ends of each of
the strings7 7, at 11 11, 1s tied another series of smaller strings or lashes
1212, the upper ends of which are also tied to certain horizontal
strings d d, &c. which pass over the pulleys in the table G, and have
the lambs or headles suspended from them: by this arrangement, it will
be seen, that when one of the strings 7, which is fastened to the rail Y,
‘is pulled down, (by the action of the draw-hoy, or bow, on the upper
side of the string7,) it draws one of 10, lifts one of the weight 9, and
raises such an arrangement of the lambs, or headles, as is proper to
produce the figure which is to be woven.

When the draw-boy T, and axle S, are returned to the situation,
as shown in fig. 5, the weights 7/7, which are suspended from the
lambs, and those at 9 9 will replace the lambs, lashes, &c. in their
former situation.

In weaving heavy silks, or what is termed three, four, or more
doubles, that is, so many double threads between each split of the
reed, the power required to depress the treadles is so great that the
weaver was obliged to have the assistance of a boy to turn a winch,
which was fixed on the end of the axle 5S, which passed through the
end frame of the draw-boy.

The application of the winch to the draw-boy, was the invention
of John Sholl, who was rewarded by the Society of Arts, &c. in the
year 1810. ;

Mr. Richards, being a machine or loom maker, observed the great
difficulty of getting boys to attend their work, together with the ex-
pense, which caused him to. turn his attention to the subject, and he
has been successful in making the machine so perfect and powerful as
to supersede the necessity of a boy. he,

The following are Mr. Richards’ improvements on the draw-boy:

The power which is to be applied to the treadles O O, is commu-
nicated to the treadles P P, by the cords 13 13, and from the treadles
PP to Q Q, by the cords 14 14; and from the treadles Q Q to the
pulley 2, (which is represented by ‘the dotted circle) by the cords
15 15, which are tied to the treadles Q Q, and passed over two small
guide pulleys, the frames of which are affixed to a cross bar of the
frame R R; then one of the cords is passed under, and the other over
the pullev 2, and fixed to the heads of two screwed nails, which are

4

f

|

171 f 4175 3

screwed into the grooves in the periphery of the pulley 2; the pulley
2 is fixed to the side of another pulley 18, eccentric to the axis of the
axle S, by which means the power to turn the axle of the draw-boy
increases as the treadles are depressed. Z, is another axle which turns
on two conical steel centres, similar to those which support the axle
S; to one end of the axle Z is fixed an iron wire 19, having a slit
along it, through which a screw passes for fixing a weight 20, at any
required distance from the centre of the axle; on the other end of
the axle Z, is fixed a pulley 21, perpendicular to the pulley 18 on the
axle S, each of which has two grooves on their respective peripheries;
29 and 23 are two cords, which are passed round the pulleys in.con-
trary directions; the upper ends are fixed to the pulley 18 and the
lower to 21; by which means the motion of the axle S is commu-
nicated to the axle Z. Now, suppose the treadles were level with
each other, the weight 20 would be perpendicular above the axle Z,
and would tend to turn it either way; consequently, as one of the
treadles is depressed, the weight will pass to one side or the other of
the axle, and its leverage power will be increased till the centre of
gravity of the weight 20 has arrived horizontal with the axis of: the
axle Z; it will be obvious, that either by increasing the weight 20,
or extending it further from the axle, the power will be increased; and
by combining the eccentricity of the pulley 2, with the eccentricity
- of the weight 20, the power applied to the treadles may be increased
so as to counterbalance any number of lambs or headles, and the
weight appended to them, and to the false tail, together with the
power required for raising or opening the warp for the shuttle to pass
through.

Another of Mr. Richards’ improvements, is the application, with
certain modifications, of box 24, called the tabby box, which is fixed
to the axle S, and has a semicircle 25 fixed to it, similar to the figure
box, but without the clicks, &c. To the under part of the box 24, is
fixed a wire rod 26, which passes easily through the figure box, and is
supported by a staple 27, near the end of the axle, through both of
which it is at liberty to slide to and fro.

28 and 29 are two sliding sockets, which can be fixed on the wire in
any required place, by a set screw in the side of each.

The use of the tabby box is to raise a certain set of the lambs, or
headles, to work the plain part of the silk, between the figures, with-
out having so much lash tied to each of the strings, 7 7, &e. To ad-
just the tabby box for weaving figured cloth with a plain ground, the two
sliding sockets 28 and 29 must be fixed on the wire rod 26, in their
situations as shown in fig. 4; two strings, or lashes, must also be fixed,
in a similar manner as those already described at 7 7, on each side of
the axle opposite the tabby box, and passed through the staples 30 and
31; see fig. 3, (only part of the rails on, one side of the axle which the
staples are fixed in, is shown here, but the other side is fitted up ina
similar manner.) Suppose the loom was already prepared to weave
the figure as represented at fig. 6, and to commence at the line 30; the
treadles being put in motion, will cause the axle to vibrate, the draw-

f i75 j 172

bey or bow J’, on the figure box U, will draw every other string or
lash x 7, on each side of the axle S alternately, till the box U has ar-
rived at the spring Z, and raises such an arrangement of the lambs, or
headles, as is proper to produce the figures in the squares 33 33; at the
same time the bow, of semicircle 25, on the tabby box, is drawing the
strings or lashes 31 31, on each side of the axle alternately, and raises
such an arrangement of the lambs as to produce the plain part of the eloth
in the squares 34.34. At the instant the end of the small bar z, in the
figure box U, comes in contact with the spring z, (on the upper side of
the axle S,) the same end of the figure box on the under side of the axle
also comes in contact with the socket 29, and at the next vibration of
the axle, the rack g, will press the figure box U, together with the

tabby box 24, forward on the axle, equal to one tooth of the rack,

when the action of the clicks in the figure box will be changed, and
the bow or semicircle 25, on the tabby box, will be opposite the sta-
ples which contain the strings or lashes 32 32, and will remain there,
and draw the lashes on each side of the axle alternately, and raise such
an arrangement of the lambs, as to produce the plain cloth in the
squares 35 35; and at the same time, the figure box U will be travers-
ing to the other end of the axle, and the semicircle T will be drawing
the lashes 7 7, on each side of the axle, alternately, which it skipped
when it traversed the other way; by which means, a new arrangement
of the lambs will be raised, so as to produce the figures in the squares
36 36. When the other end of the small bar x shall be brought in
contact with the spring y, at the same instant the end of the figure
box will be in contact with the socket 28: and the next vibration of the
axle will cause the rack F to push the figure box, together with the
tabby box, along the axle S, equal to one tooth of the rack; then the
tabby box, together with ‘the wire rod and sockets, will be in their
former situations, as shown in fig. 4; and the action of the clicks, in
the figure box, will again be changed, and the whole figure completed,
and the machine ready to produce a similar set of figures to those al-
ready described.

improved Ribbon Loom.

In the 40th volume of the Transactions of the Society in London,
for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce,* Mr.

J. Thompson, of Coventry, gives a full and very minute account of -

his recent improvements on the ribbon loom, illustrated by four plates.
The advantages stated to result from these, are—

1. It produces figures much finer than any loom heretofore made
in England, and of larger size.

2. Hight treadles do the work of thirty-two treadles, in the com-
mon boom.

3. The common loom is Iiniited to forty lashes, the improved one
extends to 180 lashes; so that it is capable of producing work of great-
ly superior richness and fineness,

* London, 1823, p. 193

173 [ 175 ]

4. ‘lhe common loom makes only one ribbon ata time, and produces
at the rate of about 13 piece per week. Mr. T.’s make four at once.

Mr. T.’s loom allows the weaver to put any quantity of plain work
that he pleases between the pattern, without changing the figure.

6. The weaver may instantly throw off the figure altogether, and
produce plain ribbons, whenever work of this kind is required; whereas,
all the present figure looms must continue making the particular figure
for which they have been mounted. Fifty guineas and a gold medal,
were presented to Mr. Thompson for this great improvement in the
art of ribbon weaving.

In the 7th volume of the elaborate work by Borgnis, on arts and
manufactures, there is another description of a ribbon loom, for weay-
ing many pieces at the same time, with plates. The Nouvelle Ency-
clopedie Methodique contains ten double quarto plates, equivalent to
twenty single plates of machinery, for the manufacture of several pieces
of ribbon at once. It is probable that they represent the old ma-
chinery, but they may doubtless be referred to with advantage, as they
are large and very distinct. These three works are in the library of
the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, and may be con-
sulted by artists, upon application to the Librarian, Mr. John Vaughark

Improved French Looms.

In the year 1808, Mr. Jacquart, of Lyons, in France, invented a
loom intended to do the work commonly effected by draw-boys, in
the manufacture of figured stuff* for which he received a premium of
3,000 franes from the Society for the Encouragement of National In-
dustry. This admirable invention remained unknown to the English
until the year 1816, when it wasseen by Mr. William Hale, and men-
tioned by him to several silk manufacturers; one of whom, Mr. Ste-
phen Wilson went over to France, and introduced it into England, t
with improvements. The loom is applicable alike to silk, cotton,
woollen, and linen stuffs. The specification of Mr. W.’s patent is in-
serted in the Repertory of Arts, vol. 44, p. 257, with a plate. It is
also described, but without a plate, in Borgnis’ work, vol. 1, p. 267.

The great advantages of Jacquart’s loom, consist in—

1. Enabling every plain weaver to become a figured weaver, to
make goods which they have the greatest difficulty in making in Spi-
talfields.

2. In their being but one treadle. Instead of a number of treadles,
or cords, which a boy stands to pull up and down, as in the common
loom, the weaver has only to tread on that one treadle, and to throw
the shuttle.

3. In enabling the weaver to change a pattern in a few minutes,
while the common loom requires many days or weeks.

* That is, pulling down the cords, to work a number of treadles at a time.
{ Minutes of the evidence taken before the Committee of the Lords onthe Silk
trade, June 25, 1823, p. 12. Do. July 3, 1823, p. 174.

f 175 | 174

The great superiority of this loom over the common kind, is further
roved by the following facts: One man can make one hundred yards
of figured stuff in twenty-five days. Mr. Stephen Wilson, who intro-
duced this loom into England from France, in his examination before
the Committee of the British House of Commons, on the silk trade,
said, ‘‘here are a number of works that have been made with it, (pro-
ducing a shawl;) this shawl has one thousand two hundred cords. I
never knew of a loom of that number of cords in Spitalfields. Here
is another work (producing another shaw!) of six hundred cords; the
weayer does all himself. It is also adapted for damask, which is one
of the heaviest kinds of work. I always consider two yards and a
half a good day’s work for a weaver; and I have had made from three
to four yards a day; and this is shot with worsted, which requires a
stronger blow. Generally, they are drawn every four shoots; but this
is drawn every shoot, which makes it a more difficult work : this pat-
tern is three yards long, but it can be made of any length whatever.
I have now a pattern going on with 7,000 lashes. If I am not too
sanguine, my idea of this machinery is, that it is of as much conse-
quence to the silk manufacture of this country, (England) as Ark-
wright’s machine was to cotton; and that it will supersede a great
deal of the machinery now in use.” ,

Le Brun’s Loom.

Mr. Le Brun, of Lyons, has more recently invented a loom, with
objects similar to those effected by Mr. Jaequart’s apparatus. Itis
composed of five stages, and the mechanism, which is simple, allows
one man to weave five pieces at the same time. Borgnis, speaking of it,
says: ‘‘ This apparatus is highly ingenious, easy of execution, and
costs but little : it accomplishes fully the object of the inventor, with-
out increasing the trouble of the workman, who is enabled to dispense
with the aid ofa draw-boy, as the machine performs his duty with the
greatest precision. ‘The harmony of the work, of the several parts,
and the order of the design, are admirable.”* Borgnis gives an out-
line of a description of Jacquart’s and Le Brun’s looms; but the utter
zmpossibility of finding any who could translate the technical phrases
into English, prevented its insertion.t A manufacturer of figured
stuffs would be amply repaid by going to Paris to procure one of these
looms, models of which are deposited in the Conservatoire des Arts
et Metieres.”’

English Patents.

Philip Shell, of Kensington, for improvement in machinery for
drawing, roving, and spinning hemp, flax, and waste silkt—February.
- 1823.

* Vol. 1. p. 265.
{ No dictionary contains the names of the numerous parts.
+ Repertory of Patent Inventions, vol. 2d, p. 265: 1526

178 f 173 9

William Godman, of Coventry, for ‘‘ new arrangement of the shut-
tles in the slays, as connected with the batton, and the suspending of
the knotted parts of the lashes, on one set of shafts, to arrange with
the same. This invention applies to that description of looms called
‘«¢ Dutch engine looms,”” employed to weave narrow articles’”’*—Sep-
tember, 1822. ;

T. Wm. Stansfield, of Leeds, for improvements in looms for
weaving fabrics composed, in whole or in part, of woollen, worsted,
cotton, linen, silk, or other materialf—July, 1825.

Richard Badnall, Jun. of Leek, Staffordshire, for improvements in
the manufacturing of silk, including the winding of silk, and for spin-
ning, doubling, and throwing it, by one operation—July, 1825.4

De Bergues’ Power Loom.

In the London Register of Arts, vol. 3, p. 83,§ is a series of cuts
-representing this new loom, which was the’subject of a lecture by the
President of the London Mechanic Institution. It may be used either
asa hand loom or a power loom, and is entirely composed of cast
iron, with the exception of the axis, which, carrying all the moving
eccentrics, or cams, requires great strength, and is of wrought iron.
When used asa power loom, motion may be communicated to it by a
wheel, which is turned by the hand, by steam, or water. A single
wheel will give motion to several looms, and a steam engine will, of
course, work a much larger number. The machine was worked be-
fore the audience. In two minutes, one inch and sixteenths of a web
were manufactured. When worked as a power loom, by means of a
fly-wheel, one of the silk threads broke, and the motion immediately
ceased. The manner in which this was effected was described. One
advantage of this loom is, that, no inconvenience is ever experienced
from the uncertain stroke of the lay and shuttle, as it is uniform and.
invariable. Another is, that one movement does the work, and one
hand is sufficient to work it. Thus, a weaver with his family, may
become a power loom weaver: for by a wheel in the corner of his
room, and one child; or a laborer, to turn it, he can superintend two
or more looms. © The receding motion of the lay being slower than the
advancing motion, (anadvantage which is absolutely necessary for weay-
ing silk,) gives a greater time to the shuttle to pass slower, and, con-
sequently, enables the weaver to put a more tender shoot in his shuttle,
or to weave a broader cloth. The shuttle will pass from 60 to 130
times per minute, according to the will of the weaver, and always with
the same uniformity. Another recommendation is, the ease with
which the weaver can regulate its different motions by tightening or
loosening the pressing screws, on the only axis there used, by which
the motion must always be uniform and regular, one part with another:

* Repertory of Patent Inventions, vol. 44, for 1824, p. 8.
Do do vol. 2, for 1826, p. 96.
Do do yol. 2,p. 227: 1826.

1826.

pe tem

[ 175 j 176

io this may be added its probable durability, without repair; those
parts which are most likely to be deranged will not require two shil-
lings to repair them. :

Kendall’s Domestic Power Loom.

In the Register of Arts, vol. 3, p. 113, isa figure and description
of this loom. It is said to be effectual and simple: a boy of twelve
years of age, with a proper fly-wheel, will find no difficulty in turning
six or eight of them when the work is plain. For rich works, an able
weaver, with good materials, will be able to work two looms. The
machine works steadily, and with few stickingsr In one experiment,
two pieces of silk were made, with a very slight application of the
hand. It operates exactly as the common hand loom, and every de-
scription of fabrics can be woven by it. The arrangements prepara-
tory to weaving are similar to those of a common loom.

The patentee resides at No. 8, Pater Noster Row, St. Paul’s, Lon-
don.

Patent to H. R. Fanshaw, London, silk-embosser, for his invention
of improved apparatus for spinning, doubling and twisting, or
throwing Silk.—Passed August 12, 1825.*

The subjects of this patent are described as consisting of four par-
ticulars; first, a new arrangement or disposition of vertical or horizon-
tal bobbins, to be employed for the purpose of spinning and doubling
silk: second, anew mode of forming the flyers, with double arms, for
guiding the threads on to the bobbins: third, a contrivance for throwing
the bobbins inand out of action; and fourth, a mode of retaining the
horizontal bobbins against the bearing board. The annexed cut shows
_ the arrangement of the several parts of the machine; a a, are the verti-

cal bobbins, turning loosely upon the spindles 4 6, which, with the fly-
ers ¢ c, are made to revolve by means of the cords extending from the
rotary pulley d. The silk passes from the bobbins a, upwards, through
eyes é, over a glass rod jf, between the drawing rollers g, which ar-
rangement of the parts, so far, is the same as in ordinary machines for
throwing silk.

The silk threads from the two or more bobbins @ a, are delivered
from the drawing rollers to the bobbin flyer of the horizontal bobbin
h, which being turned by a cord from the before-mentioned pulley d,
causes the silken threads to be doubled and wound upon the horizontal °

‘bobbin; the traversing of the bearing plate 7, causing the bobbin to be
slidden along the spindle, so that the silk shall be evenly wound upon
the bobbin.

Such is the disposition of the machinery which, though not new in
its separate parts, is herein claimed as new in its arrangement, and is
employed in the way described for the production of organzine, or of

*¥rom the London Journal of Arts and Sciences, by W. Newton, vol. xili,.p. 265

177 F175 7

sewing siJX; but,when another description of silk, called Bergam, is to
be prepared, then only one of the vertical bobbins is to be put in opera-
tion, and another thread is to be drawn from the stationary bobbin &.
When very delicate threads are to be twisted, and doubled, it is pro-
posed to use a flyer, similar to that shown at figure 2, with the ends
turning down, and forming loops or eyes for the fine threads to pass
through. In case of any of the threads breaking, it would be necessa+.
ry to stop the bobbin connected with it. This is done by moving the
lever 2, which turns upon the fulcrum pin m, fixed in a stationary bar
crossing the machine. This lever embraces a clutchbox m, attached to
the rotary shaft on which the pulley d turns, and by moving the lever
é to the right or left by the handle 0, the pulley d is locked into gear;
with the rotary shaft, or taken out of gear, and made stationary. As
any sudden starting of the bobbins would endanger breaking the threads,
it is contrived that the pulley d, shall be gradually put into gear, which
is done by a circular inclined plane, on the face of the pulley, and a pin
on the inner side of the clutch. The clutch being slidden by the lever
towards the pulley, its pin moves upon the circular inclined plane un-
til it comes to the end, and there, striking against the raised edge, car-
ries the pulley round with it. The lever is held in its proper position
by a spring eatch at o. |
The bobbin is held against the bearing board by a spring latch p,
which falls into a groove at the foot of the bobbin. These new ar-

| Fy.8

Improved Power Loom.
By J. H. Sadler, of Middlesex, machinist.

The object of the patentee, is to give motion to the operative parts
of a loom, by means of a rotary power, so applied, that its. mecha-
nism shall occupy no greater space than is required for the standing of
smordinary loom. ‘To effect this object, the main rotary shaft, which

23

-

i _ 178

receives its motion from a steam-engine, or other first moven, is placed
at the top of the loom; and, by means of cams and tappots affixed te
the main shaft, the headles are moved up and down, which open the
sheds of the warp; the lay or batten is made to oscillate, and the shut-
tle is projected to and fro, at the proper intervals of time.

This loom is also adapted to the weaving cotton, linen, wool, flax,
and hemp, and mixtures thereof.* Plates accompany the specification.

American Winding, Doubling, and Twisting Machine.

The Messrs. Terhoeven, brothers, of Philadelphia county, have re-
cently invented a simple and ingenious machine, for winding silk from
cocoons, and for doubling and twisting the thread at the same time.
These operations, it is believed, have never before been united in the
same machine. It answers the object intended perfectly. A fringe
weaver, who has seen the silk thread finished on this machine, pro-
nounced it equal to any imported. The Board intrusted with the
management of the fund left by the late John Scott, of Edinburgh,
to the corporation of Philadelphia, for the distribution of premiums
‘¢to ingenious men and women, who make useful inventions and im-
provements,”? have awarded a medal and twenty dollars to the in-
ventors.

Recent Imprevement in Silk weaving.

Stephen Wilson, a silk manufacturer, when examined before the
Committee of the House of Commons on the Silk Trade, July 3,
1823, stated, that the following improvement had been made in Eng-
land and Scotland

In Scotland and Norwich they have shifting boxes, which save
much trouble in changing the shuttles, so that a weaver can, shoot dif-
ferent colors as fast as he could asingle one. They have also lifting
boxes. The shifting boxes are generally confined to three or four
shuttles; the lifting boxes go as far as twelve or sixteen colors, which
the weaver shoots with the fly, one after another. In Scotland they
have also many improvements in weaving, which we know very little
of in Spitalfields. They have what they call lappets, a quantity of
needles that rise near the battens, and serve instead of brocading.
They have also another very ingenious plan, which they call circles.
In Spitalfields we brocade each of these figures with small shuttles,
separately; but in Scotland the circles do all at one time, which is a
great improvement in lessening labor. They have also what they call
the cylinder or barrel weaving, which enables the weaver to dispense
with a draw-boy in heavy works. And they have another method of
weaving in the old damask loom, which is a very important one; and
which is done by what they call a comb: this. species of mounting-is
very much introduced for damask table cloth weaving. A gentleman

* London Journal of Arts and Sciences. By W. Newton. July, 1827.

Se

179 [175 ]

from Westmoreland a few days ago, informed me he hada work mak-
ing on this plan, with 14,000 lashes; that he had been in Spitalfields,
and was surprised to see how far behind they were in damask weav-
ing: for that they had no improvement upon the old looms. There is
also a loom invented by Mr. Roberts, of Manchester, for which he
has taken out a patent, of which I have heard a great deal, but have
not seen it.

Question. Are the shawls you have produced, made by the improved
machinery to which you have alluded?—They are; I never could
get them made on the old plan; owing to the immense weight, and the
quantity of lash, it never would work clear. They are now made
with one treadle, and the facility with which the weaver changes his
pattern is such, that he makes four, five, and six different patterns in
one week, besides changing his figure at the border.

Method of preventing the watering of Silks without the use of a
knee roll.*

There are two imperfections which silks, especially plain ones, are
liable to acquire in the loom. One called cocklin, is merely an un-
evenness of the surface, and arises usually from one longitudinal edge
or selvage of the piece being more stretched than the other, in conse-
quence of its not being wrapped evenly round the roll or cylinder of
the loom. The other imperfection, called watering, is a wavy or
streaky appearancé, produced by a play of light on the surface of the
sulk, though that surface may be quite smooth. The cause of this
wavy appearance is not completely understood, but appears, in a great
measure, to depend on unequal pressure being given to the piece while
on the roll. Itis well known that the highest polish and gloss is
given to silk in the hank by twisting it hard, and, at the same time,
giving it a kind of oscillating movement, so that each individual thread
may be rubbed repeatedly on those with which it is in contaet, whereby
they mutually polish each other. Now, a piece of silk, in the pre-
cess of manufacture, may be conceived to be placed in circumstances
considerably favorable to the production of this partial polish, if, when
rolled tight, and rather unevenly on the roll, it is subject to the vibra-
tion occasioned by the stroke of the lay upon the weft, which takes
place after every throw of the shuttle.

The contrivance which used to be resorted to, in order to prevent
the watering of silks, was by means of a knee roll. The five or six
yards, which constitute an average day’s work, being first rolled on
the large or breast roller, during the weaving, were every evening
transferred to a smaller roll, called, from its position, a knee roll. In
doing this, great care was required to lay each fold precisely upon the
preceding one, a manipulation that occupied about half an hour; and
the silk, by frequent handling, was apt to become soft and less sale-
able. Of late years, attempts, more ar less successful, have been made

* Trans. Society of Arts, London, vol. 42,

[175 j 180

to avoid the use of the knee roll, by inserting a sheet of thin glazed
pasteboard, at certain intervals between the folds of silk on the breast
roll, which, from its elasticity, yields to the vibration of the loom,
without communicating any motion to the silk, while its own smooth
gurface allows it to move a little on the surface of the silk, without
any injurious frictioa. ‘The most suecessful application of this contri-
vance, has been made by Mr. Peter Caron, which, although perhaps,
in part, to be attributed to his own individual dexterity, (for, by the
testimony of the foreman of Mr. Leveque, for whom he works, he ap-
pears to be a remarkably careful skilful weaver, ) has been considered by
the society worthy of being made public for the henefit of others in the
same trade, both workmen and masters.

The process is the following: ,

After a porry (a quantity of five or six yards) has been wove, and
rolled on the breast roll in the usual way, during the weaving, it is
to be unroiled, and carefully rolled again as evenly as possible; a
sheet of pasteboard, or pressers’ paper, being put in the last turn. When
a second porry has been finished, it 1s to be again rolled as above describ-
ed,thesheet of pasteboard inserted in the lastfold of the former porry, be-
ing first removed; but, at the end of every second porry, or twelve yards
of work, the pasteboard which has been inserted is to remain until the
piece is finished, especial care being taken that the pasteboard lies as
elose on the roll asthe work itself does. Mr. Caron has practised this
method for three years, and, during that time, has not had a piece in
the slightest degree watered. The kinds of work to which it has been
applied, have heen Gros de Naples, Florentines, and double-twilled
sarsnets,

Extracts from the Minutes of Evidence taken by Committees of
both Houses of the Parliament of England, on the subject of the
Silk trade and Silk manufacture, in the year 1821." re

Encch Durant, a silk broker.—Silk is principally imported, from
Bengal, China, Italy, and Turkey. The average, of late years, amounts
fully to a million eight hundred thousand pounds. Bengal sends about
eight hundred thousand poynds, somewhat under; China about one

* When any subject of commerce, manufacture or internal improvement, is
brought before Parliament, the House, instead of considering itself ex officio inspired,
and fully competent to decide on the occasion, appoint a committee to examine and
yeport onit, with authority to send for persons and papers. This committee, if they
find it necessary, sit during the recess, and examine intelligent men, practically ac-
quainted with the subject before them, from whom all the information requisite to
elucidate it, is obtained; and, after a thorough and patient investigation of it, a bill,
founded thereon, is brought forward. The minutes of the evidence are regularly pub-
lished, to show the grounds of the provisions.in the bill laid before the House. In
this way the despatch of the public business is not only greatly promoted, but thou-
sands of pounds are annually saved or gained to the nation, not in the way of daily pay,
by preventing debates of weeks or months, (for the members receive no pay,) but by
the proposed improvement taking place, orby a wise law going into speedy operation,
or by the repeal of one which has been proved to be injurious to the prosperity of
the country.

ice of Eggs.

Be terra en

’

teased,
he smallest.

a eaten.

|
e ounces, the other leaves in two meals.
inlarge the spaces.

5 their second skins.
i Ib. 14 oz.
‘Enlarge the spaces.

ast.
mA of their skins.
roused.

hes first.

rge the spaces.
t 17 Ibs. 4 02.
3 Ibs.

* Doc. 175—page 180. ’

TABLE of the rearing of Silkworms to the Sixth Age, from one ounce of Eggs.

7 _———————————————————————

Space oceu-

Temperature; Quantity of | Total of :

piediby the | Fahreneit’s leaves, | leaves for ~ -
AGES, bart jacalts "| each age. ODSERVAIONS. :
frames or hur-| .
dies. a
——— oe
Feet. In. "Ib. oz. lbs.

~ Tender young leaves, chopped fine; four meals, progressively increased,
lm 6. “ « “ the first the largest, the last the smallest.
7 6 A OR om a four meals. =
The first meal of 9 oz. the others less, if the leaves have not been eaten.

4thd
5 Tender leaves, chopped fine. Worms casting their first skins.

Ist day’

2d do

Finst Acs 3d do 9 6 75°
Sth do

Half tender branches and half leaves, cut fine; the first meal twelve ounces, the other leaves in two meals.

Tender leayes, four meals; the two first less than the two last. Enlarge the spaces.

ee
wom POND AAS

19 b oe to 75°

Ska wade one

Srconn AGE 34 do =! “ « the two first the largest.
4thdo « Lb distributed as wanted. Worms casting their second skins. -
Ast day 1 Half tender branches, half leaves a little chopped; second meal 1 Jb, 14 oz.
2d do ov Chopped leaves, four meals; ui two eS leas an the two last, Enlarge the spaces.
Ke a rst the largest.
Taran Ack an 2 is) 71° to 73° 12) 8 69 ae Se oe we . aa the last, least.
5th do 6 Bil « “ distributed asrequired, Third casting of their skins.
6th do nt tC se «¢ rs Worms are roused.
Ast day 23° 4 9 Ibs. of branches, 14 lbs. of leaves, cut coarsely; give the branches first.
2d do 39 0 Leayes coarsely cut, four meals; the two first the smallest. Enlarge the spaces.
3d do 52 .8 “ CH three meals; the three first the least, the last 17 lbs. 4 oz.
Founta Ack 4thdo 109 68° to 71° 59 4 210 Whole leaves, four meals; the three first 16 Ibs. 4 oz. the last 104 lbs.
Sthdo 29 4 Picked leayes distributed as wanted; the first meal the largest.
6thdo 6 1 iG a so «© Worms prepare to cast their skins.
* L 7thdo Cec Leayesas wanted. Worms are roused.
( Ist day 42 0 Half branches and half leaves. Enlarge the spaces,
2d do 65 10 Picked leaves, four meals; the first the smallest, 12 Ibs. the last 22 Ibs.
3d do 93 0 “ the first meal 22 Ibs. the last 27 lbs. 12 ounces.
Ath do 130 0 “ “ 27 lbs. 12 oz. the Daere lbs.
Sthdo 185 8 « “ 374 lbs. the second 46 lbs. 14 ounces.
HDPE IA CESS ethtnos |i ye ak lie ose ae (eager rma fh fisacrnemuditie treats abe abn
7th do 214 0 “ ae the first meal the largest, the rest to lessen gradually.
8th do 150 0 “ four or five meals, the first the largest, 46 lbs. 14 ounces.
9th do 120 14 se distributed as wanted. Worms approach maturity.
10th do 564 “ ue “ if not enough, give more.

The table is taken from the work by Bonafous, of Piedmont, on Silkworms. Lyons, 1824. The measures and weights are French. The French foot is divided into 12 inches,
and the inch into 12 lines. It is nine lines more than the American foot, or one foot 7-100 American, nearly. Six French feet are six feet fourinches American; twelve French feet are
twelve feet nine inches American, fractions omitted; 93.89 French feet make 100 feet American. Those who intend to regulate the spaces by the rules of either Dandolo or Bonafous,
may easily do so, by noting the dimensions of each hurdle orfeeding frame. (See chap. 5) It will be seen, by referring to chap. 13, that the spaces presgrined by Bonafous, are greater
than those marked by Dandolo. The dimensions of this author, may be considered as a minimum, or the least that can be allowed, to secure the health of silkworms. It cannot be too
often repeated, that the constant rule to be attended to, is to give the worms ample space, and never to permit them to be crowded. The spaces, as set down in the table, when reduced to
American measure, are as follow, fractions omitted:

Feet. Inches. Feet.
‘ 9 66 10 ‘ :
19 21
46 52
109 124
“ 239 272

_ The quantities of leaves marked for the several days and ages, are those which have been found sufficient. THe knowledge of the precise proportions may be useful, if a great
quantity of worms be reared, when leaves are bought; or when persons are hired to collect them, by enabling the proprietor to make his contracts for the daily supplies; and by preventing
the unnecessary waste of leaves, and surféiting the worms, when he owns the trees. It should always be kept im mind, that, besides these reasons, a superabundance of food greatly in-
creases the trouble of the attendants, from the litter it produces, The proportions prescribed by Bonafous, when reduced to American weights, are as follow, omitting fractions:

Ibs, lbs. oz.

7 re 12

21 23 4

69 76 9

210 229 8
1,281 1,400

In Chap. 8, it will be seen, that the weights of leaves are greater than those prescribed by Dandolo,

isl | [175 J

hundred thousand pounds; Turkey the same. The remainder comes
from Italy—about eight hundred thousand pounds.

The duties on raw silk areas follow: Bengal 4s.; Italian, Turkey,
and China, 5s. 72d. per pound. Italian organzine, 14s. 6d. to 14s. 73d.
per pound. Prices paid for organzine silk in England, 7s. to 10s. per
pound; the waste is from three to fifteen per cent. No organzine is
made in France; they prepare their own trams and singles. China silk
is applicable to hosiery—the Italian is not.

John Thorpe, ribbon manufacturer.—The price for making organ-
zine in Italy, is from 3s. to 4s. per pound. There isa great difference
in the size and goodness of the silk to work. In England it costs from
7s. to 10s. per pound to make it. The French,are superior to the En-
glish in ribbons, but inferior in hosiery. China silk goods are heavier
than English, but not of a better quality. The China raw silk is
equal to most Italian, and better than any Bengal. aA

John De Ferre, a silk merchant.—In the Bengal silk there isa kind
of cottony or fuzzy substance, which isthrown up into a pile or knap
when woven. ‘This is not perceived in the raw silk of Italy, France.
or Turkey. The price of Bengal silk per pound, duty included, is
from 14s. to 30s.; that of Italian raw silk, from 18s. to 35s.

Stephen Wilson, a silk manyfacturer.—Nearly two millions of
pounds weight of raw and thrown silks are annually imported into
England; it gives employment to 40,000 hands, in throwing it for the
weaver, and their wages are £350,000. Half a million pounds of soap
and a large proportion of the most costly die stuffs, are consumed at a
further expense of £300,000; and £265,000 more are paid to winders
to prepare it. The number of looms may be taken at 40,000, and the
weavers, warpers, mechanics, &c. will employ 80,000 more persons.
and their wages will amount to £3,000,000. Including infants and
dependants, 400,000 mouths will be fed by this manufacture; the
amount of which I estimate at £10,000,000.

The price of dying white at Lyons, is fifteen sous, or seven pence
half penny per pound; and colors 24 sous, or one shilling. In England
the price of the first is 2s., and of the latter, from 2s. 6d. to4ds. The
drawback on silk goods, in England, is 12s. per pound—ribbons 10s.

English silk goods are exported chiefly to the Brazils, and other
parts of South America. (

The labor in preparing raw silk, affords much more employment to
the country producing it, than any other raw material.

The defect complained of in the Bengal silk, is in the preparation.
There is nothing in the nature of the silk, which should not render if
applicable to every purpose of Italian silk.

[175] 182

APPENDIX.
eh Nee
TREATISE ON DYING SILK.

To cleanse Silk.

This operation consists in depriving silk of the principles which af-
fect its whiteness and flexibility. Monsieur Roard read before the
Institute of France a very interesting memoir on this subject; of
which the following is the result.*

1. That all unbleached yellow silk contains gum, coloring matter,
wax, and a volatile odoriferous oil, analogous to essential oils, extract-
ed from many vegetables.

2, That all white, unbleached silks, yield, also, gum, wax, and
ail, slightly colored, which seems to bear some relation to the liquor
contained in the chrysalis of the silkworm.

The gum is dry, friable, and, when powdered, is of a clear, yellow-
ish, red color, soluble in water, but scarcely soluble in alcohol. It
amounts to from 23 to 24 percent. The coloring matter is resinous,
ofa reddish brown color, and of a beautiful yellowish green, when
powdered, and of a strong odour; soluble in boiling soap and water,
scarcely in caustic alkali. It exists in the proportion of from ¥, to 3,
per cent.

The wax is hard, but brittle, and slightly coloured: insoluble in. wa-
ter, but easily soluble in alkalies and soap. The fine silks of China,
Saint Ambroix, and of Rocquemarre, have much less of this substance
than the other unbleached silks of France, and especially those of
Italy. The proportion of wax is from 53, to =3, of the weight of silk.

3. That the silks which yield the finest white, are the véry white
unbieached silks, and the yellow unbleached silks of a fine golden co-
jor: and that all the other silks, which are more or less dull, and in
which the gum has undergone any change of condition, either by rea-
son of sickness, or bad nutriment of the worms, or by the destruction
of the chrysalis in too great a heat, or by winding, ill-conducted, will
never attain more than a dull white, always somewhat colored, unless
they be exposed, in the unbleached state, to the action of sulphureous gas.

4. That light bleaches the yellow and white silks, without altering
their lustre, or their solidity; and that this agent may be employed
to much advantage, either before or after they are cleansed. Four
or five days exposure to the sun is sufficient to effect this object.

* Memoirs of the Institute, for the year 1808, (class of Mathematical and Physical
Sciences, ) vol vill. p. 552. It givesall the particulars of the experiments which led
' to the above interesting results. Monsieur Roard is a practical chemist, and was
formerly director of the diers’ department in the Gobelin manufactory of Paris.

188 [175 4

5. That water, alcohol, the acids, and even the alkalies, do not en-
tirely dissolve, equally well as the soap, the matters contained in the
silk; and that this agent ought to continue to be exclusively preferred
in the cleansing of silks, to all the above substances.

6. That the oxi-muriatic acid changes the properties of the gum, di-
minishes its affinity to water, and assimilates it to the resins, by ren-
dering it soluble in alcohol.

7. That the silk, after being separated, by cleansing, from all the
substances which concealed its whiteness and its brilliancy, loses af-
terwards in this bath, by the continued action of the soap, all the pro-
perties that it acquired by it; becoming dull, stiff, and colored, by the
solution of more or less of its texture; a solution which is effected by
all liquids, and which takes place even in boiling water. It is to this
cause, hitherto unknown, that we must attribute the impossibility of
impregnating the silks, whilst hot, with alum, and the destruction of
a part of their brilliancy, in all the colors somewhat brown, for which
we are obliged to employ the heat of boiling water.

8. That these great inconveniences may be obviated, by causing the
silks to be boiled no longer than is necessary for cleansing them com-
pletely; and by submitting them only to moderate heats, in all the
aperations of dying. -

9. That copper vessels cause some trouble, owing to the ease with
which they oxidate, and discolor the silk, as has been shown in his
memoir on aluming.

10. That it is highly important to employ very pure water, free
from caleareous impregnation, but not in unnecessary quantities, in
order not to increase the proportion of injurious salts, and not to weak-
en-the force of the solvent. .

The proper proportions for this operation, as ascertained after many
experiments on a large scale, are seven or eight pounds of water to one
of silk; and one-twelfth, or one-sixth, is sufficient for the greater num-
ber of colors: for yellow unbleached silks, and, above all, for those
of Grenada (Spain) it isnecessary to add from 50 to 60 percent. The
greatest quantities do not produce a very sensible effect upon those silks:
for we cannot make them as white as those unbleached white silks
cleansed with 25 per cent. of soap, even by the combined action of equal
weights of soap and sulphureous gas.

"11. Experiments have shown that all silks are completely cleansed
in less than an hour; and that they lose their coloring and waxy mat-
ters, in proportion to the quantity of soap which the cleansing batty
contained.

12. The operations of ungumming, boiling, and bleaching, which
take up six hours, may be reduced to one operation, of an hour, with
the same quantity of soap. I propose, then, the following method to
cleanse silks. To boil, for an hour, all yellow and white silks, with
five parts of water to one of silk, and a quantity of soap, which may
be determined according to the colors intended to give them; to put
the silks and soap in the water only half an hour before the moment of
ebullition, taking care to turn them often. Long boiling causes the

[175 ] 184

silk to lose a portion of its substance, and, in doing so, it also loses
its brillianey and solidity.

Dr. Bancroft says, that “silk ought never to be subjected to a boil-
‘¢ing heat, either when the mordant is applied, or afterwards, in the
‘dying operation; where a high temperature, besides injuring the
‘<texture and lustre of the silk, would detach and separate the mor-
«¢dant before the coloring matter could have combined, and produced
“an insoluble union with both.’’*

The injury of subjecting silk to a boiling heat, is further proved by
the experiments of those eminent French chemists, Thenard and Ro-
ard, which show that “alumed silks take color more intensely when
‘they are died at a low temperature, than when they are plunged at
‘‘once into boiling water. The reason is, that, in the first case, the
“‘action of the boiling water on the mordants is so quick, that the co-
‘<Joring matter has not time to be fixed on it, in order to give insolu-
‘‘bility to the combination; but, in the second case, this cannot take

‘¢ place. ’’t ‘
Of ungumming and boiling Silk for white.t

Make up the silk into hanks, that is to say, run a thread around
each hank, which consists of a certain quantity of skeins tied together.
After that, the hanks are to be untied, and several of them to be bound
together to make up a bundle, the size and names whereof vary ac-
cording to the nature of the article to be manufactured.

This precaution of making up into hanks is necessary, that the silk
may be more easily managed, more conveniently handled, and to pre-
vent them from being entangled.

After this operation, soap is to be dissolved in water, heated in a
kettle, in the proportion of thirty pounds to every hundred weight of
silk. (A dier of silk, to whom these directions were submitted, says,
‘that 15 lbs. of soap are enough for 100 lbs. of silk; more would
‘destroy its lustre.”” The kind of soap will cause difference in re-
sults.) Cut the soap into small slices, to promote its solution; after
the soap has been dissolved, the kettle is to be filled up with fresh wa-
ter, and the doors of the furnace closed, leaving only a few live coals
in it, in order that the bath may be kept quite hot, but without boil-
ing; for, should the bath boil, it would cause the silk to open, and to
become flossy, more particularly the fine silk. ;

Whilst this bath is preparing, the hanks are to be put upon the pegs,
or pins, and when the bath is ready, the silk is to be put into it, and
left therein, until all the part dipped is wholly freed from its gum;
which will be easily seen, by the whiteness and flexibility which the
silk acquires when deprived of it. The hanks are then placed again
on the rods, to undergo the same operation in the parts not yet steeped;
they are then to be taken out of the bath, in proportion as they are

* Philosophy of Permanent Colors, vol. 1. p. 289.
¢ Annales de Chimie, June, 1810.
} Nouyeau Manuel du Teinturier par Baillot, Maitre Teinturier.—Paris, 1810

185 be. base)

iound divested of their gum, because the hanks which have been first
soaked, are always sooner freed from the gum than the other. —

The silk, being thus ungummed, is to be wrung upon the pins te
remove the soap in it; then to be dressed; that is to say, it is to be ar-
ranged upon the pins, and upon the hands, in order to disentangle it;
then a cord is to be run through the hanks, to keep them down during
the boiling: this is termed putting on the line. About eight or nine
hanks may be placed upon a cord; after this, the silks are to be put
into bags of. strong coarse linen. These bags are to be fourteen or fif-
_ teen inches wide, and four or five feet long, and closed at both ends,
but open the whole length of the side. When the silk is placed in
them, they are to be stitched up the full length of the side with pack
thread, which is to be knotted at the end when the sewing is done.
Irom twenty-five to thirty pounds of silk are put into each bag: this
operation is called bagging.

After this, a new soap bath isto be prepared like the former, with
the same quantity of soap per cent.; and when itis dissolved, and the
boiling stopped by means of fresh water, the bags are to be put into
it, to undergo a strong boiling for a quarter of an hour; when it begins
to boil over, it is to be checked by a little cold water. During the
boil, care must be taken to stir often with a bar or staff, and to bring up
to the top such bags as are at the bottom, to prevent the silk from burn-
ing, by lying too long at the bottom of the caldron. This move-
ment causes the silk to boil with more uniformity and readiness.
- This operation is performed with silks which are to remain white. *

Of the boiling of Silks which are to be died.

For boiling silks intended for common colors, we put twenty pounds
of soap to each ewt. of raw silk. The process of boiling is the
same as the one just described, with this difference only, that, as
the silk is not to be freed from its gum, the boiling is to continue three
hours and a half, or four hours, taking care to fill up, from time to
time, with water.

If the silks are intended to be died blue, or iron gray, sulphur, or
other colors, which require to be set in a very deep white ground, in
order to acquire the desired beauty, there are to be used thirty pounds

* The process for ungumming and boiling silk for white, is more full in Homassel,
and may be seen in Dr. Cooper’s work. The process for dying fine crimson is that
long since published by Macquer, and is given by Dr. Cooper, Vitalis, Bergues, (a)
and Baillot. The passage having been translated from the last author, and printed
before this fact was discovered, it is retained; the receipt is probably the best extant.

Before diers condemn any process, they ought to reflect upon the following causes,
which more or less influence their success. 1. The purity of the water. 2. The de-
gree of heat to which itis raised. 3. The nature of the metal of the boiler. 4. Its
state of cleanliness. 5. The length of time in which the article is boiled. 6. The
quality of the vegetable die, as connected with its growth, preparation, time of dry-
ing the plant, the age of the infusion. 7. The purity of the mordant, and of the
acids and sults used to fix it; mode of using them; the proportions used.’ 8. The
state of the atmosphere when thedying process is going on. There may even be
other causes, which contribute to success or defeat.

(a) L?Art du Teinturier, Paris, 1827.

[ 175 | 186

of soap per hundred weight of silk, and the boiling-is to continue, us
before, during three or four hours. When the silks are boiled, they
are to be taken out of the kettle. For this purpose, a stick is put under
the bag, resting the stick on the edge of the kettle; and the bag raised
gradually, and then to be placed upon a shelving table of white pine.
It is then to be ripped or unstitched, and the silks taken out, in order
to examine if they be well boiled, or if there be any part of them
biscuit, (improperly so termed by the diers,) that is to say, if there
be any parts which the liquid has not sufficiently penetrated. This is
easily seen, by the yellow and a certain kind of slime remaining on
those parts. Should this defect be discovered, they must be put in
again, to boil during some hours; and when the silk is found to be
well boiled, the bags are to be taken out, in the manner already de-
seribed. .

The silke ommonly loses one-fourth of its weight in boiling; there are
some silks, as the wefts in Spain, Valencia, &c., which lose two or
three per cent. more.

OF White.

There are five sorts ot white, or rather principal shades of white,
which are called China white, India white, Paste white, or milk white,
silver white, and blue azure white. All these kinds of white differ
only by very slight shades, but which, however, are perceptible when
compared with one another. The three first whites are boiled and
freed from their gum, in the manner before described; but as to the
silver white, and the blue white, it is proper to put some blue (azure)
in the process of ungumming, which is done in the following manner.
Some fine indigo is to be washed twice or thrice, in moderately hot
water, then pounded in a mortar, boiling water poured over it, and left
to settle till the gross parts of the indigo subside: the clear water only
is used: this is what is termed azure by diers.

When the boiling goes on, the silk is to be stirred up and down,
and moved round about by the means of the pot stick or half-bar; but,
instead of placing the silk on a shelving table to drain, the bags are
put into the long trough, (barque) full of clear water, opened, and
taken out of it, leaving the silk behind. The silk is then spread out on
a cord in the water, after which itis to be taken out and put on the
shelving table, which is to be laid across the trough ever which the
silk is drained. After that it is to be dressed, and formed into hanks,
in order to be wound or twisted. The bleeching is to be done as fol-
lows: Ri.

A large kettle is filled with clear water: to thirty buckets-full, about
one pound anda half of soap are to be added and boiled, and when the
soap is dissolved, the silk is to be put into the kettle on rods, and
passed through it as follows: For the China white a little annotto is to
be mixed with the bath, if we wish to have somewhat of a reddish
tint. All the skeins arranged on the rods, are to be put into the bath,
and the rods to be placed with their ends on each brim of the vessel.

is? { ams J

-the skeins. hanging vertically in the bath; then, one after another, the
other ends are to be turned and dipped, in order that the parts of the
skeins which were out, may be'soaked in their turn. This operation
(lisen) is to be repeated until the silk shall.have uniformly assumed
the tint that we wish to give it. For the Indian white, a little azure
is added, if it be desired to have the silk of a blueish cast,

With respect to the thread white, and the other whites, alittle azure
is added, in proportion to the shades which may be wanted. During
the whole of this process, the bath should be hot, but not boiling; and
the working is to be continued till the silk shall have acquired a uni-
form or equal shade, which is usually effected after four or five work-
ings.

y proportion as the silks become equally finished, they are to be
wrung upon the peg; after which, they are to be put upon the sticks in
the drying room, or fumigated with sulphur, should it be necessary,
as follows:

Sulphuring.

The silks which are to be sulphured, should be extended on poles

placed at seven. or eight feet from the ground, in a high apartment,
without a chimney, or else a lofty garret where the air may freely cir-
culate, by leaving the windows and doors open. For every hundred
pounds of silk, nearly one pound and a half, or two pounds of roll
brimstone are to be put into an earthen pan, or iron kettle, at the bot-
tom of which a layer of ashes is to be placed. The rolls of brimstone
are to be coarsely pounded, and placed in a heap upon the ashes; one
of the bits of brimstone is to be lighted at a candle, and then applied
to several parts of the heap to be set on fire. ‘The apartment is then
to be well closed; if there be a chimney in it, care must be taken to
stop it up well, to prevent the fumes of the brimstone from escaping; the
brimstone is to be left burning under the silk during the night. The
next day, the door and windows are to be opened, in order to let the
smell of the brimstone escape, and to dry the silk, which will suffice in,
summer.

In winter, after the smell is dissipated, the windows are to be closed.
and live coals in chafing dishes, placed there to dry the silks.

The fumigation with brimstone gives a certain firmness to the silk.

There are stuffs which are always manufactured with raw silks,
that is, silk reeled off dry from the cocoons, retaining all their gum
and their natural stiffness, because those stuffs are designed to be firm:
such as the silk laces, known in commerce by the name of blond laces,
gauzes, and others of the kind; nor are these silks boiled; all the other
preparations for dying, are however applied tothem. But then those
which are naturally the whitest must be chosen, and immersed in the
water, then wrung and sulphured; and after that they must receive
the azure in the clear water, be wrung again, and fumigated with
brimstone the second time.

Experience has taught, that we may proceed as well by plunging
them into the soap bath, as for the bleaching, and heated to such a de.
gree that the hand may he kent in if.

f 175 J : 188

They may be worked in this bath, adding a littie azure to it, it ne-
eessary. When they are at the. proper point, they are to be well
washed in the river, which gives them the firmness they had lost in
the soap water; afterwards they are to be wrung and sulphured.

The fine Nankin or China silks, which are naturally of a very fine
white, are in no need of this operation. *

We owe to Beaume the discovery of 2 process by which the natu-
ral stiffness of the silk is preserved, while it is rendered perfectly
similar to that of China, with which they manufacture gauzes, blond
lace, ribbons, &c.

This process consists in digesting, for twelve hours, six pounds of
silk, in a mixture of forty-eight pounds of alcohol, at thirty degrees,
and 12 ounces of muriatic acid, at fifteen degrees of concentration.

This liquor is poured off when it has become slightly colored, and
replaced with alcohol, which we pour over the silk until no more co-
loring matter passes off withit. It is then covered with a similar mix-
ture of alcoho! and acid, as at first, which is allowed to stand on it
two or three days, or until the silk be perfectly white. It is then
freed from any remains of the acid and alcohol, by washing it in cold
water.

The silk bleached by this method and loosely dried, is without lus-
tre. It ought to be strongly extended while dripping wet. and left te
dry in this state of extension.7

Of Aluming.

After having washed the silks, and divested them of the soap by
giving them a beetling, a line or cord is passed through them, as when
they are put to boil. They are put into the alum, all strung together,
taking care that the hanks. be not too much rolled up, or folded upon
one another, and that the bundles, (cordees,) be not too much in the
air, or at the surface, so that the whole may be well steeped. They
are to be left in this state during eight or nine hours, commonly from
night till morning,t afterwards they are to be washed and wrung with
the hand, over the vessel: they are then carried back to the river to be
washed, which is called refreshing; and beetled when necessary.

The proportion of alum to be used, fora cask or tub of forty or fifty
buckets full, is forty or fifty pounds, which should be first dissolved in
a kettle of hot water; care must be taken, in pouring the solution of
alum into the tub, to stir up and mix it, because the coldness of the
water might produce a crystallization or congelation, as diers term it.
We may put into such a bath about one hundred and fifty pounds of
silk, without being under the necessity of adding more alum; but
when we perceive that it begins to be weak, then there must be twenty
or twenty-five pounds of alum dissolved in it, with the same precan-

* Baillot, p. 98.
+ Chemistry applied to the Arts, by Ghaptal, p. 422. Paris, 1807.
, + Adiersays that four hours of the alum steeping is enough.

189 { £75 |

tions as before given; and we should continue thus to add more alum,
in proportion to the sill which are to be impregnated therewith, until
the bath begins to have a bad smell; it is then to be drawn off, after
steeping in it the silks intended for deep or dark colors, as brown,
chestnut, &c. &c. and thrown away, the long trough (barque) cleaned,
and a new bath to be got ready.

The silk must be steeped in the alum water whilst it is cold; if it
were warm, the silk would lose its lustre.

Observations on Alum.

As alum has been emphatically termed the ‘soul of dying,’”’ it is
of immense importance to use it in a state of purity; on this account
the following remarks are given. i,

It is often combined with a portion of iron, which defeats the inten-
tion of thedier. To free it from this metal, Dr. Cooper* directs to
‘¢ dissolve it in boiling water, and expose for a week or a fortnight in
shallosy vessels to the air. The iron will gradually be oxyded, and
separate in the form of rust. Filter the solution, evaporate the water,
and re-crystallize it.”” MM. Vitalis directs to dissolve the alum, and
erystalize it: pour off the liquor that remains, and dry the erystals on
absorbent paper.

The presence of iron in alum is easily discovered by dissolving a
small portion of this salt in distilled water, or in rain water, and add-
ing a few drops of a solution of prussiate of potash. If the alum con-
tains iron, a blue precipitate will immediately take place, which will
be more or less deep, in proportion to the quantity of iron contained
in the alum.

Alum varies much in its composition; sometimes it is an acid sul-
phate of alumine and potash: at others, in place of the latter, ammonia
is found; and finally, both potash and ammonia enter into the com-
pound, but although thus variously formed, it is equally proper for
dying.* The regular form of alum is in octoedral crystals; and when
thus found, it is a definite compound.

Inquiry has been made of the writer, as to the proper quantity of
alkali to neutralize the excess in alum of sulphuric acid, which is inju-
rious to colors. No positive quantity can. be prescribed. The only
certain mode to neutralize the acid, is to add a solution of alkali, until
the earth of alum begins to precipitate. We may then be sure that the
acid is fully neutralized.

The Indigo-Blue Vat.

For eight pounds of indigo, take six pounds of the best potash, from
three to four ounces of madder, for each pound of potash, and eight
pounds of bran, watered several times, in order to carry off its flour.
When washed, press it to carry off most of its water, and place it :at

* Treatise on Dying, page 25, Philadelphia, 1815.
+ Vitalis, Cours Elementaire de Teinture, page 107—Paris, 1827

r ae 190

the bottom of the vat; boil the potash a quarter of an hour, in a keitie
containing nearly the two-thirds oi what it wall hold; then leave it to
settle, and put out the fire.

Two or three days previously, eight pounds of indigo should have
been set to steep in about one bucket of hot water; in this, it is to be
carefully washed, changing the water, which assumes a reddish color.

Some diers begin by boiling indigo in a ley made of one pound of
potash, and two buckets of water: after which, it isto be pounded, wet
as itis, in a mortar; when it begins to form a paste, some of the liquid
just boiled is to be poured quite hot over it, till the mortar be full, and
then rubbed for a certain time; the liquid is left to settle for some mo-
ments, and the clear part taken off and set apart in a kettle, or put into
the vat; then pour an equal quantity of the boiled liquid over the indigo,
remaining in the mortar, which is to be rubbed again, and_ the clear
part taken off, and put into the kettle, as at first. Repeat this opera-
tion till the whole of the indigo be used, with the greatest part of the
liquor of the bath. It is then to be poured by kettles-full over the bran
in the bottom of the vat: then pour over it the rest of the brevet or re-
freshing liquor, with its sediment or grounds. The whole is then stir-
red or mixed with a stick, or wooden hoe, and left without fire, till the
degree of its heat moderates, so as that we can bear the hand in the
bath; then a little fire is to be set round the vat to keep up the same
degree of warmth; it must continue thus till it be perceived that the li-
quor begins to turn green, which may be discovered by the help of a
bit of white silk dipped in it. a

When it isin a state indicating that the process goes on well, give it
a stirring with astick, or hoe, in order to forward it, and to see if itin-
cline to be mature; then let it settle till a scum, or brown and coppery
pellicle is seen rising to the surface, which shows that the bath is ready.

In order to be sure that it is ripe, observe if it be well crusted, and if,
on blowing upon it, there be instantly a cream or scrum re-produced,
instead of that which has been just set aside, it is then left to repose
for three or four hours; after which make a new liquor: for this purpose
the necessary quantity ot water is to be put into a kettle, and boil in it
two pounds of potash and four ounces of madder, as was done the
first time; this new liquor is to be stirred up, then left to settle during
four hours, at which time the tub is in a condition for dying.

Silk diers commonly have no other bath than that which has been
just described; however, they might employ another for the green
colors. This liquor is made like the preceding one, excepting that
a half pound of madder is:to be used for every pound of potash. This
die is much greener than the former, and the color it gives is more
lasting on silk, with a lustre equal to that given by the usual die.
When the liquor of this vat has exhausted its coloring property, it
becomes ruddy, like beer; whereas the liquor of the former becomes
blackish. :

The vat for the above quantity of indigo must be five feet deep, from
two to two and a half diameter at the mouth, and from one to one
foot and a half at the hase, so as to resemble an inverted sugar loaf.

191 or ee

‘lo make the different shades of blue, put into this new vat the shades
intended to be the deepest; they are to be died by keeping them more
or less time in it, in proportion as the liquor becomes weak, until it be-
gins to be exhausted, and the shades which the silk takes, after having
remained in it two or three minutes at most, begin to appear faint.
When the liquor is so far weakened that it begins to lose its green, re-
fresh it, to give it new strength, by a kettle-full of a decoction composed
of onepound of pearl ash, two ounces of madder, and one handful of wash-
ed bran, boiled together for a quarter of an hour in water, or in a por-
tion of the liquor in the vat, if it be still full enough for that. The li-
quor is to be stirred up, after these additions, and left to settle at least,
for two or three hours, before we begin to die with it. In order to die
fine blues, itis proper to havea fresh vat: the light blues colored in
this fresh weak liquor, are always more lively than those which are
made in a liquor which has served for coloring deep blue. =

Fine Crimson.

The silks intended to be died in crimson with cochineal, should be
boiled in the proportion of twenty pounds of soap to-an hundred pounds
of silk, without any azure, because the slight yellow tint which remains
in the silk, when it is freed from its gum, only with this quantity of soap,
is favorable to this color.

After washing and beetling the silks at a stream, in order to clear
them from the soap, they are to be put into the alum solutionin its full
strength; and left in it from night till morning, or about seven or eight
hours. After this, the silks are to be washed, and twice beetled at the
river. During this interval, the bath is to be prepared in the following
manner: The long trough is charged with river water, about one-half,
or two-thirds, and, when boiling,some gall-nuts, powdered are to be put
into it, and suffered to boil for a while; then put from four drachms to
two ounces of them for every pound of silk; ifthe gall-nuts are pounded
very fine, and passed through a hair-sieve, they may be put in at the
‘same time with the cochineal.

When the silks are washed and beetled, they are to be put upon rods
by hanks: these hanks may be thick, because the crimson color is not
subject to be unequally set. The cochineal, pounded and sifted, is
then to be thrown into the bath, and well stirred, and must receive
five or six boils; from two to three ounces for each pound of silk, are to
be put in, according to the required shade. In order to give the most
common shade or color, the proportion of cochineal is two ounces and
a half: there are seldom put more than three ounces, except when one
dies some particular variety.

These ingredients are to be put into clear, pure, and soft water, ina
kettle of pure tin, and not of copper, or brass tinned. This is arule
from which the diers of the British East India Company never de-
viate. When the cochineal and the galls have undergone a boiling,
put into the bath, for every pound of cochineal, one ounce of a solution
of tin in agua regia, called composition, which is made in the follow-

5 175 | 192 f

ing manner: one pound of spirits of nitre, (nitric acid, ) two ounces of
sal ammoniac, six ounces of grain tin. The tin, and the sal ammoni-
ac, are to be put into a sand-stone pot of sufficient capacity; upon these
pour about twelve ounces of water, then add the spirits of nitre, and let
the solution take place.

This composition contains much more sal ammoniac and of tin, than
that which is employed for the scarlet of cochineal upon wool. The
composition is added in the proportion of one ounce to a pound of silk,
when the galls and the cochineal have been made to boil. The kettle
is left to cool a little, by opening the door of the furnace or stove:
the silk is put into the vat, and to be worked from five to seven times;
after this, the bath must boil during two hours: in that time, care must
be taken to work the silks now and then. At the expiration of this
time, the fire is to be withdrawn, and the silks are to be wholly im-
mersed; they are to be left there five or six hours, and even if the crim-
son be died in the evening, they may be left in it till the next morn-
ing. By this means they receive a fine half die: they are to be wash-
ed, and to get two beetlings, wrung as usual, and then spread upon
the perches to be dried.

Chaptal says, that, by giving silk a ground of yellow, before dying
it in the above manner, a poppy, or flame color, may be obtained, as
handsome, and more solid and economical than that produced by the
use of the carthamus, or bastard saffron. *

Of Green.

This color is composed of yellow and blue: it is diflicult to give at
to silk, by reason of the inconvenience attending the blue bath, which
is subject to be checkered, or to take a variegated color which becomes
still more perceptible in the green than in the pure-blue. In place of
applying the yellow on the blue, we give the blue upon the yellow,
and proceed thus: :

The boiling of the silk for these colors is the same as for the common
colors. After the silk is boiled, it is to be well impregnated with the .
aluminous water, then rinsed in the river, and distributed in little
hanks of four or five ounces. ‘This precaution is necessary to give
the yellow ground to all silks in general which are intended to be died
ereen; because the silk being thus distributed, has the advantage of be-
ing uniformly died. Weldt is to be boiled as for the yellow, (which
see:) and a bath of it prepared with clear water, and to be so strong as
to give a good ground of lemon color. The silk isto be worked inthe |
bath, with great attention, because the inequality of color in the ground
iseasily perceptible in the green: and when we judge that the ground
is nearly at its height, some fibres of the silk should be dipped, in or-
der to see whether the color has sufficient plenitude or ground: if it
has not enough, add the decoction of weld, and make a new trial.

* Chemistry applied to the Arts, p. 466.
+ Dier’s weld—Reseda Luteola.

| 193 { 175 }

When the color takes well, the silk is to be wrung, washed in a
stream and beetled, if it be thought proper. The silk is then to be
dressed, re-formed into hanks suitable for the vat, then steeped, one
hank after another, in the blue vat; finally, wrung and dried with care
and celerity.

The fifteen or sixteen clearest shades of this kind of green, need only
to be steeped in the vat, in order to be entirely completed.

For the Pistachio green, if the vat be too strong, air the hank, when
taking it out, without washing it, clap it with the hands; that is, hold-
ing it in one hand, and clapping it lengthwise with the other, to sepa-
rate the threads, and thus receive the air, which causes the color to
brighten uniformly: some threads are to be washed, in order to prove
whether the color be good: the silk isthen washed. For deeper greens,
of this shade, add to the weld a decoction of logwood, or of Venice
sumach. ‘ .

For very deep greens, such as duck-green and bottle-green, add a
little copperas.* ‘Fhe apple-green and sea-green, require a light yel-
low. We shall be less liable to give too deep a shade of yellow, by
taking the precaution to die in the weld baths, which have already
been used, for the silk being strongly alumed, will be apt to take too
strong a hue in the new bath. Raw silk, reeled off dry, (sove crue,)
is died precisely in the same manner, after having been immersed.t

Lilac.

As lilac is a very light and brilliant tint of the violet, or of the pur-
ple, we must apply the blue with much caution, or sparingly; and,
ascommonly the baths are too strong, it is the custom to mix a little
of the fresh or new bath, with some potash in clear cold water, in order
to prepare a bath on purpose for blueing the lilacs at will.

When the liquor has been put into the bath, it is to be immediately
stirred up, then it assumes a green color which imperceptibly dimin-
ishes; we wait till the bath begins to lose alittle of its first green color,
and approaches to that of indigo, in order to put the silks into it. The
potash helps to make the archil blue, because it is in general the effect
of all the alkalies to render every red more of a violet tint.

Another Process.

The process consists in employing the chemical blue with a quantity
of archil, in proportion to the intensity of the die that is desired.

Violet with Logwood.

_ Yake died silks impregnated with the alum water, and washed
in the usual way, boil water with logwood chips, as done with respect
to Brazil wood: it is destined to give a blue.

* Baillot, page 115.
+ Vitalis: Cours Elementaire de Teinture, p, 502,
25

[f 175 | i94

This die ought to be made coid, because, when the logwood is warin,
the color it gives is spotted and not equal; besides it is much more dull
and less handsome.

The decoction cannot be preserved more than three weeks or 2

month.
Violet with Brazil wood and Logwood.

To make this violet, the alumed silks, after being rinsed, as common,
are put into a bath of Brazil wood of the usual degree of heat, and af-
ter they have undergone this bath, add a decoction of logwood, and
work them therein, and when the color is as full as desired, add to the
bath a little potash ley; then wash the silks, wring and dry in the usual
manner.

If we begin by the logwood, we. should use the bath cold, on ac-
count of the uneven die it gives when it is hot, and which it is even
subject to produce when taken from the bath and exposed to heat. This
does not take place in the method we have given for it: for it is not
necessary to give the logwood a cooling by this process, because the
silks are impregnated with the die of the Brazil wood.

Instead of putting the potash into the bath, it is sometimes proper to
make a bath of alum, with clear water, for the alteration of the tint.
This ought to be adopted when we apprehend the silks may be too
much charged with the die, by leaving them long in the bath.

Violet with the Brazil wood and Archil.

After having boiled and impregnated the silk with the alum water,
it isto be put into abath, more or less clear, of Brazil wood, according
to the shade intended to be given; and, when it is taken out, the silk is
to be beetled in a river, then to be put into a bath of archil, in order to.
complete the color. It is to be washed a second time, and to receive a
beetling. After this it is to be putt into the blue vat, then wrung and
dried with the same despatch and precision as the greens and blues.

Of Yellow on Silk in hanks.

Silk destined to be died yellow, is boiled in the proportion of twenty
pounds of soap to each hundred pounds of silk.

After the boiling, it is to be washed and put into the alum, and after
being washed again, as usual, (called refreshing,) and dressed; then to
be put upon rods in hanks, of about seven or eight ounces each, and
worked in the yellow bath. .

For dying clear yellow, (jaune franc, ) called by diers yellow in
grain, they commonly employ no other ingredient than weld.

Put into the caldron about two pounds of weld to each pound of silk;
and, in order that the bunches of the plant may mix well with the water,
lay on them large blocks of wood. After a quarter ofan hour of boiling,
the bath is to be strained, and left to cool till the hand can be borne in

!

L995 | 17S 4}

it; then putin the silk, and work it therein until it become of an even
color. If the liquor be not enough to fill the long trough (barque,) add
water, and before the bath is cold, so that there may be the same degrec
ofheat mentionedabove. In general, all the long troughs or caldrons, in
which dying is to be effected, should be full; the silk being plunged in,
till about two inches distance from their brims. | Whilst this operation is
going on, weld is to be boiled a second time in a new water, and then
taken out at one end of the long trough, and placed on a shelying white
pine table, or else on the top of the trough. Then about one-half of
the bath is to be thrown out, and to be supplied with the second liquor
from the new bath of the plant, in the same quantity that has been
taken from the first, taking care to stir up the bath, in order to mix the
whole well. This new bath may be employed somewhat hotter than
the first; still, however, the heat must only be moderate, because, if it
were otherwise, we would destroy one part of the color which the silk
had already taken.

Work in this new bath, as cn the former occasion; and, during this
time, dissolve potash, in the proportion of about one pound for twenty
pounds of silk. For this purpose, put the potash into a small kettle,
then pour into it some of the second weld liquor boiling hot, stirring up
the potash. This little bath is to be left to settle, and when it is clear,
lift out asecond time the silks, putting them on the shelving table, and
throw into the bath two or three ladles-full of the clearest part of the pot-
ash water. The bath is to be well stirred up, and the silks to be dip-
ped again, and worked* anew. After seven or eight workings, one of
the hanks is to be wrung upon the pin, in order to see whether the color
be full enough, and ofa proper yellow. Ifit be not sufficiently so, add
again a little of the potash bath, and proceed as directed above, until
the silk receives the desired shade.

To die a yellow approaching to that of Jonquille, at the time of
putting the potash into the bath, we must add also to it some annotto,
in proportion to the color required.

The slight shades of yellow, such as pale lemon, or Canary bird
color, ought to be made on a very white ground; for this purpose,
the silks are to be boiled with thirty pounds of soap-for every hun-
dred weight of silk. If they be not sufficiently blued (azured) for
giving them these shades, some ladles-full are to be taken out of the ~
bath of boiled weld, and some mixed with clear water, with a smal!
portion of the liquor of the vat. The silks are then to be put into
this bath, and steeped and washed as usual; and, if it be perceived
that the shade is not deep-enough, some of the weld liquor must be
added, and from the vat also, till the desired shade is obtained.

For the deeper shades of lemon color, boil the weld the same way
as for the yellow, and add a certain quantity of it to clear water, in
proportion to the desired fulness. Put into it also some of the liquor
In the tub, if the shade require it: but the deep lemon colors may be
boiled in the usual way like the yellows. It must be noted that the

* In the edition for the House of Representatives, these words were improper])
orinted, ‘* washed,” and * washes.”—-Enrror.

{175 } 196

blue is not to be added from the vat in these colors, except only when
we desire to have a greenish tint. These shades are often liable to be
too deep, when they are impregnated with too much alum. In order
to avoid this inconvenience, instead of applying the alum like the
others, we may make apart for them a weak and small alum bath, in
which they may be worked; or else, without giving the alum water
separately, only a little alum may be put into the same weld-bath.

-To die Blue.

The following proportions of the articles necessary for a cold blue
yat, were given by an extensive silk dier of Philadelphia. *

<¢One pound of indigo to every pound of copperas: to 120 gallons
of water, add 16 pounds of lime, and 6 pounds of indigo.”

Blue. By Mons. Raymond.t

Previously to the year 1811, the silks died blue were dull; but, in
that year, M. Raymond invented a method of giving silk a deep and
brilliant color, which is now generally adopted, and is known by his
name. Here follows the process. When the silk has been cleansed,
immerse it for a quarter of an hour, at the ordinary temperature, in
water containing about one-twentieth part of its weight of the sul-
phate of the peroxide of iron,t wash, and hold it for half an hour in
a bath, nearly boiling, of soap and water; wash it again, and put it
in a cold and very weak solution of prussiate of potash, soured by sul-
phuric acid, or by muriatic acid. As soon as it is immersed, it be-
comes blue, and nothing more is wanting, than, in about a quarter of
an hour, to wash and dry it. In this operation, the silk imbibes a
certain quantity of feruginous salt; the soap in the water destroys or
neutralizes the acid of this salt; the sulphuric acid, or the muriatic
acid, unites with the potash of the prussiate of potash, and the prus-
sie acid is transferred upon the oxide of iron retained by the silk.

Silk thus died becomes dull in time, when much exposed to the
sun, but will regain its brilliancy by being kept in the dark.

Chaptal says, in order to obtain the Turkish blue, which is the
deepest of all, it is necessary to immerse the silks in a very strong
warm bath of savory, before putting it into the vat. ’

* The late Mr. John Dougal.

{ Traite de Chimie, par J. L. Thenard, tom. 4, p. 214. Paris, 1826.

+ According to Thenard, the sulphate of the peroxide of iron is procured in the
following mode: Aa

«‘ Expose a solution of green copperas to the air: it then slowly absorbs oxygen,
and the sulphate of the peroxide is precipitated in the form of a yellow powder: the
neutral sulphate of the peroxide remains in the solution, to which it gives a red tinge.”

A manufacturer of Prussian blue, in Philadelphia, procures it in this way: dry cop-
peras, by exposing it to a heat; then submitit toa more violent heat, until it is con-
verted into a grayish red-colored substance, which is the red oxide of iron, combined
with a portion of the redsulphate. As it is deliquescent, it must be carefully kept
from the air until it is about to be used.

197 , 239

When our object is to obtain the royal blue, which is also very deep
and permanent, cochineal is employed in place of savory.

This last blue may be successfully imitated, by .first immersing the
silk in a solution of 1 oz. 74 drs. of verdigris, to 1 lb. 4 oz. 4 drs. of
silk; the silk is afterwards disposed in a bath of logwood, in which it
assumes a blue color, ‘which is fixed by passing it through the vat.

Silk to be died blue, is usually boiled in a bath composed of 44 lb.
20z. 4 drs. of soap, to 110 lb. 5 oz. 10 drs. of silk; it is carefully
washed, and twice put through running water, after which it is made
up into skeins, and plunged into the vat by means of the wooden roller,
until it has acquired the desired shade. It is then wrung by the hand,
shaken out in the air, afterwards washed, and again wrung and hung up
to dry.

When silk is to be died blue without boiling, the whitest kinds are
chosen; they are dipped in water with a view of disposing them more
readily to imbibe the die.

Yellow. *

Alum, 3 oz. to 1 pound of silk; sugar of lead, 1 oz. to one pound of
alum; fustic, one pound, to one of silk; water, one or two gallons, in
proportion to the required shade. Immerse the silk over night in the
solution of alum and sugar of lead, take it out, wring and die it in
the fustic: the high price of weldt prevents the use of it: when used.
the proportion is the same as that of fustic.

Chaptal says, that silk intended for a yellow color, is boiled with
22 Ibs. 1 oz. 1 dr. of soap, to 110 Ibs. 5 oz. 10 drs. of silk; it is after-
wards washed, alumed, and put on the rods.

The yellow bath is prepared by boiling 2 lbs. 30z. 5 drs. of weld to
the pound of silk, during a quarter of an hour. This bath is strained
through a sieve, and cooled until the hand can be kept in it, before the
silk is immersed in the vat. |

The weld .is boiled a second time, with a fresh portion of water, and
employed to supply the waste, and keep up the heat of the first bath,
into which more silk is put until it be sufficiently exhausted.

With the view of extracting every particle of color from the weld,
and of imparting a golden hue tothe yellow produced by it, 1 lb. 4 oz.
4 drs. of potash, to 22 lbs. 1 oz. 2 drs. of silk, are put into a caldron;
the second bath of weld is poured boiling hot on these ashes, and well
stirred, to hasten the solution. When the bath is become clear, they
gradually transfer a portion of it to the first bath, and after stirring it
again, immerse the silk. A golden hue may be imparted to yellow by
means of annotto.§

The United States abound in vegetables producing a yellow color,
and, with proper mordants, may be found highly valuable.

U
* Mr. John Dougal.
} The weld plant should be cultivated by our farmers: no crop will pay better
+ Absurdly called “‘ woad,’’ in the London translation of Chaptal. ,
4 Chemistry applied to the Arts, p, 484,

Bie ces 19s

he

The following are worthy of serious attention:—

1. Xanthoriza piifolia, or x. tinctoria, parsley-leaved root, yei-
low root. See Dr.,Woodhouse’s experiments on this plant in the Do-
mestic Encyclopedia, article Xanthoriza.

2, Hydrastis Canadensis, yellow root. The simple tincture of the
roots imparts to silk a rich yellow, and, with an appropriate mordant,
might be permanently fixed.

3, Hopea ¢inctoria, horse laurel, horse honey, yellow leaf. This
tree abounds in the low parts of Virginia, in West Tennessee, the up-
per parts of North and South Carolina, Georgia, and, according to
Michaux, generally in the limits of the pine barrens.*

This author says, that, with alum, it dies a beautiful yellow on wool
and cotton; it would doubtless succeed equally well on silk. The
Jeaves only are used. Dr. Ramsayt says, that the late Mr. Felder, of
Orangeburg, procured a paste from the leaves, and those of a species
of cassia, called yellow indigo, for which he obtained a guinea per
pound, during the American war. Unfortunately the process died
withhim. Dr. R. mentions several other plants, which yield a yellow
color.

4. Bow wood, yellow wood, Osageapple tree: Maclura 4urantiaca.
This abounds in Missouri,+ and, according to Mr. Nuttal,§ also, in the
- Arkansas Territory, near Style’s farm, a few miles from the Kia-
mesha river, on the great prairie.

5. Hypericum perforatum, St. John’s wort. This plant is not a
native of the United States, but like the pretty, but troublesome weed
ransted, was imported from Europe, and has become a pest to the
farmers of Pennsylvania. The flowers and summits, filled in with
seeds, contain a juice, soluble in water, in spirit of wine, and vinegar.
It diffuses through the first two liquids a red color, and in the latter a
most splendid crimson: when combined with acids or metallic solucions,
it presents a beautiful yellow color.

To die cloth, wool, silk, and cotton, yellow, it is sufficient to im-
merse them in water, properly impregnated with the juice of this plant, -
and a certain quantity of mordant. The best mordant is alum and
potash, in which the stuffs are to remain for some time: for it is on the
tength of the time, the quantity of mordant, and the heat employed,
that the fixity of the color, and the shades resulting from it, depend.
When little mordant is used, the die isof a ye/low color; by increasing
the mordant, it inclines to green, and, by adding a solution of tin in
nitro-muriatic acid, it assumes rose, cherry, and crimson shades, all
_ very beautiful. The alum generally employed for all extractive dies
does not succeed well in the process here alluded to; the addition of pot-
ash is essentially necessary,|| because it decomposes this salt, precipi-
tates its earth, dissolves a considerable portion of it, and it is this alkaline

* North American Sylva, vol. 3, p. 54. It also abounds in the Mississippi State.
+ History of South Carolina, vol. 2, p. 249.

+ Bradbury’s Travels.

§ Nuttal’s Travels. _

! See-note on Alum.

i99 [ 175 4

salt, with an earthy base, which, in this operation, becomes the true.
mordant, especially as the coloring principle resides in a matter almost
purely resinous.

The juice of St. John’s wort, united to the mordant here mentioned,
gives to paper a beautiful yellow color, and to skins.”’*

The comparative merits of the foregoing yellow dies with one an-
other, and with the inestimable quercitron bark, may be tried by prac-
tical diers.

Poppy.

The poppy color is procured by precipitating the red of bastard sat-
fron,t held in solution by potash. With this view, when silks are
washed, drained, and put on the rods, lime juice is poured into the
bath, till it acquire a cherry color. It is then well stirred, and the
silk repeatedly worked in it, until it has acquired a sufficient color.

To produce a lively, full poppy, the silk is wrung on coming out of
the first bath, which it exhausts, and is then put intoa second.

Five or six baths are requisite to impart to it a flame color. The
poppy color is heightened by putting the silk’ through tepid water,
acidulated with limejuice. A ground of annotto, three or four shades
paler than aurora, is requisite for silks, before exposing them to the
coloring principle of the carthamus plant.

The poppy color communicated by this last die, may be successfully
imitated by the employment of Brazil wood.
The color thus produced is termed false poppy, to distinguish it
from the true. To the silk is given a good ground of annotto, by boil-
ing it with this die; after which itis washed, refreshed, passed through
alum, and then worked ina bath of Brazil wood, to which a smal!

portion of soap water has been added. {

Black.

The following directions are given by a late author to die silk black,§
and refer to raw silk (sote crwe) which has been reeled off dry.

The silk being cleansed, is to be bleached by being sulphured, or
rather to be steeped in water charged with sulphureous acid,|| then
washed, and passed through water in which a small] quantity of soap has
been dissolved; then take three-fourths of the weight of silk, of gall-
nuts, make a strong decoction of them, and boil the silk therein for 2
short time: let it remain in the vat for thirty-six hours, then wash and
wring it. The silk is so saturated with tannin, that 100 lbs. of silk,
thus galled, will weigh 125lbs. Put in the bath copperas and gum, ac-
cording to the quantity to be died, heat it, dip the silk therein, and,
when deeply black, put it in a trough of cold water, in which it is to

* Extract from a paper by C. Baumach, Annales de Chimie, No. 137.
{~ Carthamus tinctorius.

+ Chaptal, p. 485.

§ Manuel Complét du. Teinturier, par M. Riffault, p. 95. Paris, 1825,
} The strength of the acid impregnation is not mentioned

aes 200

"be turned on a cylinder; then pass it through cold soap suds. As the
price of Aleppo galls is high, white galls are often used, in the propor-
tion of eight or ten parts of nuts to two parts of Aleppo galls. Diers
have a caldron on purpose for black, and when the dying composition
is exhausted, they renew it by what they called a brevet, (refresher.)
When the deposite is considerable, it is taken out, and iron filings add-
ed to the liquid. The dying of the silk is finished by heating the cal-
dron containing the die, and stirring it, from time to time, to prevent
the sediment from heating too much.

The liquor must not boil; add more or less gum and iron solution;
and, when the gum is dissolved, and the liquid nearly boils, it is left
for one hour; the silk, divided into three portions, is then immersed,
each portion in succession. The silk is lightly wrung three times, and
aired eachtime. The great point of this operation is, to press out the
liquor with which the silk is impregnated; and, when it is drained to
fill it again therewith; and, above all, to expose it to the air, which
deepens the color. After each portion of silk has been wrung three
times, the vat is to be heated, and more gum and copperas added, as at
first. The reheating of the vat is called giving a fire. Two fires are
commonly given for a light black, and three for a deep die; and some-
times the silk is left in the vat, after the last fire, for twelve hours.
Commonly, thirty kilogrammes* of silk are died in one operation.

This is technically called a heat. If half that quantity is died, only
one fire is required for a light black. The dying being finished, the
silk is rinsed on the rods according to art.

When the silk is died, it must be softened, by immersing it fora
quarter ofan hour in a solution of soap in water, inthe proportion of
from two to three pounds of soap to one hundred of silk. The quan-
tity of water is not mentioned. It is afterwards wrung and dried.

Chaptal says: ‘* A very full, clear, permanent black, has been obtain-
ed by the employment of a solution of iron immediately after a strong
galling; the stuff is then immersed in a decoction of logwood, and next
ito this decoction conjoined with a solution of iron and verdigris: and
this process is to be repeated till the black be very beautiful. With
this view, 110 lbs. 50z. 10 dr. of silk, 44 lbs. 2 oz. 4 dr. of gall-nuts.
66 lbs. 3 oz. 6 dr. of copperas, calcined to redness, the same quantity
of logwood, and 11 lbs. 9 dr. of verdigris, were employed. |

The silk is to be first wrung out of the galls, allowed to dry, and then
strongly shaken by the hands, in order to ventilate, and detach from. it
any adhering galls.

The same process of rubbing, shaking, &c. is to be employed in re-
spect to the logwood bath; and the silk is to be carefully washed after
each immersion in the solution of copperas. In the last logwood bath
is to be dissolved 2 oz. 15 dr. of gum arabic, to 1 lb. 4 oz. 4 dr. of silk;
the black is softened by passing the died silk through soap and water.

It has been observed, that, by combining vegetable astringents with
the gall-nuts, a softer and more agreeable color was produced. Oak

* A kilogramme is 2 tbs. 3 oz. 5 drachms, avoirdupois»

201 [175 J

ark, a species of agaric, pomegranate bark, &c. may be employed for
this purpose.

The process by Vitalis.

I commence by boiling the silk in the ordinary way, with 20 Ibs. of
soap to 100 lbs. of silk, and, after it is well washed, and freed from the
soap, itisdried. The skeins are then immersed in a decoction of galls
in sort, in the proportion of twe ounces to a pound of silk. The gall
bath must be moderately warm. The hanks* are put on the rods, and
lightly pressed, in order that the gall-liquor may penetrate them, and
ensure auniform color. They are then put in the bath, which must be
kept warm during fifteen or eighteen hours; after this, they are to be
taken out and dried,and then put in a warm bath of pyrolignate of iron, of
the strength of five degrees, as marked on the areometer of Baumé, and
dipped for some time; then immersed, and the heat of the bath increased,
during five or six hours: observing to take them out and air them from
time to time. After being taken from the iron bath, the silk is wrung
and dried in the air, or under a shed in moist weather. It then receives
two beetlings, and is subjected to a new galling, made with the remains
of the former gali-liquor, and an ounce and a half of galls to the pound
of silk: then taken out, wrung and dried. This second galling is fol-
lowed by a new bath, made warm, of the pyrolignate of iron, of four de-
grees of strength, with the precautions before noted. The silk is again
taken out, wrung, and dried, two more beetlings and a third galling
given to it, the bath for which must have one ounce and a half ef new
galls to a pound of silk, and the former procedure renewed. It must
then have another bath of pyrolignate of iron, of three degrees of
strength, and be dried and washed. For adeep black, a fourth galling
with one ounce of galls to a pound of silk, followed by a fourth bath of
iren pyrolignate, of three degrees of strength, will be requisite. Then
dry and wash carefully. The gum prescribed in the process of Angles,t
gives a brilliancy which is highly prized by the trade. I supply its
place, after the silk has been, died and worked, by a light bath of warm
soap and water, into which it is plunged for some time; after which it
is to be washed and dried for the lasttime. Finally, my method does
not exclude the employment of gum, which may be dissolved in the
bath of the iron pyrolignate. Even where the process of M. Angles,
or any similar one, is followed, advantage may be taken of the substitu-
tion I propose, of the pyrolignate for the copperas. A greater intensity
and solidity of color will thereby be obtained, and the silk will suffer
less,

* A hank weighs four or five ounces,
+ See Cooper on Dying, for the process, p. 247.
26

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TRANSLATION

FROM

A GERMAN TREATISE ON DYING SILK,

BY GEORGE WILLIAM HELTERHOFF:
PUBLISHED AT ERFURT,

1809.

: ‘
PY READE ELSE I eS ae SE ES ee ee A Oe ee a ee ae SRN Eee ee

Having discovered, after a diligent and patient comparison of seve-
ral recent French works on dying, with that of Homassel, which was
translated and published by Dr. Cooper, several years since, that they
contained little more than the receipts of this author, the writer was
induced to search for a German work on dying, in the hope of procur-
ing original receipts. The work by Helterhoff was loaned and re-
commended to him by a German manufacturer of silk fringe, &c. ;. and
the following articles pointed out, as worthy of insertion. They were
accordingly translated; and, it is hoped, will be found useful.

205 | f Pia}

EXTRACTS FROM A GERMAN TREATISE ON DYING
SILK.

——_——-

vt handsome Yellow.
{ Nore—The following receipts are proportioned to 10 lb. of silk previously boiled. ]

Take 14 lbs. of alum,
20 lbs. of common Lady’s (St. Mary’s) thistle,*
2 lb. of woad ashes. °

Dissolve the alum in a kettle containing ten buckets of water, pour
the solution into a vat, fix your silk upon rods,t and in the usual way,
steep it in the solution, work it well therein for an hour, take it out,.
wring it, and lay it aside wet, for further use.

Put ten buckets of water in a kettle, add the St. Mary’s thistle, and
boil it well for a quarter of an hour; run the decoction through a sieve
into a tub, to separate the coarse from it; let it cool, until you will be
able to bear your hands in it; steep the silk in the liquor, work it well
therein for half an hour, then take it out, wring it, and lay it aside, in
its wet state, for further use..

The vessels in which you dress the silk with alum, must be kept,
during the process of working it, to within a few inches of the top;
and, should there be occasion to fillup, or to increase the quantity of
liquor with water, care must be taken not to make it too cool, but to
preserve, at all times, a degree of heat in which the hand can be bare-
ly held. “While this is doing, the St. Mary’s thistle must be put into
the kettle a second time, with fresh water, and be boiled again. Then
take out the silk, dip out some of the liquor, in which you had pre-
viously worked the silk, and add as much of the liquor of the second
boiling to it as was taken therefrom, so that the first quantity will be
preserved. The liquor must now, as well as each time before you
steep the silk in it, be stirred well; then steep the silk in the liquor
again, and work it well therein for half an hour.

The liquor may, in this latter process, be made a little hotter than
it was in the first; but be cautious not to make it too hot, as the_silk
would be-considerably injured thereby.

* Thisingredient, which has not, as yet, been applied in this work, to the dying of
yellow colors, is found growing spontaneously in an uncultivated state; but the cul-
tivated is more esteemed. It flourishes best im a sandy soil, and must be cut as soon
as it is of proper ripeness, which may be known by its haying attained a handsome
yellow color. [Itis the Carduus Marie.—Enrror. |

+ This is to be understood-as a general rule before steeping; the direction to at-
tend it, will not, therefore, be repeated,

[175 J 206

During this second process woad ashes* are to be dissolved in a ket-
tle into which you have poured some of the liquor of the second co-
loring, boiling hot; stir the liquor and woad ashes well, and then let it
settle: pour some of the clear part of the solution into the yellow li-
quor, after having first taken out the silk; stir the whole of it well,
steep the silk in it again, and work it well therein during fifteen mi-
nutes. At the expiration of this time, or sooner, as you may deem it
necessary, take out a small quantity of the silk, wring it, and examine
whether it has retained the required color; should this not be the case,
a small quantity of the solution of woad ashes must be added to the li-
quor, the silk steeped in it again, and well worked in the same, until
the required color be obtained.

Nore.—-Should it be desired to heighten this color to a deep colored gold tint,
add to the solution ef woad ashes a quantity of annotto, in proportion to the degree
of. color desired.

The dying of light colored yellows is generally attended with many difficulties, as
they will often be subject to changes i drying; and sometimes they will turn toa
darker tint than they had while the silk was yet in a wet state; this is caused, prin-
cipally, by too strong a dressing inalum. It is, therefore, best to give them a weak
dressing in alum by themselves, or separate from those silks which are intended for

other colors; and this may then be regulated, according to the degrce of the color
éesired.

4 Citron Yellow:

Take 14 Ibs. of alum,
8 Ibs. of safflower,
+ |b. of alum.

Dissolve the alum in a kettle containing ten buckets of water; ther
pour the solution into a vat, steep the silk in it, work it well therein
for half an hour, wring it, lay it by in its wet state, for further use,
and throw away the solution of alum as useless. Put again ten buck-
ets of fresh watcr in the kettle, add eight pounds of safflower, and the
quarter of a pound of alum; boil for half an hour, run the decoction
fhrough a sieve into a vat, steep the silk in the liquor, work it well
therein a quarter of an hour, wring and dry it, fix it on the wringing
post, wring and beat it well.

With the rest of the above liquor, a pale yellow may yet be died.

4 Citron Yellow, which may be heightened to a handsome gold tint.

Take 14 lbs. of alum,
14 lbs. of safflower,
4 lb. of alum.

Put ten buckets of water in a kettle, add one and a quarter pounds
ef alum, dissolve it therein, pour the solution intoa vat, and work the
silk in the solution for about half an hour, wring it, and lay it by in
its wet state, for further use.

* The woad ashes are chosen for this purpose, on account of possessing the quale
ty, better than any other, of dissolving the coloring matter of the Lady’s or St. Mary’s
thistle, and of incorporating it with the silk.

207 [175 ]

Pour ten buckets of fresh water into the kettle, add seven pounds
of safflower, and boil it half an hour, pour the liquor through a sieve
into a vat, and work it well therein for the space of fifteen minutes;
then wring and dry it. The yellow liquor is now to be poured back
into the kettle, the remaining seven pounds of the safflower to be put
into it, together with a quarter of a pound of alum, and the whole to
be boiled half an hour; then pour the liquor through a sieve into a vat,
work the silk well in the liquor for half an hour, wring and dry it,
and then beat it well. By the above process, a handsome citron yel-
low will be obtained.

Citron Yellow, ina different way.

Take 14 lbs. of alum,
7 lbs. French berries.

Put the alum into a kettle, with eight buckets of water; when dis-
solved, pour it into a vat, immerse the silk in the solution, work it
well therein for half an hour, take it out, and lay it aside for further
use in its wet state, and throw away the solution. Then boil ten
buckets of fresh water, put into it the French berries, boil for three
quarters of an hour,* pour it through a sieve into a vat, and immerse
the silk in the liquor, work it well therein for half a hour, wring and
fix iton the wringing post in the usual manner.

To make this color deeper or brighter, take more or less than the
above quantity of the French berries.

If the liquor, after this process, still retain some of its yellow pro-
perties, it may be used to color ten pounds of silk, previously prepared
in a solutton of alum, to a pale yellow, or to lay at least the ground
for a handsome gold tint.

‘Al Citron Fellow, in another manner.

Take 2 lbs. of alum,
6 lbs. quercitron bark, ground.

Put the alum ina kettle, with ten buckets of fresh water, dissolve it
therein, and pour the solution into a vat, immerse the silk in it, and
work it well therein for two hours; wring it, lay it aside wet for fur-
ther use, and throw away your solution of alum as useless. Then pouy
into a kettle ten buckets of fresh water, and put the ground quercitron
into it; boil this one hour, take it out, run the decoction through a
sieve into a pail, immerse the silk in the liquor, and work it well ons
hour in the same; after which, it is to be taken out, wrung and dried;
fix it on the wringing post, wring it again, &c. when it will have ac-
quired a beautiful citron yellow.

The remaining yellow liquor may be used for other purposes, and
may therefore be preserved. I will now give the necessary directions

* A small quantity of alum may be added to the French berries, and boiled with
them whereby the color of the liquor is much improved.

[175 J 208

for coloring a handsome pale yellow, with the above remains of the
yellow liquor.

4 Pale Yellow.

Take 2 lbs. of alum.

Prepare the silk with alum, as directed in the foregoing receipt, and
lay it away for further use. Then warm the liquor, which has been
used in the coloring of the foregoing operation, put it into a vat, im-
merse the silk in the liquor, and work it well therein for the space of
half an hour. This being done, take it out, wring it, fix it on the
wringing post, wring and beat it well, which will give it a gloss.

It is not necessary that the silk should be rinsed in yellow coloring.

SEVERAL DIRECTIONS FOR DYING WITH QUERCITRON BARK.
2 Citron Yellow.

Take 3 lbs. of alum, and
1 lb. 3 ounces of quercitron bark.

Dissolve the alum in a kettle, with ten buckets of water, pour the
solution into a vat, immerse the silk in the solution, and work it well
therein a little longer than usual; take it out, wring and rinse it, and
lay it by for further use, in its wet state; put ten buckets of fresh
avater in a kettle, warm it, put the quercitron in a bag, and boil it
until the strength is extracted. Then immerse the silk in the liquor, |
and work it well therein a quarter of an hour, which will produce a
handsome lively citron yellow.

2 high-colored Yellow.

This color may be heightened to its utmost extent of yellow, by
adding a few half ounces of soda, more or less, according to the deep
or bright shades of color desired, to the above yellow liquor; but this
must not be done until the silk has been completely saturated with the
vellow liquor of quercitron.

Orange Color.
Orange color is obtained by adding to the liquor at the same time
with the soda, a proportional quantity of annotto, and by working it in
this liquor until the desired color has been obtained.

Pale Yellow, or Straw Color.

Take less alum and quercitron, and dispense altogether with the
soda and annotto.

209 [ 175 |
Buff.

To produce the many different shades of this color, proceed with
the quercitron in the same manner as directed in the dying of the same
colors with turmeric and weld, (dier’s weed.) But you must bear in
mind that one pound of the quercitron will produce as much as ten
pounds of either the turmeric or weld.

A very lively glossy Yellow.

If you desire to increase the above yellow to its most lively and
glossy hue, take, instead of the alum, a solution of tin, dissolved ina
mixture of three parts of the spirits of salt, and one part of aquafortis.
This solution must be mixed with twenty times its own quantity of
water, and the silk is to be prepared in a solution of alum in the usual
way; but it is not necessary to rinse it, and may be colored immedi-
ately. The solution of tin may be preserved for other purposes.

A Turkish Blue.

Take 23 ounces of cochineal,
10 do of aquafortis,
12 do of English tin, and
4 Ib. of alum.

The silk must first be colored in a keep, toa medium blue. This
being done, take a kettle containing ten buckets of water, put into it
two and a half ounces of cochineal, and boil it well for the space of
ten minutes.

During the above process, dissolve the tin in the aquafortis, according
to art; pour the solution, together with a quarter of a pound of alum,
into the above-mentioned kettle, with ten buckets of water. Stir this
liquor well, and immerse the silk in it, and work it well therein for
about three-quarters of an hour, during which time it must be kept
at a steady, slow, continued boil; then take it out, rinse, wring it, fix
it on the wringing post, wring and beat it well, which will restore it
to its natural gloss again.

Nore.—If you do not like to make use of the aquafortis in the above process, you
may substitute a quarter of a pound of cream of tartar, and increase the quantity of
alum from a quarter to a half pound.

A real Pink.

Take 15 lbs. of safflower,
15 quarts of strong vinegar,
é of an ounce of oil of vitriol,
1 lb. 14 oz. potash, and
4 ounces of cream of tartar.

Put the 15 lbs. of safflower in a bag, tie it tight, immerse it forty-

eight hours in running water; take it out, during this time, every six
ary
wd

[ 175 210

hours; tread it well, until all the yellow matter has been worked out;
examine it at the expiration of the above time, to see whether it has
lost all its yellow coloring matter; if it has not, immerse it a few
hours more into the water; this being done, take it out, put it into a
vat, and pour six buckets of river water upon it.

This being done, dissolve one pound fourteen ounces of potash in
water, and pour the clear part of this liquor on the safflower in the tub;
mix it well, and set it by, ina cool place, for six hours. At the expi-
ration of this time, take out the safflower with its liquor, run it through
a sieve into a vat, pour half a bucket of water upon it, and press it
out, in order to extract all the coloring matter therefrom; pour fifteen
quarts of vinegar, .and three-eighths of an ounce of oil of vitriol into
the liquor; then take the ten pounds of silk, fix it upon rods, put it
into this safflower liquor, and work it well therein, for the space of
four hours; then take it out, rinse it in running water, wring it well,
and lay it aside for further use, in its wet state.

Lastly. Dissolve four ounces of cream of tartar in river water, and
pour the clear part of this solution into a tub, with eight buckets of
river water; immerse the silk, which has before been colored to a
light red, in this solution, and work it well therein for a quarter of
an hour; take it out, wring it and dry it, and you will have a hand-
some pink.

Norre.—For a pink of a higher color, teke an additional quantity of safflower; and
for a lighter, take less than the above prescribed quantity. It will likewise be of
benefit to add a small quantity of vinegar. Lemon juice, however, is unnecessary.*

2 high-colored Crimson.

Take 14 Ib. of cochineal,
1 Ib. of galls,
4 ounces of cream of tartar, and
23 Ibs. of Roman alum. ~

Dissolve two and a half pounds of Roman alum in a kettle, with
ten buckets of water; pour the clear part of this solution into a vat,
immerse the silk in it, and work it wefl therein for the space of four
hours; then take it out, and rinse it in running water, wring it, and
lay it by for further use, in its wet state; then put in a kettle containing
eight buckets of boiling water, the following articles:

One and a quarter pounds of finely powdered cochineal, one pound
of finely powdered gall-nuts, and four ounces of cream of tartar. Let
the whole boil slowly, for the space of fifteen minutes; cool it with
two buckets of water, work the silk well in the hquor, which must be
kept in a continual boil, for the space of one hour and a half; then take
it out, rinse it, wring it, and let it dry, when the dying will be com-
pleted.

_* Dr. Cooper says that lemon juice is essential to bring out the pink color of saf- °
flower, by neutralizing the alkalime liqucr in which the plant is steeped.
{ Cooper on Dying:

Ql} [175 J

For a cheaper color than the foregoing, reduce the quantity of
vochineal, from one and a quarter pound to ten ounces, and substitute,
for the remainder, three pounds of persio;* and proceed with these
materials, in the same manner as above directed. This color will
differ from that of the first described process, in no other respect than
that it receives somewhat more of a blueish cast. '

4 handsome Crimson.

Take 3 lbs. of Roman alum,
4 ounce of argol,t
4 lb. of East India galls,
25 ounces of cochineal.

Heat eight buckets of rain water in a kettle, lukewarm; dissolve
three pounds of Roman alum therein, take out the solution, and put
it into a vat, immerse the silk in the solution, and work it well therein
for the space of eight hours.

Take it out at the expiration of this time, wring it lightly, and lay
it by for further use, in its wet state. :

To complete this color, heat eight buckets of well or spring water,
until it begins to boil, put into it the following articles: half an ounce
of argol, and half a pound of finely pounded Hast India galls; let the
whole of these articles boil well for about ten minutes, and run the li-
quor through a sieve, into a pail; then pour the liquor back into the
kettle, and put into it twenty-five ounces of pulverized cochineal: let
it boil ten minutes more, cool the liquor with half. a bucket of water;
immerse the silk in this liquor, and work it well therein for the space
of two hours, during which time the liquor must be kept at a continual
boil. This being done, take it out, rinse it well, wring it strongly,
and dry it.

Then take a kettle with ten buckets of spring or well water, and
heat it so that you may bear your hand in it; work the silk well in
this water for half an hour, then take it out, wring and dry it. By
this process we obtain a very handsome crimson.

Norz.—An ounce, instead of half an ounce of argol may be used; but this is left
entirely to the judgment of the dier, whether found necessary or not. If this crim-
son be desired less of ared, and not so handsome, proceed with the cochineal; and

the quantity prescribed above may be reduced to eighteen ounces. . The process
must be, in this case, the same as above directed,

2 deep Red.

Take 1 Ib, of fine galls,
2% lbs. of alum,
2 lb. of composition, and
5 lbs. of madder.

* The cudbear of the English diers.—Epiton.
+ Red argol is the tartar from red wine. White argol is the impure deposite from
white wines. Cream of tartar is pure argol.—Eprrox.

{175 ] 212

Put into a kettle eight buckets of water, and one pound of fine galls;
Tet it boil about fifteen minutes, or until the strength is extracted; run
it through a sieve into a vat, steep the silk in this decoction, and work
it well therein for about two hours: after which, take it out, rinse, and
dry it. Then put into a kettle eight buckets of water, with two and
a half pounds of alum, and half a pound of the composition: let these
be properly united with the water; pour the liquor into a vat, steep
the silk in the solution, and work it weil therein for the space of four
hours: take it out, rinse, and lay it by, in its wet state, for further use.

Lastly. To complete this color, put ina kettle ten buckets of water,
add five pounds of madder, and work the silk well in this liquor, un-
til it begins to boil; then take it out, rinse, and dry it.

4 real Brown.

Take 6 ounces of annotto,
1 lb. of potash,
3 lbs. of alum,
5 oz. of fine galls,
3 oz. of cream of tartar,
2 oz. of turmeric, and
10 oz. of cochineal.

Boil a kettle with ten buckets of water, powder six ounces of an-
notto, and put it together with a pound of potash, into the kettle; boil
for a quarter of an hour, pour the liquor through a sieve into a tub,
immerse the silk, and work it weil in the liquor for the space of two
hours; then take it out, rinse, wring, and dry it. After this, pour
eight buckets of fresh water into a kettle, dissolve three pounds of
alum therein; then put the solution in a yat, steep the dried yellow
silk, and work it well therein for the space of three hours; then take
it out, wring, and lay it by, wet, for further use.

Boil a kettle with eight buckets of water, put into it ten ounces of
eochineal, and let it boil for about ten minutes; then cool the liquor
with a bucket of water, and put into it a quarter of a pound of cream
of tartar, and two ounces of turmeric, and stir the whole well; then
steep the silk previously alumed, in the liquor, work it well therein
for the space of two hours; during which time it must be kept ata
continual boil. Then take it out, rinse in running water, wring, and
lay it by, in its wet state, for further use.

This being done, die it in a keep, [die tub] light or dark, as your
taste may be, or according to the pattern which is laid before you.

If you do not wish to make use of the keep, or, as is often the case
in small dying establishments, should you not possess one, you may
apply the indigo coloring.

You may likewise color it in the liquor of logwood, which wil!
render it equally handsome, but not of so lasting a color.

Q13 [175 J

yd veal Crimson, in another way.

‘Take 23 lbs. of Roman alum,
2 lbs. of fine galls,
1 lb. 4 0z. of cochineal,
41b. of argol, and
8 oz. of spirits of ammonia.

Take a kettle with eight buckets of water, put into it two pounds
of fine galls, boil for a quarter of an hour; run the liquor through a sieve
into a pail, steep the silk in the liquor, and work it well therein for
the space of four hours; take it out, rinse, wring and dry it.

After this, take a kettle with eight buckets of water, and dissolve in
it two pounds of Roman alum; pour it into a vat, steep the silk in the
solution of alum, and work it well for the space of four hours in the
same; then take it out, wring it, and lay it by, in a wet state, for fur-
ther use. a:

To complete the color, pour six buckets of water ina kettle; add one
pound and four ounces of fine cochineal, a quarter of a pound of argol,
and eight ounces of spirits of ammonia; let all boil well together for
about ten minutes, then cool the liquor with two buckets of water:
work the silk in it for two hours; during which time it must be kept
boiling continually: then take it out, suspend it on the rods over a vat,
pour the liquor from the kettle into it, and continue to work the silk
in the liquor until it has become cool; take it out, rinse, and dry it in
the shade.

By following the above directions you will obtain a very handsome
erimson.

To turn this expensive cochineal liquor to all possible advantage,
(for it will still have retained some good coloring matter,) pour the
above used alum liquor into it, and heat it again; which will enable
you to color many lighter shades, from the rich peach blossom down
to the lightest lilac color. Having used it for this purpose, you may
take more or less of silk of a yellow ground, and color it in it, which
will receive a reddish yellow from it.

2 handsome Red.

Take 8 oz. of annotto,
14 lbs. of potash,
2% lbs. of alum,
6 lbs. of Brazil wood,
5 buckets of sharp vinegar, and
6 ounces of composition, p. 191, 192.

Boil a kettle with eight buckets of water, and put in it eight ounces
of annotto, powdered as fine as possible; add one pound and a half of
potash; let the whole boil well for a quarter of an hour, and pour the
liquor through a sieve into a vat. Steep the silk in this liquor, and
work it well for two hours, after which take it out, rinse, wring, and
dry it.

£175 4 Qh4

_Then dissolve one pound and a half of alum in @ kettle with eight
buckets of water; pour this solution into a vat, fix your silk upon rods,
and work it well therein for two hours; then take it out, wring and dry
it.

When the silk is completely dry, steep it in warm water, until it
has become properly soaked. Then take it out, wring, and lay it by,
wet, for further use.

This being done, pour into a vat five buckets of sharp vinegar, and
six pounds of Brazil wood, and let it stand for the space of forty-eight
hours: then take the liquor oyt of the vat, and pour it into a kettle; let
it boil for the space of ten minutes; then pour it through a sieve, into a
vat, and throw the parts remaining in the sieve into the kettle again;
pour three buckets of water upon it, let it boil well for a quarter of an
hour, and add the liquor thereof to the other Brazil wood liquor in the
vat.

Pour six ounces of the composition into this liquor of Brazil wood,
and stir it well; steep the silk previously soaked in warm water, in the
liquor, and work it well therein for the space of two hours. Examine,
at the expiration of this time, whether the liquor still contains any
eoloring matter; if so, take it out, pour it into the kettle again, work
the silk another time therein, during which it must be kept moderate-
ly warm; then take it out, rinse it in running water, wring, and
hang it up todry. By observing the whole of the above process you
will obtain a very handsome red. By using eight buckets of vinegar
instead of five, the color will be considerably improved; and by dis-
pensing with the composition altogether, the color will become darker.

Lastly: If you desire to have this color of a darker and fiery hue,
add two pounds of Brazil wood, and one pound of composition, to the
above quantity, and proceed in the same way as above directed.

TO COLOR SILK CITRON YELLOW WITH QUERCITRON.

Take 23 lbs. of alum,
4 1b. of sugar of lead, *
2 oz. of chalk, and
3 lbs. of quercitron.

Take a kettle with eight buckets of water, dissolve in it two and a
half pounds of alum; pour it into a vat, and let it become cold; add to
it a quarter of a pound of sugar of lead, and stir it well, then put into it
two ounces of chalk, stir it well, and continue the stirring, at proper in-
tervals, for the space of twelve hours, and set it by to settle. Pour
off the liquor into a vat, but be careful not to disturb the sediment at
the bottom: steep the silk in the liquor, and work it well therein for
the space of six hours; then take it out, wring and lay it by, wet, for
further use.

After this, take a kettle with eight buckets of water, put into it
three pounds of quercitron bark, and let it boil for the space of three

* Acetate of lead.

215 f 175 J

quarters of an hour; pour it through a sieve into a vat, steep the silk,
which has been saturated in the foregoing liquor, composed of alum,
sugar of lead and chalk, in the quercitron liquor, and work it well -
for the space of an hour; then take it out, rinse, wring, and dry it.

If you desire a higher colored citron yellow than the above, add
another pound of quercitron to the above quantity, and proceed in the
following manner:

Saturate the silk, as above directed, in a liquor of alum, sugar of
jead and chalk; then take a kettle with eight buckets of water, boil
two pounds of quercitron therein, for the space of three quarters of an
hour, and pour the liquor through a sieve into a vat; steep the silk,
and work it well therein for the space of two hours; after which, take
it out, wring and dry it. This will have given the silk the best of
grounds for a good yellow color, After this, take another kettle with
eight buckets of water, put into it two more pounds of quercitron bark,
and boil it for the space of three quarters of an hour: then pour it
through a sieve into a vat, and work the previously colored and dried
silk in the same, for the space of two hours; then take it out, rinse,
wring, and dry it.

A high-colored and deep Citron Yellow.

Take 12 |b. alum,
3 oz. of sugar of lead,
13 oz. of chalk, and
8 lbs. of French berries.

Dissolve in a kettle which contains eight buckets of water, one
pound and a half of alum, pour the solution into a vat, or, which is
better, into a cask,* and let it cool. Put into it three ounces of sugar
of lead, stir it well with a rake, add one and an half ounces of finely
powdered chalk, and stir the whole well again; and continue the stirring
every hour, for twelve hours. But, after the last stirring, the rake
must be taken out of it, to prevent the sediment from being disturbed,
and then let it stand twelve hours. At the expiration of this time,
draw off the liquor; but be careful not to disturb the sediment, which
would otherwise create stains that are difficult to remove; pour the
liquor, thus drawn off, into a vat, work the silk well in it for the space
of four hours; after which, take it out, wring and dry it; then moisten
it with warm water, rinse it in running water, wring it, and lay it by
wet, for further use; then take a kettle with eight buckets of water,
and at the same time bruise eight pounds of French berries in a mor-
tar; put them into the kettle, and let them boil for half an hour; then
take out the liquor, and run it through a sieve into a vat. Steep the
silk in the liquor, and work it well therein for half an hour; take it
out, wring and dry it; this will produce a handsome citron yellow.

* This cask must have a spicket, about a hand’s breadth from the bottor, for the
purpose of drawing off the liquor.

[175 j 216

With the above used alum solution and French berry liquor, you
may, without any other addition, color a brighter citron yellow. The
same solution may likewise be applied, with turmeric or weld, in dying
a yellow.

4 Nankeen.

Take 2 lbs. of fine galls,
13 oz. annotto,

4 oz. of potash, and
2 lb. of soap.

Put one pound of finely powdered galls ina kettle of eight buckets
of water, and boil it about ten minutes, then take out the liquor, and
run it through a sieve into a vat.

While thus employed, let half a pound of soap be dissolved in a
bucket of warm water, and pour the solution into the liquor of the

alls.

Then put into a crock of water one ounce of annotto and four
ounces of potash; boil for half an hour, add the one half of it to the
liquor of the galls in the vat, and stir the whole well; steep the silk
in the liquor, and work it well therein for a quarter of an hour. Ex-
amine the silk, and should it not have the necessary redness, add as
much of the annotto liquor to it as you may deem necessary, to give
the color the desired tint. Then put the silk in again, and work it
well for a quarter of an hour; take it out, rinse and dry it.

The nankeen-colored silk must not remain long without being rins-
ed, as this would create stains in it.

A handsome Turkish Blue.

Take 14 Ib. of alum,
23 oz. of cochineal,
3 |b. of composition,
# of an ounce of indigo, and
3 oz. of oil of vitriol.

The silk, after being boiled in soap and water, must be rinsed in
running water, and then wrung and weil beaten. This being done,
it must be colored to a handsome light blue, in a cold or warm keep;
then rinse it in running water, wring and dry it. ,

As soon as the silk has become properly dry, it must be moistened
in warm water, wrung and laid by, wet, for further use.

Dissolve in a kettle with eight buckets of water, one and a quarter
pounds of alum, pour the solution into a vat, steep the silk in it, and
work it well therein for the space of an hour; take it out, wring, and
lay it aside, in its wet state, for further use.

Lastly: boil a kettle with eight buckets of water, and put into it two
and a half ounces of cochineal: let it boil for about ten minutes; cool
the liquor with a bucket of water, and add half a pound of the solu-

B17 [175 ]

tion of tin, and three quarters of an ounce of indigo, which has been
previously dissolved in three ounces of oil of vitriol, and stir the
whole well. Immerse the sitk colored blue in the cochineal liquor,
work it well therein until the liquor begins to boil, let it boil another
hour, during which time the silk must however be continually work-
ed: it must then be taken out, rinsed, wrung, and dried.

If you desire this Turkish blue to incline more toa red, increase
the quantity of the cochineal; if the contrary, take less:

t handsome Green.

Take 2 Ibs. of alum, and
4 Ibs. of quercitron bark.

Dissolve in a kettle, with eight buckets of water, two pounds of
alum; then pour it into a tub, and set it by until wanted.

While engaged in preparing the above solution, the silk must be
colored inacold keep to a handsome light blue, and, after being rinsed
in a stream, wringand steep it in the above-mentioned alum liquor}
work it well therein for two hours, then take it out, wring, and lay it
by, wet, for further use.

Lastly: put four pounds of quercitron bark in a kettle with eight
buckets of water, boil it well for the space of three quarters of an hour,
and pour the liquor through a sieve into a tub.

At the same time, and while this is doing, prepare an incorporation
of indigo and oil of vitriol,* and pour the same into the quercitron
liquor in the tub, and stir the whole well. Steep the silk in this com-
pounded liquor, and work it well therein for the space of half an hour;
then take it out, wring and dry it.

In case the silk has not attained as handsome a green as desired, add
a small quantity-of turmeric to the yellow liquor, which will assuredly
have the desired effect.

At the same time I would recommend not to color the silk too dark
in the cold keep, as it is very difficult to produce a handsome green
on a ground which has been spoiled by keeping it in the dark. It is
therefore more adviseable to have it of too light a color, as you may,
in that case, easily regulate the color by adding more of the prepara-
tion of indigo to the yellow liquor, as circumstances may require.

Best Blue, (ultra Marine. )

The quantity of the necessary ingredients for this color, must be
regulated according to the quantity of silk to be colored.

Take filings of copper, free from all alloy of other metals; it is
best, therefore, to rasp or file them yourself, in order to obtain them
pure. Put these into a glass vessel, pour spirits of salt, {muriatic
acid | sufficient to cover them twice as deep as the space they occupy;
let them stand for the space of twenty-four hours, or as long as neces-
sary for the spirits of salt to attain a blue or deep green color.

Then pour off the clear part of the colored spirits of salt into an-

_ * The proportions are nine or ten parts of the strong acid, to one of indigo, at a
temperature of 100° to 112° of Fahrenheit’s thermometer.—Epiron.

28

p 175] g18

other glass vessel, add fresh spirits of salt to the copper filings, and
continue this process until the whole of the copper filings have been
dissolved, when nothing but the earthy and impure parts will remain.

Mix all these several blue or deep green colored solutions of cop-
per, and add thereto as much spirits of ammonia as will be necessary
to saturate the mixture.

Then moisten the silk in warm water; but be careful to do this in
auch a manner that all parts will be completely and equally soaked;
then wring it, and steep it in the blue tincture prepared as above di-
rected; work it therein until it has attained a handsome ultra-marine
color: then take it out, wring it well, rinse in a stream, and dry it in
the shade.

By minutely observing the above process, you will obtain a very
handsome blue color, but which is not altogether lasting, as it will
fade by being exposed to the sun, and turn to a greenish tint.

With the liquor which remains, you may color many other very
agreeable blue colors; but you must add, at every coloring, a small
quantity of spirits of ammonia to the liquor, as it would otherwise
eause the color of the silk died therein, to receive more of a green,
and less of a blue color, at every succeeding coloring.

A dark Blue.

Take 13 ounces of indigo,
2 lb. of oil of vitriol,
13 do. of alum,
4 do. of legwood,
4 do. of alum.

The greatest attention and accuracy in the process of dying this
edlor is necessary.

Before you proceed to the dying itself, prepare a solution of indigo
in oil of vitriol. in the manner following: Powder very finely, and
gift one and a half ounces of indigo, and put three quarters of a pound
of oil of vitriol in a stone jar; add the pulverized indigo to it, stir
the whole well with an earthen pipe stem, or some similar earthen ar-
ticle, and continue the stirring until the oil of vitriol ceases to ferment;
the mixture having become quiet, set it by for the space of twenty-
four hours; at the expiration of this time, a little water must be add-
ed, and the whole matter stirred again, by which it will reccive, as it
were, new life and vigor; after which, it must be set away undisturbed,
until itis to be applied to the dying of the silk. After this, prepare a
kettle with eight buckets of water, put into it one and a quarter pounds
of alum, and dissolve it completely therein. This being done, pour
the solution into a vat, steep the silk in the solution, and work it well
therein for an hour; after which, take it out, wring, and lay it by,
wet, for further use.

Put eight buckets of water in a kettle, pour the solution of indigo
into it, and mix it well, work the silk well in this blue liquor for the
space of half an hour, then take it out, rinse it in running water, wring
and lay it by, wet, for further use. By this process, the silk will re-
teive a handsome light blue color.

219 [175 J

To deepen this blue, or to change it to a dark blue, proceed in the
following manner: boil a kettle with sixteen buckets of water, add
four pounds of logwoed, and boil it well for about three quarters of
an hour; then take out one half of the liquor, and run it through a
sieve into a vat; let the other half or-eight buckets of the same remain
in the kettle for further use; put into the liquor in the vat, a quarter
of a pound of alum, which has previously been dissolved in some ves-
sel; stir the whole well, steep the light blue silk in it, and work it well
in the liquor a quarter of an hour; then take it out, wring and keep it
wet for further use, and throw out the liquor as useless.

Lastly: pour into another vat the remaining eight buckets of the
logwood liquor left in the kettle, after having first run it through
a sieve; steep the silk in the liquor, and work it well therein for the
space of half an hour; then take it out, rinse it in running water,
wring and dry it. By the above process, you will obtain a dark blue,
in every respect equal to any of the blues which have been eolored
by means of the keep.

The above blue is likewise applicable to the dying of any other
goods; and not alone in this respect is it of advantage, but it like-
wise saves you the trouble and expense of preparing a keep for dying
a small quantity of silk to a dark blue; and if the risk of missing a
keep, and the consequent loss thereof be taken into consideration, the
above receipt is of considerable advantage to the dier as well as to
the manufacturer; particularly as the smallest quantity may be colored
equal to the coloring of a keep, by reducing the ingredients in pro-
portion to the quantity of the silk which is to be died.

v2 handsome Violet Blue, after the manner of the foregoing.

Take 1 oz. of indigo,
2 Ib. of oil of vitriol,
3 lb. of alum,
4 lbs. of logwood, and
1 lb. Guinea or red wood.

The indigo must be dissolved in oil of vitriol, as directed in the
foregoing receipt, and kept ready for use.

Dissolve ina kettle, with eight buckets of water, a pound and one-
quarter of alum; then pour the solution into a vat, and work the silk
well therein for the space of one hour; after which time, take it out;
wring, and keep it in its wet state, for further use.

Fill a vat with eight buckets of water, put the above-mentioned solu-
tion of indigo in it, stir the whole well, work the alum-dressed silk.
therein, for the space of half an hour; then take it out, rinse it in running
water, wring it, and set it by, wet, for further use.

Lastly:. take a kettle with eight buckets of water, put into it four
pounds of logwood, and one pound of Guinea or red wood, and boil
the whole well, for about three-quarters of an hour; then run the de-
coction through a sieve into a vat, steep the blue colored silk in it, and
work it well in the same for the space of half an hour; after which
take it out, rinse it in running water, wring and dry it.

Norr.—I deem it necessary to add to the liquor of the logwood and red wood, a
quarter of a pound of alum.

[175 J 220

v2 deep Red.

Take 5 oz. of annotto,
1 Ib. of potash,
24 lbs. of alum, and
5 Ibs. of madder.

Into a kettle with eight buckets of water, put five ounces of madder,
which has previously been finely powdered, add thereto a pound of
potash, boil it well for a quarter of an hour, run it through a sieve into
a vat, steep the silk in it, and work it well therein for an hour; then
take it out, rinse it, and let it dry; dissolve two and a half pounds of
alum in a kettle, pour the solution into a vat, steep the silk in it, work
it well therein for two hours, then take it out, wring and dry it.

Lastly: fill a kettle with eight buckets of water, add five pounds
of madder, heat it, but do not let it boil; while this is doing, moister
the silk well in warm water, so as that all of it may be equally satu-
rated with the water; take it out and wring it; then steep it in the
above prepared lukewarm liquor of madder, work it well therein until
it begins to boil; let it boil a quarter of an hour longer, during which
time the silk must be worked continually; then take out, wring, and
dry it. The above process will produce a very handsome red.

“4 Green.

Take 14 lbs. of alum,
1 Ib. of potash, and
8 lbs. of turmeric.

The silk must be first died in a cold keep, to a handsome light
blue; but caution must be used to lay the color equally throughout the
whole of the silk, and that no stains remain in any part of it; rinse
it in running water, wring it, and lay it by wet for further use. _

Immerse the silk in warm water, in such a manner that it will be
equally and uniformly saturated with the water; then wring it, and
Jay it aside in its wet state for further use.

After this, prepare a kettle with eight buckets of water, put into it
one pound of potash, and one and a quarter pounds of turmeric, and
iet the whole boil well for about ten minutes; then pour the liquor
through a sieve into a vat, steep the silk in the liquor, and work it well
therein for the space of half an hour. At the expiration of this time, it
must be taken out, wrung, and put by for further use, in its wet state.

Lastly: dissolve a kettle with eight buckets of fresh water, one and
a quarter pounds of alum, pour the solution into a vat, and work the
silk well therein for the space of a quarter of an hour, which will
change it to a handsome green; then take it out, rinse, wring, and dry
it in the shade.

\
ek

INDEX.

ieee

Abstract and condensed view of the art of rearing silk worms;

Acid fumigations purify the air of a laboratory,
Aluming of si ks, - - : -
American ative: yellow dies, - - -
Analysis of the leaves of the white mulberry tree,
Ants, red, great enemics to silkworms,

Apparatus for feeding silkworms, by the Rey. Mr. Sw

Art of rearing silkw Ga: whole process of — -
Baking of cocoons, - -
Birth and coupling of the sulk Bin - -
Black, todie - - - - -
process by Vitalis, - - -
Blazing fires, utility of, in damp weather, -
Blue, to die - - - -
. Raymond, - - - -
Turkish, - - - - -
Brown, todie - - ~ -
Budding of the mulberry trees, recommended,
Buff, to die - - - - -
Baghy, or Tusseh, and Arrindy silkworms of India,
Cabins, to prepare, for silkworms to spin cocoons,

ayne,

‘
—
9
7
ee)

Calculation of laborand profit of worms, fed onthe leaves from an acre of trees,

in Connecticut, . K a Z|
Carrelet, an apparatus to spin inferior silk, — -
China, native silkworms of - - >

Chrysalis state of the silkworm; changes into the pupa state,

Cleanliness essential to health of worms, -
Cleansing of silk previous to dying, — - -
@ocoons, construction of - Sie)

-

escape of the worms from them, how effected,

gathering of, - F 2 Hs
selection of those intended for eggs,
preservation of, - - -
daily loss of weight of, 4

~

\

facts respecting, containing healthy, diseased, and anny Beasties
116-17

weight of various parcels, produce of, from an ounce of eggs,

proportion of different qualities of, before and after baking,

division of, into various qualities, — -
to judge of their qualities, - -
flow to kill the chrysalis, = - -
by steamihg, = - -
by baking inanoven, -
royal, perforated, and soufflons, -

*

~

-

reeling off, apparatus for, and whole medd of hpocedure 5 in,

daily task of reeling, in Italy, -
€radle, indigo, description of the figure of, -
Crimson, fine, todie, - - - -

-

' Crops, two or more, of worms in one season, on rearing,

Dandelion will sustain young worms, - -

Darkness essential when the motlis are hatched and coupling,

Dysbanding the silk from the reel, on - -
29

157

191, 210, 211, 213

3é
63
109
150

[ 175 J 929

Page

Diseases of silk worms, . : : J 4 q ~ 125

from defect of eggs, - E S y ‘ : at

misinanagement of good eggs, - z 2 iL 2 °196

bad air of the district in which silkworms are reared, - -, 126

wantofroom, - c = . * Soe 87

quality and quantity of food, - - > : tae |!)

change of food, es s E - Pa (250

peculiar ScanaAtie of the air, - . f i ~ ge

sudden changes of temperature, - - - - 133

particular diseases of - iu = 2 “ Py en

Doubling machine, and cut, - a a 2 Z : - 158

Draw-boy, improvementin, - . E = E f = ph

Dying of silk; see the various colors, - - - : - =) 182

Early food, to secure - 3 tu Z < = a) PAS

Eggs, preparation for hatching, - = 4 3 5 4s 57

signs of vivification of the w ory - - - - - 63

Eggs, preservation of, - - : 2 Sigs LD

number of, in the varieties of re oftiig) - - = 2) ht

facts selakive to the production of, 5 5 : ‘ 2. ees

produce of silk from an ounce of, 2 s a Z = ey

proportion of to cocoons, : 4 e 2 . * 446

Evidence, minutes of, on silk, before the House of Commons, - - 180
Fanshaw’s apparatus for saris hs doubling, and tw isting, or throwing silk,

and cut, - - c : 4 ‘ = i ae

Feeding, frequent, necessary in the fourth and fifth ages of silkworms, 97, 123

Fires, light blazing fires of shavings, straw, or light wood, useful in damp
weather, to promote warmth and a circulation of air in the laboratory, 89, 96, 123

Food, on securing early, for silkworms, - 2 z Pepe 2!

diseases from quantity and quality of - 3 < : Pee be!

change of - - - - . = iy Boe

table of, for silkworms in different ages, - - - - 181

Grasserie, a disease of silk worms, - - - c - - 4183

Green, todie - - - - - - - - 192, 217, 220

Hatching of silkworms, - - - - - - - 61

moths, = - - - - - - 109

History of silk, - - 7 c - 17

in the United States, - - - - - - at:

natural, of the silkworm, - - - = - - 27

Hedges, espaliers, or cabins, to prepare . - - - 2 98

Hot-house for hatching silkworms, . . - - 3 . 59

Hurdles, or feeding frames, toclean, - : = Ss z 99

Hygrometer, use of, a simple one described witha cut, . - - 129

Improvements in silk machinery, - - - E “ bed
India, East, native silkworms of - - - = . Z 3

Indigo blue vat, to prepare’ - = - - E 5 Serra fc)

Laboratory for silkworms, construction of — - - : - - 54

newly hatched worms, - - . 2 - 68

Leaves, young seedlings of, not proper for old worms, - - - 52

only to be given to young worms, . . - - ie

chopping of, deemed necessary, but doubted, : : (6s)

importance of picking clean, and without fruit, - - mie BL

old, to be given to worms after the fourth moulting, - . - 91

quantity consumed in different ages, by worms from an ounce of eggs,

(See also the table, p. 150, ) : - 2 = Rg,

calculation of labor and profit fi rom an acre of, in Connecticut, eno

should be gathered a few hours before being used, - - - 122

Lettuce, will sustain young worms, “ 2 Z * 62

Light, injurious to silk moths when hatched, mid when coupling, e - 109

Lilac color, - 4 z J oo 103

f,00m, Shall’s silk, explanation of figure of, - - - : r 157

for weaving figured stuffs, - - u - - - 166

‘for weaying ribbons, — - ‘a ‘ is € “ » £72

Loom, Jacquart’s improved, - -
Le Brun’s, - - -
De Bergue’s power loom, -
Kendall’s domestic do. -
Lusette, or Clairette, a disease of silkworms,

Machinery, silk, description of, and references to,

Moths, birth and coupling of, - -
darkness necessary forthem, - ,
Moulting, or change of skin in the sulewern,
Mulberry trees, on, -
red, or American, oa ranenies of,
produce good silk, -
white, and culture of, -
propagation of, by various methods,
analysis of the leaves of, -
proportion of leaves to an acre,

required for various numbers of silkworms,

hedges of, to form, = -

paper, said to be proper for worms in the fifth age,

black, not equal to the white, for the United States,

Mikeandine, a disease of silkworms, -
Nankeen colortodie, - - -
Natural history of the silkworm, -
Oak leaves useful for sick worms, -
Orange color, to die, -

Organzine, how to steam the silk intentled for,

Passis, a disease of silk worms, -
Patents for improved silk machinery, -

Plants, aromatic, burning of, useless in a aiken laboratory,

Pink color, to die, - - -
Plates, explanationof - - -
Poppy color, todie, - - -
Preparation of silk skeins after reeling,
Pupa, what, how different from the chrysalis,
Quercitron bark; to die with, - -
Red color, to ie, - - -
Reeling silk from cocoons, process of,
Reel, silk, of Piedmont, described, -
to wind the skeins from bobbins,
Ribbon looms, improved, - =
Silkworms, natural history of, - -
duration of the life of, -

varieties of, - -
of India, - - -
China, - - -

North America, -
South America, -

whole process of hatching and rearing the common kind
appearance of, when newly hatched,

removal of, frond the room where hatched,’
rearing of, in their four first stages,

cleanliness and fresh air essential to their health,
noise stops their spinning the cocoons,

preparations for their rising on the cabins,

separation of those which will not rise,
do not degenerate in the United States if well kept,

abstract and condensed view of a art of Hie Tia

diseases of, 5

aii,

213, 220
Wakes
- 155
- 158
=> Hie
a oe
4) ya
4 nga
= fg
- gad
- \
- set
. eer
ey
“| 69

71
- 54, 97
a
- 189
= 02
ear
4120
54 e125

Space in square feet, occupied by worms, from an ounce of eB in different

ages, (see also the table, page 180,)
Steam, apparatus for heating water by,

- 113
= 138

Bs Bie 224 ae

Stove, essential to the regular hatching of silkworms,. * - - 6u
Stove and basin, for heating water, dimensions of, - - - a, sy
Sulphuring silk, of, - z ra A ma * bab « 187
Silk, history of, - - - - - - - . 17

; in the United States, < Bit; - >is ve = OB
weight of a single fibre of 505 feet, - - - - - 114
quantities of, yielded by various parcels of cocoons, —- - > 116
preparations for reeling, - - - - - . - 135
disbanding of from the reel, - - | t - = tS0
preparation of, after disbanding from the reel, - : - -. 150
waste, and inferior qualities to spin, - + - - =. $162
reel, description of, and figure, - - SF bed eg ge ee = Op

to wird from the skeins on bobbins, - “ - - 158

improved machinery for weaving, . - - : - 172, 177-8

to spin double and twist, apparatus for, - __- - : - 178
watering of, to prevent, - - - 5 z 3 - “479

to cleanse, previously to dying, - - ~~ - - - = IBS
ungumming and boiling for white, - - - P - 184
boiling of, which is to be died, - . . = L s eS
sewing and twist, mode of making in Connecticut, - - - 154
VYemperature proper for hatching eggs of silkworms, - - - 65
for silkworms in various stages, - - - - 4 ‘fee

high, improper for hatching the eggs, - - - - He

bad effects of a great or low in the fifthage, — - - ci) ee

of the water, for reeling cocoons, causes which regulate it, -. _ 139

* 'ferhoevens’ American winding and twisting machine, : - - 178
Thermometer, essential in the hatching and rearing of silkworms, — - - . 58
Throwsting machine, figure of explained, - - - wait rot ao TEED
Tramming engine, figure of explained, Z - - - - 161
Tray, portable, cut of one: See table, p- 180, . = = _ 61
Tripes, a disease of silkworts, - = 2 - #4 = 4685
Twist, how made in Connecticut, - » = > - =.) 154
Utensils useful in hatching and rearing silkworms, (and table, p. 180,) - 60, 61
Vapor emitted from silkworms and litter, - - - : - 104
Varieties in silkworms, - - 2 - = =f = 35
x in India, ~ 2 : 3 a a S y 36
in China, ~ : : ~ is a Al

in the United States, and South America, -

Ventilators requisite in the windows, floor, and ceiling of the laboratory, — + ~~ 54

Vioict, with lozwood, todie, -- - = = 2 98
Brazil wood and logwood, to die, - - A + 9 194

‘Warping machine, - = - = 3 a _ -' +152
Watering of silks, without the use of a knee roll, method of preventing, - 179
Weaving of silks, improvements in, - = > - - -" 1s

_ Weights of various parcels of cocoons, = = = = = eo ables
_ - White, different shades of, = us : 4 z 5 3 SAS
Winding, doubling, and twisting apparatus, — - . - 167, 169, 176, 177
Yellows, a disease of silkworms, - : - 2 = = ASG
Yellow, on silk dying of, in hanks, — - - - - - 194, 197, 205
citron, - - - - - é < - 206

other processes, - - - - ., «206, 207, 208, 214, 215

dies in the United States, - - - - : - 1s

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