The natural gum of the cocoons is first softened in warm water, kept at the proper temperature, either by a charcoal fire or by a steam pipe. After remaining in this for a few minutes, the reeler (generally a woman) gently stirs up or brushes the cocoons with a short birch rod, and to this the loose threads of the cocoons adhere, and are thus drawn out of the water: they are then taken commonly four or five together, twisted with the fingers into one thread, and passed through a metal loop, to get rid of dirt and impurities: the thread then passes on to the reel, which is so constructed as to have a slight lateral motion, so that the thread of one revolution does not overlay the other; for if it did so, the threads would be glued together before the gum had had time to harden by exposure to the air. The threads of the four or five cocoons are thus united into one strong and smooth thread. Sometimes as many as thirty cocoons are united into one thread, and it is difficult to wind more. As often as a thread of any single cocoon breaks or comes to an end, the attendant supplies its place by a new one, so that by continually keeping up the same number the united thread may be wound to any length: these joinings are not made by a knot, but the new end is simply laid on the compound thread, to which it adheres by its gum; and as the threads are finer near their termination than at the commencement, it is necessary for the reeler to add other cocoons before the first set is quite exhausted; so that the compound thread may be of uniform thickness. The filaments of three fresh cocoons, added to two half-wound ones, make a thread about equal to that from four fresh cocoons. The cocoons are not entirely wound off, but the husk containing the chrysalis is used together with the floss silk under the name of waste. Improved methods of reeling have been introduced on the continent, but they are similar in principle to the above. Eleven or twelve pounds of cocoons yield about one pound of reeled silk; and as from 240 to 250 cocoons weigh a pound, the number of cocoons required to produce a pound of silk may be estimated at 2,817½. The length of filament yielded by a single cocoon is 300 yards, but some have yielded as much as 625 yards. The reeled silk is made up into hanks for sale or use. The form and contents, as well as quality, of these hanks, differ greatly, as will be seen by the following wood-cuts. [Illustration: HANKS FROM ITALY. ] [Illustration: BOOK OF SILK FROM CHINA. ] [Illustration: SLIP FROM BENGAL. ] We may aptly conclude our account of this most industrious silk-manufacturer in the words of the Rev. Samuel Pullein, M.A., who, so long ago as 1758, wrote an Essay on the Culture of Silk, in which the following passage occurs:—