[Illustration: DOUBLING FRAMES--THE SILK THREAD IS MADE UNIFORM.] The bobbins taken from the “doubling frame” are next placed on a “spinner.” Driven by an endless belt at the rate of over six thousand turns a minute, the bobbins revolve, the silk from them being drawn upward on to another bobbin. This spins the several strands brought together by the “doubling process” into one thread, the number of turns depending on the kind of silk--Filo silk being spun quite slack, and Machine Twist just the reverse. [Illustration: SPINNING SILK.[2]] [Illustration: TWISTING SILK.[2]] A transferring machine combines two or three of these strands; two for sewing silk and three for machine twist; and the bobbin next goes on to the “twisting machine”--a machine that is similar to a “spinner,” but the silk is twisted in the opposite direction from the spinning. To stand before these machines and watch how rapidly and how accurately they do the work assigned them is a revelation. No one realizes how nicely the parts are adjusted. If but one tiny strand breaks that part of the machinery is stopped by an automatic device which works instantaneously. After twisting, the silk is stretched by an ingenious machine called a “water-stretcher.” This smooths and consolidates the constituent fibers, giving an evenness to the silk not to be obtained by any other known process. The bobbins are placed in water and the silk is wound on to the lower of the two copper rolls. From the lower roll it passes upward to the upper roll, which turns faster than the lower one, thereby stretching the silk. From the upper roll it passes again on to a bobbin. [Illustration: SILK THREADS READY FOR THE WEAVER WATER STRETCHER--MAKING THE SILK THREAD SMOOTH.] The dyeing process is a very important one, and upon its success depends the permanency of the various colors. Vast tubs, tanks, and kettles surround you on every side, and the hissing steam seems to spring from all quarters. The “gum” of the silk is first boiled out by immersion in strong soapsuds for about four hours. The attendants, standing in heavy “clogs” (big shoes with wooden soles two inches thick), turn the silk on the sticks at intervals until the gum is removed. After the silk is dyed it is put into a “steam finisher,” a device looking like a long, narrow box with a cover opening on the side, set upright on top of an iron cylinder. The hanks of silk are placed upon two pins in the steam chest, the cover fastened, and the live steam rushes in around the silk. This brightens the silk, giving it the lustrous, glossy appearance. The editors are indebted to the Corticelli Silk Mills, Florence, Mass., for this story of how silk is made, as well as for permission to use their splendid life-like copyrighted photographs of the silkworm. Many teachers will be glad to know that they can obtain from the Corticelli Silk Mills, at slight expense, specimen cocoons and other helps for object lesson teaching.