The next step in the production of silk is called reeling, and for this purpose the modern filature has been developed. The actual existence of reeling machines is by no means modern, however, for it is a well-known fact that the Chinese knew how to use raw silk as far back as 5000 years ago. Old prints dating back 3000 years show that the hand “reelers” then in use differed little in principle from the highly developed filatures of today. Although China knew how to reel and twist silk for several thousand years, it was only in the third, fourth, and fifth centuries A. D. that other countries, such as Japan and Eastern Europe, took it up. The first filatures were, of course, extremely simple, operated entirely by hand, and produced a very coarse thread. Although a little progress was made during the Middle Ages, the turning point came in 1750 when Vaucanson, a French engineer, invented the first real filature—which combined several reelers, giving the whole process more speed and turning out a product of considerably better quality. This marked the beginning of Europe’s interest in what had so long been an exclusively Oriental industry, and from then on the French, Italians and Spanish in particular took up the study of sericulture and the reeling and manufacturing process. The result was to put the industry on a scientific basis which it had never reached in the East. [Illustration: _The Reeling Basins_] 2. PREPARING TO REEL [Sidenote: “_Stoving_”] The reeling process is the first step in which machinery plays an important part. When the cocoons are ready they must first be submitted to the “stoving” process, or stifling, in which they are exposed to heat sufficient to kill the chrysalis inside. This is followed by further drying, after which the cocoons are shipped in bags to the filatures and may be kept indefinitely without injuring the filament. [Sidenote: “_Beating_”] [Sidenote: _Waste Material_] As a preliminary to reeling, the cocoons are immersed in boiling water to soften the gum that holds the fibre together. While in the water they are brushed with a coarse brush to remove the heavy outer strands of the cocoon—a process called “beating.” These outer strands are usually too harsh and broken to be reeled, but are afterwards utilized as so-called waste which is used for spun-silk manufacture.[4] This applies also to the innermost layers of the cocoon. About one-half of the thread on a cocoon actually finds its way into thrown silk. The remainder is “waste.” When, by brushing, the true threads are reached it is possible to start reeling, and barring occasional breaks these threads are continuous all the way down to the chrysalis. [4] See Chapter IV. 2. 3. MODERN REELING METHODS [Sidenote: _Reeling Basins_]