of one cocoon is of the same diameter as
that of another, gets an approximate idea of the size of the thread
that she is reeling. But this hypothesis is not exact, and the
filament being largest at the end which is first unwound, and tapering
throughout its whole length, the result is that the reeler has not
only to keep going a certain number of cocoons, but also to appreciate
how much has been unwound from each.

If the cocoons are but slightly unwound, there must be fewer than if a
certain quantity of silk has been unwound from them. Consequently
their number must be constantly varying in accordance with their
condition. These facts show that the difficulty of maintaining
regularity in a thread is very great. Nevertheless, this regularity is
one of the principal factors of the value of a thread of "grege," and
this to such an extent that badly reeled silks are sold at from twenty
to twenty-five francs a kilogramme less than those which are
satisfactorily regular.

The difficulty of this hand labor can be still better understood if it
be remembered that the reeler being obliged to watch at every moment
the unwinding of each cocoon, in order to obtain one pound of well
reeled silk, she must incessantly watch, and without a moment of
distraction, the unwinding of about two thousand seven hundred miles
of silk filaments. For nine pounds of silk, she reels a length of
filament sufficient to girdle the earth. The manufacturer, therefore,
cannot and must not depend only on the constant attention that each
reeler should give to the work confided to her care. He is obliged to
have overseers who constantly watch the reelers, so that the defects
in the work of any single reeler, who otherwise might not give the
attention required by her work, will not greatly diminish the value
either of her own work or that of several other reelers whose silk is
often combined to form a single lot. In addition to the ordinary hand
labor, considerable expense is thus necessitated for the watching of
the reelers.

Enough has now been said, we think, to give a good idea of silk
reeling, as usually practiced, and to show how much it is behind other
textile arts from a mechanical point of view. To any one at all
familiar with industrial work, or possessing the least power of
analysis or calculation, it is evident that a process carried on in
so primitive a manner is entirely unsuitable for use in any country in
which the conditions of labor are