of the cocoon, together with such ends and parts of the
thread forming the main part of the shell as have become broken in
detaching and handling the cocoon; (2) the shell of the cocoon, which
is formed, as has been described, of a long continuous filament, which
it is the object of the reeler to unwind and to form up into threads
of raw silk; and (3) the dried body of the chrysalis.

We shall first describe the usual practice of reeling, which is as
follows: The cocoons are put into a basin of boiling water, on the
surface of which they float. They are stirred about so as to be as
uniformly acted upon as possible. The hot water softens the gum, and
allows the floss to become partially detached. This process is called
"cooking" the cocoons. When the cocoons are sufficiently cooked, they
are subjected to a process called "beating," or brushing, the object
of which is to remove the floss.

As heretofore carried on, this brushing is a most rudimentary and
wasteful operation. It consists of passing a brush of heather or broom
twigs over the floating cocoons in such manner that the ends of the
brush come in contact with the softened cocoons, catch the floss, and
drag it off. In practice it happens that the brush catches the sound
filaments on the surface of the cocoon as well as the floss, and, as a
consequence, the sound filament is broken, dragged off, and wasted. In
treating some kinds of cocoons as much as a third of the silk is
wasted in this manner, and even in the best reeling, as at present
practiced, there is an excessive loss from this cause. At the present
low price of cocoons this waste is not as important as it was some
time ago, when cocoons were much dearer; but even at present it
amounts to between fifteen and twenty millions of francs per annum in
the silk districts of France and Italy alone. In France the cooking
and brushing are usually done by the same women who reel, and in the
same basins. In Italy the brushing is usually done by girls, and often
with the aid of mechanically rotated brushes, an apparatus which is of
doubtful utility, as, in imitating the movement of hand brushing, the
same waste is occasioned.

After the cocoons are brushed they are, in the ordinary process,
cleaned by hand, which is another tedious and wasteful operation
performed by the reeler, and concerning which we shall have more to
say further on. Whatever may be the preparatory operations, they
result in furnishing the reele