We name these works because they give a greater amount of information upon the production of raw material and upon the progress of this industry than any other works within our knowledge.

Near this machine at the Exposition is another apparatus called Expérimentateur Phrosodynamique, to prove threads; and also a new machine to prepare and open cotton before the ginning, both the production of Professor Alcan. This eminent engineer has made, as we have seen, a special study of the industrial questions which are of such vast importance to the American people.

IMPLEMENTS AND APPARATUS USED IN SILK-THROWING.

The machines for "silk-throwing" seen at the Exposition have remained, as far as fundamental principles are concerned, in the same general condition wherein they were at the origin of automatic industry; but they have been improved in their details, and in the harmony of their execution.

The Swiss manufacturers, especially, have exhibited a remarkable collection of implements in this department.

The assortment as thus exposed, and which is employed in the best factories, consists

1. Of series of tavelles to wind, clean, and equalize the threads dur ing their automatic winding off.

2. Of an apparatus to unite and double the threads with a mechanism for instantly stopping the machine whenever a thread breaks.

3. Of a machine to give the first twist to the double threads in the direction determined for the production of the tram or woof.

4. Of a second machine to retwist together two threads already twisted separately, thus producing the organzine.

The object of these machines, so simple in their construction, is to obtain constantly an evenly twisted product-that is to say, worked in such a manner that each unit of length receives exactly the same number of turns.

Now the realization of this object was not effected without encountering difficulties which have been completely surmounted by the Swiss and French mechanicians, judging as well from the machines as from the magnificent threads exhibited.

This class of machinery is the more advanced because the machines to convert silk are, of all others, the cheapest, and this results directly from their greater simplification.

The "throwing" the threads of silk has several objects in view.

1. It gives them a sufficient resistance to admit of their being boiled in soapy water to remove the gummy matter, so that they may receive the dye better and give greater brilliancy than if they had remained in the raw state.

2. By the ungumming the silk acquires the desired suppleness of silks called "boiled," whilst if it retained its gum it would be stiff and rough, like the silks employed in bareges, for example.

3. The throwing the silk is intended to give a certain peculiar appearance to the threads, which partly determines what is called the grain of the stuff.

Moreover, when these threads are intended for brilliant tissues, such as satins, the two successive torsions which constitute the organzine are combined in such a manner that the last, which will be the most apparent, should have the least twist in order to preserve the brilliancy of the stuff.

The combination is inverted if the object be to make threads for taffetas, gros grain, gros de Naples, &c.

The work of silk-throwing, by the combination of the varied conditions. it requires, necessitates the possession of such accurate knowledge, and the use of such rare skill as to constitute it a special art.

SIMULTANEOUS REELING AND THROWING.

It has been frequently attempted, and is sometimes still sought, to unite in one single operation the winding off of the cocoons and the throwing of the silk. Notwithstanding that for a long time the solution of this problem, which apparently presents no serious difficulty, has been considered as the philosopher's stone of silk industry, the effort has not been abandoned. Still in this department, as certain mechanism exhibited by the Italians and French attest, the problem offers but little interest or encouragement; as for example, to wind off the cocoons and twist the thread at the same time, the raw silk or grège in issuing from the basins, instead of being passed on to the reels by one simple movement, is rolled around bobbins having a rotary motion, in order to give torsion to the threads.

It is necessary to direct two of them together upon one bobbin to produce the tram; consequently the intermediate operations are all suppressed and condensed into one single process, and hence an apparent economy; but, in fact, this economy disappears and the new mode becomes comparatively expensive, because the production is considerably reduced and because it requires a much larger personal attendance. A few figures will suffice to demonstrate this. To produce the grège, the velocity most suitable is such that one workman throws out at least a length of 500 metres of thread a minute.

When the thread is twisted at the same time only 500 revolutions are given per metre to it in the majority of cases. Suppose a velocity of 3,000 revolutions to the spindles, only six metres will be produced instead of 500 a minute. It is true a workwoman can superintend four threads instead of one, but it will still be necessary to employ twenty times as many spinners in this case as when the production of the grège was in question.

Now this augmentation of expense is much more considerable than the economy realized by the suppression of the intermediate operations. But the most serious difficulty consists in the imperfection of the results.

The slowness of motion in the simultaneous twisting and throwing does not permit a suitable development to be given to the thread, nor a sufficient tension for the entire unwinding which causes the dark aspect of the product already spoken of.

In a word, by the combination of different operations, the workmau is not able to bestow upon his task that care in cleansing and purifying which is performed by the automatic system and by hand as it exists in careful silk-throwing.

Thus the apparent progress, so enticing in appearance, demands an expense much more considerable than that of the separate operations mentioned, and can only give inferior products of inconsiderable value.

In order that they may be forewarned, these facts are worthy of special notice by the American people, who are only beginning to turn their attention to this branch of industry.

However, all new attempts may reach ultimate success; and if it be true that for beautiful normal products the simultaneous twisting and throwing must be rejected, there are cases where they may be employed, and, indeed, where they begin to be employed with a certain success; as for example, when the cocoons are of an inferior quality, and difficult to wind off, such as double cocoons, so that the operator in twisting them directly can, at the best, obtain silk of only a very inferior grade, fit only for working common cordonnet, (braid, binding, twist, lace, &c.) In such case the simultaneous process may be advantageously used. And, indeed, cocoons, wound and doubled and twisted simultaneously, in order to make directly from them certain products intended for passementeries or trimmings, have no need of such careful superintendence as would be required in regard to the same cocoons when intended to produce the more beautiful silks. A single person can attend a greater number of ends, (or bouts,) inasmuch as these coarse articles are far less liable to break.

There are then two conditions which permit the employment of the simultaneous system with advantage.

1. When the object to be attained is not an imperfect grège, but a cordonnet for trimmings, of a sufficiently good quality, and at a price relatively high; and 2d, in cases where the expense of hand labor is considerably reduced in consequence of the character and destiny of the special product-one person under such circumstances being able to produce very much more than he otherwise would by the ordinary

process.

PRODUCTION AND UTILITY OF SILK WASTE.

The different transformations undergone by silk, up to this point, and those it has still to undergo until it arrives at the state of "stuff,” occasions "waste."

This waste presents itself in different states. Those resulting from the operations which precede the torsion offer parcels of raw filaments

(grège) not twisted, known by the name of frisons, or waste from reeling cocoons.

There are frisons of different qualities, according to the period of preparation given to them, or according as they proceed from cocons dégrainés or percés. In this case the waste is more particularly designated by the name golette, from which are made coarse silks called fantaisie, chappe, &c.

The waste proceeding from the different manipulations, commencing with the winding off of the grège, in the throwing, and the operations of weaving, is generally composed of twisted ends, and is known by the name of bourre.

These two sorts of débris have been long utilized. They are divided, cleansed, ungummed, and then equalized by cutting to prepare them for twisting, as we have already said. But there is another kind of waste, long neglected, and which has commenced to be utilized only since the very high price of silk, namely, the chiffons, or rags of this material. Establishments of this kind are very rare; one exists in England, one in France, and a third in the United States. We have no knowledge of any other.

As to the winding of waste, we must limit ourselves to pointing out a certain progress, of which threads of this kind have been the subject as well in France as in Switzerland.

NEW THREADS OF SILK BOURRE.

We have seen, in the show cases of the Exhibition of these two countries, threads from bourre, (a sort of shoddy,) which rival in the beauty of their appearance the most lustrous silks, and at one-half the price.

These results are obtained by attention to details in the manufacture. All these operations have attained remarkable precision, and have been executed conformably to the indications of science, and by the application of certain preparations under special conditions. When the threads have been produced with the greatest care from waste, well purified, well combed, perfectly prepared and spun, the workman then proceeds to apply a thin layer or coating of warm gelatine or isinglass to the thread when stretched and in motion.

The drying and ulterior chevillage completes the work, and imparts to the products that peculiar brilliancy so much esteemed, and that elasticity so indispensable to manufactures of this kind.

The unusual care and attention brought to the working up of waste have been necessitated, as we have said, by the rise in the price of this material. It is not many years since the waste, which at present sells at from 12 to 15 franes, was worth only four or five francs, the kilogram. This fact alone is sufficient to justify the efforts made to utilize waste of every description.

Formerly certain sweepings of threads were thrown on the waste heap

which the workmen knew not how to unravel; but for the disintegration of these the most ingenious and effective machines have been devised. These machines take the rag or piece of silk at its entrance, restore it at its exit in the form of filaments, carefully classed in lengths and fineness, proper to be submitted to the machines for decomposing the chiffon or rag.

The inventors have not exhibited these machines, from fear of imitation by countries where inventions are not protected by patents. Prussia and Switzerland are in this condition, and they are precisely the countries which would derive the greatest advantage from their use.

DYEING AND SURCHARGE OF THREADS.

We have but little to say on the dyeing of silk, so brilliant in itself, and advanced to such an extraordinary degree of perfection.

No kind of material offers more splendor in this respect.

The invention of those colors derived from coal has principally contributed to or caused this revolution in the art of dyeing. The new materials have permitted dyers to obtain colors of unprecedented splendor, combining shades of marvellous variety with extreme delicacy. Looking through the Exhibition we might almost say, in the presence of the results obtained in this direction, there is now nothing impossible. Still, close by the side of products so admirable in respect to dyeing, we saw, on the contrary, much still left to be accomplished. We refer to the attempts made for some time to gild and silver threads of silk. Some specimens of silk of this kind exhibited denote processes still in a crude state, which do not yet supply any product capable of being used advantageously.

Another branch of dyeing is, on the contrary, in a very advanced state; sometimes too advanced.

Reference is here made to the means used to surcharge silks, so as to make them gain, if one wished it, as much as one hundred per cent. upon their normal weight.

This process has an honest origin, and sometimes its applications are honest; but it is not unfrequently used for purposes of gross deception. For example, when the threads and tissues are sold by length or by surface, these surcharges have no other result than to give a certain appearance to the article, while the thickness of the tissue plays no other part here than that which frequently results from the stiffness of stuffs of this sort, without any detriment to the buyer. But, on the other hand, when the threads and even the tissues are sold by weight, it makes the purchaser pay the price of silk for a considerable quantity of foreign matter which, sometimes, has not a fortieth part of the value of silk.

Nevertheless the authors of these operations, whose main object is to give increased weight to silk, are tolerated and even rewarded at the Exhibition, under the pretext that they thereby aid in meeting foreign competition.