the cocoon is probably well known to most of our readers. Industrially
considered, the cocoon may be divided into three parts: (1) The floss,
which consists of the remains of the filaments used for supporting the
cocoon on the twigs of the brush among which it was built and the
outside layer 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