THE STORY OF ARTIFICIAL SILK 
lated by a skilled workman, but there are 
now automatic regulators of pressure. If 
there were variations in the pressure, there 
would be thick places in the filaments. 
This act of forcing the syrup through the 
holes is called “ spinning,” although, of 
course, it is no such thing. As yet, we have 
no word to describe it. The Germans call it 
““ wire-drawing,” which is a more suitable 
word. 
A filament is a single strand. When several 
filaments are twisted together, they form a 
thread. The twist given to the filaments is 
very slight. It averages 2; turns per inch. 
The threads are reeled into skeins, 1,680 or 
3,360 yards in length-—z-mile lengths. 
Some experts think that every filament 
has a skin, and that when the skin is thin, 
the filament has most elasticity. These tiny 
filaments, in fact, are a new product of the 
brain of man. There is nothing else that is 
precisely like them in Nature. We do not 
vet know all that we shall know about them. 
The water used in making Artificial Silk 
must be chemically pure. If it has lime or 
iron in it, the silk will be less lustrous. 
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Wi