THE STORY OF ARTIFICIAL SILK 
Fim ¥ — 
actually made it by the squirting process was 
an Englishman— Joseph Wilson :Swan. He 
took out his patent in 1883. 
“ 
£1 
ee 
He squeezed a mixture of wood and ‘cotton 
pulp through small holes and made a thread 
of it. He did more than this. He actually 
made Artificial Silk woven goods and showed 
them at the Inventions Exhibition in London 
in 1885. 
It is very necessary to remember this fact, 
as many writers are now giving the credit to 
a Frenchman, Count Hilaire de Chardonnet, 
as the first maker of Artificial Silk. 
Chardonnet did not begin his experiments 
until 1884, a year after Swan had taken 
out his patent. He did not show any 
Artificial Silk goods until 1889, at the Paris 
Exhibition. 
But Swan was a plain, unknown English- 
man. He received no notice and no honours 
from the British Government, but the French 
Government awarded Chardonnet the Grand 
Prix and made him a Knight of the Legion of 
Honour 
Swan received no encouragement from 
anyone. He battled on and laid the solid 
25