THE STORY OF ARTIFICIAL SILK 
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3 to 6 per cent. only, depending upon the 
humidity, while the moisture in viscose silks 
ranges from II to I3 per cent. 
A test has been made of the strength of 
acetate silk after a long immersion in water. 
Several pieces of acetate silk cloth were 
immersed in sea water for five weeks. Before 
immersion, this cloth had a breaking-point 
of 7.05 lbs. After immersion, its breaking- 
point was 6.6 Ibs. It was almost as strong 
as ever after five weeks in sea water. This 
proves that it can be used for fishing lines 
and nets. 
Acetate silk is a good insulator. It is 
being used more and more in the electrical 
industry. Much of it is now being used by 
the Telephone Department of the Post Office. 
The world output of acetate silk is at present 
15,000,000 lbs. a year, but when the new 
mills that are now being built are finished, 
the output will be increased fourfold. 
But, to continue the description of the 
process, it is a matter of great importance 
to have a constant and uniform pressure on 
the syrup as it is being forced through the 
tiny holes. At first, this pressure was regu- 
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