Rensselaer Journal, Volume 11, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 September 1901 — Mans factoring Artificial Silk. [ARTICLE]

Mans factoring Artificial Silk.

Artificial silk can l>e -made out of glue, thus demonstrating that our ancestors were not so foolish and ignorant as we like to think. So far as we can judge there was no reason why they should not have made the, proverb read: “You can’t make a silk purse out of a cow’s heel." But they didn’t say that They used another simile. They were smart enough. After taking all the trouble to make a proverb they did not propose to have science get the laugh on them by making silk out of cows’ hoofs and horns. The gelatine is dissolved in water to the proper consistency, dyed and forced through tiny glass tubes as with the cellulose silk. It is really an animal product like the silkworm silk, but the manufacturers have not yet been able to get the appliances for water-proofing the thread with the vapor of formaline that the silkworm has which secretes the same drug for the same purpose. Also, It is quite difficult to dry the thread quickly on the carrying belts, for you can easily see that they cannot be made very long. I suppose every one that reads this will Instantly think it would be easy to dry the threads If the room were made warm, but, unfortunately, warmth and moisture together havi the property of making the glue softer. Another difficulty is that the silk must be dyed before It is spun, and as gelatine has a way of not being the same shade for the same quality of. stickiness, it Is pretty hard to tell what color you will get till it is dry. If the spun threads are soaked in the dyepot the stuff thinks that this Is a new way of making wine jelly, and makes all possible haste to change itself from dress goods Into dessert. Still, it makes a very pretty silk If you don’t wear It out in a rainstorm.—Ainslee’s Magazine.