THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 25ти NOVEMBER, 1871. 517
The principal parts are three:--
1. A basin (A) with a furnace (B) underneath, or, if more convenient made to communicate by a pipe with a steam boiler.
2. Two circular plates (C C), running on rails, on which the trays with the cocoons are placed. 3. A bell receiver (D), supported by two iron uprights, and easily raised or lowered, by means of a pulley and counterpoise.
The bell is provided with a thermometer (E), and a stop-cock (F), for letting off the air and steam when required.
The apparatus is thus used:-
When the basin has been partly filled with water, to the height of 10 centimetres, the furnace fire is lighted, and the bell lowered, the stop-cock being open. As soon as the thermometer registers 99° or 100° centigrade, the cock is shut, not to be opened again during the operations. The bell is next raised, to permit the plate on which the trays of cocoons are placed to be run over the basin, and then lowered again into the water, until its edges are covered, but not so as to touch the bottom of the basin.*
In about fifteen minutes the bell is lifted, the cocoons which have been steamed are run off, and the second batch, which have been made ready in the meantime, takes the place of the first.
For the full success of the operation the water must always be boiling, the fire well kept up and the internal temperature of the receiver maintained at the same degree.
The prices of the apparatus, which varies according to size, is noted in the following table:---
Weight of Cocoons that may be
Capacity of Receiver.
Steamed.
In from
In from
15 to 20 Minutes. 12 to 16 Hours.
Price.
Litres.
Kilogrammes.
Kilogrammes.
Italian Lire.
J.
180
10
500
750
II.
260
20
1,000
1,000
III.
400
30
1,500
1,300
IV.
530
40
2,000
1,650
V.
660
50
2,500
2,000
VI.
1,330
100
5,000
3,000
VII.
2,660
200
VIII.
4,000
300
10,000 15,000
5,000
7,000
1 litre=61·028 cubic inches. 1 kilograinme=2·20lbs, avoirdupois.
At the present time the Italian lira may be calculated at about 26 lire 25 centimes per £ sterling.
The advantages te be derived from Professor Castrogiovanni's process may be briefly summed up as follows:-
1. The chrysalids dry more quickly than under the ordinary system. Immediately after the steaming the cocoons are fit for carriage, and at the end of thirty days, at the outside, the chrysalids are quite dried up.
Thus the different lots would be steamed on the market, and conveyed to the filatures the same day, without damage.
2. The condition of the cocoon is the same as if the chrysalid were still alive.
The thread can
be wound off to the end, the maximum yield in silk being obtained. The colour of the silk is bright and natural, and its clasticity greater than usual.
3. Economy, both of cost and time, is obtained over other methods.
Professor Castrogiovanni's invention has met with the approval of the Chambers of Commerce of Turin and Cuneo, the members of which are generally interested in the silk trade as producers or dealers, of Professor Cantoni, President of the Agricultural Committee of Turin, and of various silk rulers who have made a practical application of his system.
*
Tuin, February, 1871.
By a recent inodification of the apparatus the receiver has been made double, instead of single, the inner case resting in the water, the outer hermetically closing in the basin. A stop-cock in the outer case provides for the escape of air and steain during the process. By this arrangement, I understand, a considerable concentration of heat is secured.
No. 132.
GOVERNMENT NOTIFICATION.
The following Particulars and Conditions of Sale of Crown Land by Public Auction, to be held on the spot, on the 22nd day of December, 1871, at 4 P.M., are published for general information.
By Command,
Colonial Secretary's Office, Hongkong, 25th November, 1871.
J. GARDINER AUSTIN, Colonial Secretary.
Particulars and Conditions of the Letting by Public Auction Sale, to be held on Friday, the 22nd day of December, 1871, by Order of His Excellency The Lieutenant-Governor, of a certain Lot of Crown Land in the Colony of Hongkong for a Term of 999 years.