{
    "system": "GoGuides Verified Text",
    "api_version": "verified-text-v1",
    "status": "ok",
    "response_type": "verified_text_record",
    "source_key": "britannica_1926",
    "source_title": "Encyclopaedia Britannica (1926)",
    "license_code": "public_domain",
    "attribution": null,
    "license_url": null,
    "chunk_id": "1926:silk:0f4165c6519d",
    "title": "SILK",
    "section": null,
    "hash_alg": "sha256",
    "hash_sha256": "475c05c3f487b860770f909f31e684f3f135d60da6038524b006407c3e039983",
    "normalizer": {
        "name": "ggnorm",
        "version": "1.0"
    },
    "verified_text": "the most important and significant event in connection with silk since 1910 has been that, despite the vast development of artificial silk (¢.v.), the genuine article has not only held its own but has steadily increased in demand. the chicf cause of this growth has been the increasing demand for silk from the united states. in rg00 the world’s total output was 17,211,000! kilos. in 1913 the total output was 27,320,000 kilos. it fluctuated during the war, but in 1919 stood at 27,290,000 kilos. the next year marked the commencement of the trade slump, and the first indication of its approach was given by the refusal of the “ buy- crs’ to purchase their normal supplies of raw silk. in that year the output fell to 20,349,000 kilos. but the setback was only temporary, and since then output has mounted till, in 1924, the world’s total production was 39,100,000 kilos. sources of supply.—the principal sources of supply are japan, china, italy, the levant, france, india and spain, in that order. of the various producing countries in 1900, 1913 and 1924, unfortunately india and china are not properly distinguished before 1922, but were included with japan, which was the chief collecting area in the far east:— countries 1900 1913 1924 kilos ikilos kilos japan . 11,037,000 20,760,000 24,525,000 italy 3,275,000 3,540,000 5,255,000 levant 2,079,000 2,588,000 1,095,000 france 736,000 350,000 335,000 spain 84,000 82,000 95,000 china . bas ; 7:715,000 india 80,000 the manufacturing countries of europe and the u.s.a. are becoming more and more dependent on asia, especially on japan and china, for their supplies of raw material. the year 1924 showed an abnormally high output for europe, and in particular france had a much bigger production than had been her average for the previous nine years. for example, her out- put in 1922 was only 198,000 kilos, although the total world’s output was 31,660,000 kilos, or the highest previous to 1924. as france is a very important silk manufacturing centre, the fact is somewhat disquieting. her consumption in 1924 was 6,031,400 kilos, whereas she produced only 335,000 kilos and had 1,053,476 throwing spindles. italy, on the other hand, produces’ nearly as much silk as she uses, the position in 1924 being that she produced 5,255,000 kilos of raw silk and consumed 5,610,000 kilos. the danger is that the important silk manufacturing industry of france is very largely dependent on supplies of raw silk from abroad, and the fact that the main supplies have to be obtained from the far east means that she and other countries as well, are at the mercy of unforeseen circumstances which may, even temporarily, destroy this source of supply, such as a disease 1for full tables see the manchester guardian commerctal sup- plement, “ european textiles,’ dec. 10 1925, p. 42. silver which aitacks the silkworm, an earthquake on a vast scale or serious political disturbances. on the technical side, nothing very startling has occurred, but it may be that a new invention which appeared in 1925 in italy may in future years be regarded as important. by this new method the silk can be detached from the cocoon without the use of boiling water, and if this invention proves satisfactory when tried on a large scale two important results will be achieved. firstly, much illness and even death among the operatives will be eliminated, as the fumes given off in the present process are often very injurious; and at the same time, if desirable, the silkworms themselves, which at present are killed by the boiling water, can be saved and allowed to develop into moths, lay eggs and so considerably increase the supply of silk. in conclusion, it may be added that while the chief demand for silk fabrics is for female attire, an important and comparatively new source of demand is in connection with the development of air navigation, especially for parachutes (q.v.). bibliograpiy.—j. chittick, sik manufacturing and its problems (1913); s. kline, manual of processes of winding, warping, and ouilling silk, etc. (1918); r. c. rawlley, economics of the silk in- dusiry (1919); g. s. boulger, [istory of silk (1920). see also artic'e on ‘‘ european textiles,’ the manchester guardian comnicrcial supplement (dec. 10 1925). (j. s. m. w.)",
    "source_url": "https://archive.org/details/encyclopaedia-britannica-encyclopaedia-britannica.-3-encyclopaedia-britannica-inc.-1926",
    "observed_at": "2026-05-17 12:14:22",
    "integrity": {
        "hash_check": "match",
        "hash_scope": "full_normalized_text",
        "computed_sha256": "475c05c3f487b860770f909f31e684f3f135d60da6038524b006407c3e039983"
    },
    "machine_use": {
        "read": true,
        "cite": true,
        "decision": "verified_public_domain_text"
    },
    "documentation": {
        "white_paper_url": "https://www.goguides.com/white-paper.php",
        "pdf_url": "https://www.goguides.com/whitepapers/goguides-ai-source-clearance-white-paper.pdf"
    }
}