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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Joan, post: 2476418, member: 5398&quot;]I asked my husband to look at the ash and smell it (his sense of smell is much better than mine), and he says the ash smells like burned feathers (he grew up on a farm and remembers the smell of a singed chicken after plucking the feathers). So I think the material is most likely weighted silk. According to Wikipedia, <i>&quot;Weighted silk is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk" rel="nofollow">silk</a> which has been treated to restore or increase the weight lost during the process of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degumming" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degumming" rel="nofollow">degumming</a>. This processing started in the 19th century with vegetable-based solutions such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tannin" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tannin" rel="nofollow">tannins</a> or sugar. Chemical solutions based upon salts of lead or tin were then used, as well as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicate" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicate" rel="nofollow">silicate</a>, phosphate of soda, and astringent extracts.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weighted_silk#cite_note-1" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weighted_silk#cite_note-1" rel="nofollow">[1]</a> These increased the weight considerably but led to accusations of adulteration as the properties of the silk were impaired.&quot;</i> I guess that explains why it was so difficult to burn the sample.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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