10 SILKWORMS. 



eighteen centuries ago, of the origin of that beautiful fabric which 

 had only recently become known in Roman society, and was so 

 much prized for its softness and brilliance, and for the readiness 

 with which it took the most splendid dyes. It is plain that, in 

 this account, the author has mixed up several totally distinct 

 insects, but as he had never seen them himself, and spoke only 

 from hearsay, his mistakes are the more pardonable. What his 

 Bombilii and Necydali were, he probably knew no better than we 

 do, for he simply borrowed here terms which Aristotle had used 

 in the same connection four hundred years before. Moreover, 

 the Greek philosopher, though not giving utterance to statements 

 quite so ridiculous as his Latin successor, was not very greatly 

 his superior in the correctness of his information on this par- 

 ticular subject. Another writer gravely states that silk consisted 

 of the entrails of a spider, which was fed for four years on a kind 

 of paste, and after that on willow leaves until it actually burst 

 with fat ! 



So great was the demand for silken garments in South Europe 

 in the first two centuries of our era, that it outstripped the supply 

 of imported material, which therefore became rarer and more 

 expensive, till at last, by the middle of the third century, we find 

 the Emperor Aurelian actually forbidding his wife to have a silken 

 robe, in consequence of its enormous expense. But shortly after 

 this, it became commoner, though frequently of an inferior quality, 

 and fabrics of mixed woollen or linen and silk were often worn. 

 By the middle of the sixth century a considerable trade in silk 

 had sprung up, and Persia was the country through which the 

 products of Eastern Asia were introduced to the Europeans, be- 

 cause the great caravan routes from the East had their termini 

 in her territory. Persia therefore took every precaution against 

 letting the silk trade escape from her hands, and in consequence 

 she was able to keep up the prices to an inordinate height, and 

 made a very good thing of the business, much to the annoyance 

 of the Europeans, who resented the passing of so much wealth 

 away from themselves. There seemed, moreover, no reason why 

 silk culture should not be practised in Europe, since the mulberry 

 tree grew wild in the south-eastern parts. But all efforts to pro- 

 cure silkworms for Europe, in the course of fair and open trade, 

 proved unavailing, so jealously was the industry guarded by the 

 Asiatics. What, however, could not be accomplished in an open 

 and straightforward manner, was at last effected by stratagem. 



In the reign of the Emperor Justinian, about the middle of the 

 sixth century A.D., two Persian monks of the order of St. Basil, 

 who had gone as missionaries to India, and had thejice penetrated 



