26 plint's natural history. [Book XI. 



These insects weave webs similar to those of the spider, the 

 material of which is used for making the more costly and 

 luxurious garments of females, known as " bombycina." Pam- 

 phile, a woman of Cos, 83 the daughter of Platea, was the first 84 

 person who discovered the art of unravelling these webs and 

 spinning a tissue therefrom ; indeed, she ought not to be de- 

 prived of the glory of having discovered the art of making 

 vestments which, while they cover a woman, at the same mo- 

 ment reveal her naked charms. 



CHAP. 27. (23.) THE SILK-WORM OF COS — HOW THE COAN 



VESTMENTS ARE MADE. 



The silk-worm, too, is said to be a native of the isle of Cos, 

 where the vapours of the earth give new life to the flowers 

 of the cypress, the terebinth, the ash, and the oak which have 

 been beaten down by the showers. At first they assume the 

 appearance of small butterflies with naked bodies, but soon 

 after, being unable to endure the cold, they throw out bristly 

 hairs, and assume quite a thick coat against the winter, by 

 rubbing off the down that covers the leaves, by the aid of 

 the roughness of their feet. This they compress into balls 

 by carding it with their claws, and then draw it out and 

 hang it between the branches of the trees, making it fine 

 by combing it out as it were : last of all, they take and roll it 

 round their body, thus forming a nest in which they are enve- 

 loped. It is in this state that they are taken ; after which 

 they are placed in earthen vessels in a warm place, and fed 

 upon bran. A peculiar sort of down soon shoots forth upon 

 the body, on being clothed with which they are sent to work 

 upon another task. The cocoons 85 which they have begun to 

 form are rendered soft and pliable by the aid of water, and 

 are then drawn out into threads by means of a spindle made of 

 a reed. Nor, in fact, have the men even felt ashamed to make 

 use 86 of garments formed of this material, in consequence of 



83 The first kinds of silk dresses worn by the Roman ladies were from 

 this island, and, as Pliny says, were known by the name of Cm vestes. 

 These dresses were so fine as to be transparent, and were sometimes dyed 

 purple, and enriched with stripes of gold. They probably had their name 

 from the early reputation which Cos acquired by its manufactures of silk. 



* This account is derived from Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. v. c. 19. 



85 "Lanificia." 



86 Early in the reign of Tiberius, as we learn from Tacitus, the senate 



