CH. V.] HISTORY OF SILK, ETC. 87 



called Peloponnesus, changed its denomination into 

 that of Morea, from the immense plantations of the 

 Morus alba, or white mulberry. Some authors, 

 however, assert that the name was suggested by 

 the resemblance of the Morea to the shape of the 

 mulberry-leaf, a less plausible opinion than the for- 

 mer. Ancient authors asserted, that sericum or 

 silk was obtained either from fleeces growing upon 

 trees, or from the bark of trees or flowers ; others, 

 that it was procured from spiders or beetles ; while 

 some, however, who came nearer the truth, spoke 

 of worms feeding on the mulberry-leaves, with cot- 

 ton growing on the branches like flax. 



When Roger, King of Sicily, conquered the Pelo- 

 ponnesus in 1130, he transported the silkworms 

 and such as cultivated them to Palermo, and into 

 Italy ; and such was the success of the speculation 

 in this last country, that it is doubtful whether even 

 at the present moment Calabria, where the silk- 

 cultivators were early encouraged, does not produce 

 more silk than the whole of the rest of Italy. 



In the wars of Charles the Eighth, in 1499, in 

 Italy, some gentlemen seeing the advantages of the 

 commerce of silk, introduced the mulberry into 

 France, and large plantations were soon raised in 

 Provence. The first tree which was ever planted 

 in France by Guy-Pape St. Auban, Seigneur d' Al- 

 lan, still existed in 1802, near Montelimart. Faujas 

 Saint-Fond, who saw it, gives the following descrip- 

 tion: "Its large branches are withered, and its 

 stem is divided into three parts ; but, in spite of the 

 number of winters it has braved, it is still covered 

 in spring with leaves and fruit. Its descendants are 

 now spread over the soil of France, and yield a large 

 revenue to the state." 



In spite of the encouragement given by Charles 

 the Eighth to the culture of the silkworm, still little 

 progress was made; for the silks of Spain, into 

 which country the Moors had introduced the silk- 



