SILK 



SILK-COTTON 



457 



following year, and towards the middle of May 

 1857 the first living specimen of Attacus cynthia 

 was born in Europe. These cocoons were sent by 



Abbe Fantoni, a 

 Piedmontese mis- 

 sionary, from the 

 province of Shan 

 Tung, in the north 

 of China, situate 

 just south of Pekin, 

 to some friends at 

 Turin. This species 

 was first introduced 

 into England in 

 1859, and reared by 

 Mr F. Moore of 

 the East India 

 Museum. The 

 larvae, feeding on 

 the castor-oil plant, 

 and hatched from 

 eggs sent by M. 

 Guerin Meneville, 

 were exhibited by 

 Mr Moore before 

 the Entomological 

 Society of London 

 in Octolier 1859. Afterwards Lady Dorothy Nevill 

 cultivated that species extensively, and planted in 

 her park in the south of England a number of 

 Ailanto trees. Dr Wallace also wrote on this silk- 

 worm, and considerable efforts have been made in 

 France and in England to domesticate it, but with- 

 out success. The A ttacus atlcu is found over India. 

 It is the largest known moth, beinj^ often 10 inches 

 in expanse of wing. The cocoon is large, but the 

 fibre la coarse ; it has not hitherto been used in the 

 reeled state, but it is utilised in the Nepal Terai 

 by the Mechi people, in the form of rudely-made 

 cloths. The warp and weft are handspun yarns of 

 long staple. The A nthercea assama or Muga silk 

 is confined to Assam, and is largely cultivated for 

 native purposes. A little is exported to Dacca 



Fig. 4. Ai Ian thus Silkworm 

 tacus cynthia), reduced, showing 

 Cocoon attached to a leaf. 



and Calcutta for embroidery purposes. Could the 

 natives be induced to cultivate it on a commercial 

 scale for exportation it would have a widely 

 extended use, for it is a silk that could easily 

 be utilised for many European purposes. 



The last two sifks are the principal wild ones ; 

 they may from their similarity be classed as one, 

 and are known under the name of Tussur silk 

 a name said to be derived from tasara, a weaver's 

 shuttle. The species known as Anthercea pernyi 

 is a native of China : the worm feeds on the leaves 

 of the oak. It is very largely cultivated for export 

 to Europe. That known as A nther&a mylitta is the 

 principal species, and is exclusively Indian, being 

 found over all parts of the country, particularly 

 in Bengal. The Tussur silkworm when fully 

 grown is very large and beautiful. It is about 

 5J inches long. Its cocoon is bard and compact ; 

 the silk is of a deep fawn colour, which lias to 

 be resolved before any delicate shades of colour 

 can be dyed upon it. The rapidlv extended 

 utilisation of this silk is very wonderful. About 

 1871 its European use was almost con lined to the 

 wearing of native-made cloths in the undved state, 

 and the consumption was extremely small ; but in 

 consequence of improvement in the bleaching and 

 dyeing of this silk, at first effected by the writer 

 of this article, as well as to his suggested utilisa- 

 tion, its importation has now become a factor of 

 serious import. The fibre is well adapted for pile 

 fabrics, and very large quantities are used in York- 

 shire for the manufacture of seal cloths, a fabric 

 resembling sealskin. France has taken up the 

 utilisation of this silk for trimming and upholstery 

 purposes, and the present consumption at Lyons 

 averages 100 bales per week. The fibre of Tussur 

 silk is flat and thick. A fabric closely resembling 

 silk is now manufactured from wood reduced to a 

 glutinous, transparent pulp, and forced through 

 very fine tubes, according to the method of Comte 

 Hilaire de Chardonnet. There are large and suc- 

 cessfully operated works at Besan^on, and since 1 898 

 near Coventry. 



See also the articles DTZINR, LYONS, MOIRE, RIBBON, 

 SATIN, VELVET, WEAVING, &c. ; Lardner's Cyclopedia; 

 the monograph by Cohh in 'British Manufacturing 

 Industrie* (1876) ; American works by Brockett (1879), 

 Wyckoff (1879), Crozier (1880), and Riley (1886) ; and 

 the following works by the present writer : The Wild Silk 

 of India (published as a South Kensington Handbook), 

 The Enjlith Silk Industry (part of vol. u'i. of the second 

 Report of the Royal Commissioners on Technical 

 Education, 1884), and Silk: iti Entomology, Hiitory, 

 tr. (1888). 



Silk-cotton. Under this name various silky 

 fibres are from time to time brought from tropical 

 countries to Europe ; they are all of the same 



general character, and are chiefly produced by the 

 trees composing the genus Bombax and other genera 

 included in the natural order Malvaceie. These 

 trees are natives of the tropical parts of Asia, Africa, 

 Australia and America. The fibre fills their large 

 woody capsules, enveloping the seeds contained in 

 them, and is produced in great abundance ; but is 

 too short, too smooth, and too soft to be spun into 

 yarn by machinery. Silk-cotton is, however, used 

 for stuffing pillows, mattresses, sofas, &c. to a 

 limited extent in England, but more largely in 

 Holland, where a long-stapled variety is obtained 

 from Java. One of the l>est-known silk-cotton 

 trees is Bombrtx malabaricum, a very large soft- 



