SILK. 



The mouth is very large compared to the size of 

 the body ; it opens vertically, unlike the mouths of 

 most animals, and the jaws are formed after the 

 manner of the teeth of a saw. There are nine 

 breathing holes on each side of the body, and there 

 are likewise seven eyes on each side of the head. 

 Below the jaw there are two small orifices, through 

 which the worm ejects its silken filament. 



At the period of the worm's existence of which 

 we have been speaking, it shows a disposition to 

 leave its food, voids its excrement, and diminishes 

 in bulk, becoming at the same time semitrans- 

 parent. Twigs of broom or green oak are now laid 

 on the wicker frames, and the worms are placed 

 more closely together. The spinning process now 

 commences. The worm throws its head about in 

 various directions and spins the floss or outer net 

 work of its cocoon, and then winds the silk thread 

 round its body as regularly as a spinner builds the 

 thread upon the cope. The silken substance is a 

 glutinous liquid matter in the body of the animal, 

 which hardens by coming into contact with the air, 

 and this glutinous property causes the two fila- 

 ments issuing from the orifices above mentioned, 

 to adhere and form one continuous thread. The 

 spinning process is finished in the course of from 

 three to four days, after which the cocoons are col- 

 lected together, the finest being selected for seed 

 and the rest set apart for unwinding. 



The animal remains in its silken tomb for about 

 twenty days; it then exudes a lubricating liquid to 

 facilitate its freement, and by knocking its head 

 against the cocoon it extricates itself in the form 

 of a butterfly. The butterflies are laid upon a soft 

 piece of cloth, where they copulate, and speedily ter- 

 minate their existence. 



The number of eggs produced by the female moth 

 varies from 200 to 500, and about 200 cocoons will 

 yield one ounce of seed. Six full grown worms 

 will on an average weigh one ounce, which will 

 give an idea of the wonderful increase of weight 

 that the worm acquires during its progress from* 

 hatching. One of the best writers on the subject, 

 states that the relative lengths at the different 

 stages are, 



At hatching, . 

 At the end of the 1 stage, 

 2 



3 



4 . 



5 



According to Dr Ure, " fifteer parts by weight of 

 mulberry leaves furnish one part of cocoons, and 

 one hundred parts of cocoons furnish eight parts of 

 reeled silk. Under favourable circumstances, one 

 ounce of seed eggs will produce eighty pounds of 

 cocoons, or even more. One pound of cocoons is 

 required to yield one ounce of eggs, the silk of a 

 cocoon weighs two and a half grains, and affords a 

 length of thread equal to from 750 to 1,160 feet." 

 The great quantity of food they consume is sur- 

 prising. The authority last quoted, states that 

 the worm increases in weight so much as 30,000 

 times the weight of the egg, and Bonafons renders 

 this not improbable from his observations on the 

 quantity of mulberry leaves consumed by the ani- 

 mal. 



In the 1 age they consume 



2 



3 



Ibs. oz. 



7 

 . 21 



69 12 

 210 

 1281 



In all, 1588 12 



The mulberry is the natural food of the silk 

 worm, and therefore it can only be reared in those 

 climates where such trees grow. Attempts have 

 been made to substitute other vegetables, such as 

 lettuce leaves, but the results have not been such as 

 to induce the practice to any extent. Attempts 

 have likewise been made to obtain a substitute for 

 silk from other animals, as the spider and the pinna, 

 but these have never been made available in a com- 

 mercial point of view, and specimens are only to be 

 found in the cabinets of the curious. 



The art of making the filamentous substance 

 of the cocoon available for the use of man, seems to 

 have originated with the Chinese, and to have been 

 discovered at a very early period. The most an- 

 cient of their records describe the queen as sur- 

 rounded by her female attendants all engaged in the 

 silk manufacture, and, according to the written 

 documents of this nation, the art seems to have 

 been known among this singularly ingenious people 

 2700 B. C. Until the time of the emperor Jus- 

 tinian, the silk worm was cultivated only in China, 

 but the raw material was purchased and manufac- 

 tured by the inhabitants of Persia, Tyre, &c. for 

 a long time before. Aristotle relates that the in- 

 habitants of the island of Kos were in the habit 

 of unweaving the heavy fabrics of the east, and of 

 again spinning and weaving them into fabrics of a 

 more variegated texture ; and this, which is said to 

 be the invention of Pamphela, appears to be the 

 origin of silk gauze. Before the reign of Augustus, 

 the use of silk was little known in Europe. 



About the beginning of the sixteenth century 

 the silk trade of Constantinople was greatly de- 

 pressed in consequence of the impolitic interference 

 of the emperor Justinian. The culture of the silk 

 worm was at this period unknown in Europe ; but 

 was introduced in rather a singular manner. Two 

 Persian monks had gone as missionaries to the 

 Christian churches at this time established in India ; 

 these monks devoted great attention to the culture 

 of the silk worm, and perceiving that this species 

 of industry would be highly advantageous to other 

 countries, they managed to carry away a quantity 

 of the eggs packed in a hollow cane, which they 

 conveyed to Constantinople. This occurred in the 

 year 552. The monks superintended the hatching 

 of the eggs, and thus originated all the silk worms 

 that have ever been nurtured in Europe. Justinian 

 took the manufacture entirely into his own hands, 

 and all the silk rearers and weavers were compelled 

 to work under the superintendence of his treasurer. 

 Justinian was strongly imbued with a love of that 

 restrictive policy as regards commerce and manu- 

 facture, for which emperors and kings have been 

 ever remarkable. He prevented the importation ol 

 eastern silk, and raised the price of the home 

 manufacture to eight, and in cases of dyed goods to 

 thirty times the price of the silks of the east. This 

 produced, if not its desired at least its necessary 

 result, i. e. the cultivation of the silk worm in a 

 neighbouring country. Silk was soon manufactured 

 in Greece and particularly in Peloponnesus. The 

 merchants of Venice formed the channel through 

 which the silk produce of the Greeks was transfer- 

 red to the west of Europe. The silk manufacture 

 continued in this state for six centuries ; but in 

 1146, Roger I. king of Sicily, in his conquest of 

 Greece t took many of the people engaged in 

 this species of industry, whom he compelled to 

 prosecute their avocations in his own dominions, at 

 Palermo. A knowledge of the management of 



