178 TREATISE UPON THE 



than the silk worms of the mulberry trees, the allurement 

 of gain will have sufficed to make them prefer the latter* 

 the silk of which commands a much higher price. 



We have seen above, that the wild silk worms have been 

 known for a long time in China ; but when they commen- 

 ced to raise them annually, to procure their silk, we do not 

 find stated any where: we do not even find it anterior to 

 the last dynasty, forming a part of the tribute of the pro- 

 vinces, nor entering into the imperial manufactures of the 

 present day. It may be, that the singular art of raising that 

 kind of worms has been practised secretly in some districts, 

 without attracting the attention of the Government. It ap- 

 pears in the imperial collection, Hoang-ming-chi-ta, publish- 

 ed under King-ti, of the last dynasty, about the year 1456, 

 that the Government takes no notice of the silk of the wild 

 silk worms; but when, making continual efforts to secure 

 abundance of corn, and of the raw materials for clothing, 

 it fixed what each place should pay in silk from the worms 

 of the mulberry, in hemp, or cotton, and, seeing that the 

 province of Canton obtained silk from the wild worms, they 

 taxed it to furnish every year a certain quantity. As the 

 multiplication of the wild silk worms has been regarded 

 and announced to the Emperors as a relief to the misery of 

 the people, and as an extraordinary assistance sent by hea- 

 ven, it may be the desire of perpetuating that branch of in- 

 dustry, has caused experiments and researches to be made ; 

 but the books we have read do not name him who first suc- 

 ceeded. 



Three kinds of wild silk worms are enumerated : those 

 of fagara, or of the pepper tree of China, those of the ash, 

 and those of the oak tree. Before entering into any detail 

 it is essential to make these three trees well known. 



