SILK-WORMS. 377 



character would have been manifested in the lustrous 

 aspect of baronial halls, and even of the courts of kings ! 

 It is curious, indeed, to consider how the breeding of a 

 few millions of caterpillars should occasion such a dis- 

 parity at different times in the circumstances of different 

 tribes of the human race. When the wife and empress 

 of Aurelian was refused a garment of silk, on account of 

 its extreme costliness, the most ordinary classes of the 

 Chinese were clad in that material from top to toe ; and 

 although among ourselves week-day and holiday are now 

 alike profaned by uncouth forms, whose vast circumference 

 is clothed "in silk attire/' yet our own James the Sixth 

 was forced to borrow a pair of silken hose from the Earl 

 of Mar, that his state and bearing might be more effectiv< 

 in the presence of the Ambassador of England, — " for ye 

 would not, sure," said the royal pedant, " that your king- 

 should appeal' as a scrub among strangers." — Encyclopcvdia 

 Britannica, Art. Entomology. 



THE RED-BREAST. 



The red-breast is perhaps the most beloved of British 

 birds, and is remarkable for its combination of familiarity 

 and independence. When left to its ; 'own sweet will," it 

 enters houses freely in cold or snowy weather, will perch 

 night after night on corniced book- case, or seek repose 



