SILK. 339' 



Were we to construct an empirical formula it would be C 4 

 H 29 Az 5 O 13 , showing that it has nothing in common with protein 

 cuticle, horn, hair, or feathers. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 



OF SILK. 



SILK is the production of different species of caterpillars. 

 The Phalena bombyx is most commonly propagated for that pur- 

 pose ; but the Phalena atlas yields a greater quantity. A sub- 

 stance somewhat analogous is yielded by the greater number of 

 the tribe of caterpillars. It is found enclosed in two small bags, 

 from which it is protruded in fine threads, to serve the insect for 

 a covering during its chrysalis state. The silk worm is a na- 

 tive of China, and feeds on the leaves of the white mulberry. 

 That industrious nation was acquainted with the manufacture of 

 silk from the most remote ages ; but it was scarcely known in 

 Europe before the time of Augustus. Its beauty attracted the 

 attention of the luxurious Romans ; and after the effeminate 

 reign of Elagabulus it became a common article of dress. It 

 was brought from China at an enormous expense, manufactured 

 again by the Phenicians, and sold at Rome for its weight in gold. 

 In the reign of Justinian, (from A. D. 527 to 565), this com- 

 merce was interrupted by the Scythian tribes, and all attempts 

 to procure it failed : till two Persian monks had the address to 

 convey some of the eggs of the jnsect from China to Constanti- 

 nople, concealed in the hollow of a cane. * They were hatched 

 and the breed carefully propagated. This happened in the year 

 555 of the Christian era ; and some years after, we find that the 

 Greeks understood the art of procuring and manufacturing silk 

 as well as the orientals. Roger, King of Sicily, brought the ma- 

 nufacture to that island in 1 130, forcibly carrying off the weavers 

 from Greece, and settling them in Sicily. From that island the 

 art passed into Italy, and thence into France, and the revocation 

 of the edict of Nantz established the manufactory of silk in 

 Britain. 



What constitutes silk exists in the body of the worm in a li- 

 quid state. In proportion as it exudes from the animal it har- 



