THE OAK-FEEDING SILKWORM OF CHINA. OO 



THE OAK-FEEDING SILKWOEM OF CHINA. 



CHINA \vas undoubtedly the country in which men first 

 availed themselves of the labours of the silkworm. Aristotle 

 is the first Greek author who mentions the silkworm (Nat. 

 Hist. V. 19) ; and he states that silk was first spun in the 

 island of Cos, but the raw material was still an oriental 

 product. For many centuries it was not known in Europe 

 from what source silk was produced. It was not indeed until 

 the sixth century that the obscurity which enveloped this 

 subject was cleared up by the successful result of a journey, 

 made by two Nestorian monks, to China to unravel the 

 mystery. The breeding of silkworms in Europe was for six 

 centuries confined to the Greeks of the Lower Empire. In 

 the twelfth century the art was transferred to Sicily ; in the 

 thirteenth century the rearing of silkworms and the manu- 

 facture of silk were introduced into Italy, whence it was 

 successively introduced into Spain and France, and in the 

 fifteenth century the manufacture was established in England. 



One of the most interesting of the silkworm family is the 

 Bombyx nwri, well known as the moth to which the silkworm 

 turns. This species, which was originally from China, is of a 

 white or cream colour, with a brown fascia and two or more 

 waved lines of a deeper colour crossing the upper wings. In 

 this country the eggs of this moth are hatched early in May. 

 The caterpillar, or silkworm, is at first of a dark colour, but 

 soon becomes light, and in its tints much resembles the perfect 

 insfi-t a circumstance common in caterpillars. Its proper 

 food is the mulberry, though it will likewise eat the lettuce 

 and some few other plants ; on these plants, however, it does 

 not thrive equally well, and the silk yielded is of a poor 

 quality. 



