INSECTS. 113 



worm was then reared. Though the manufactures of silk 

 were lauded in terms of the higliest admiration both by- 

 Greek and Roman authors, they were in frequent use for 

 several centuries before any certain knowledjje was obtained 

 either of the countries from which the material was derived^ 

 or of the means by which it was produced. By some it- 

 was supposed to be a fine down adhering to the leaves of 

 trees or flowers ; by others it was regarded as a delicate 

 kind of wool or cotton ;* and even those who had some idea 

 of its insect-origin were incorrectly informed of the mode 

 of its formation. The court of the Greek emperors, which 

 surpassed even that of the Asiatic sovereigns in splendour 

 and magnificence, became profuse in its display of this costly- 

 luxury ; but as the Persians, from the advantages which 

 their local situation gave them over the merchants from the 

 Arabian Gulf, were enabled to supplant them in all those 

 marts of India to which silk was brought by sea from the 

 East, and as they had it in their power to cut off the cara- 

 vans which travelled by land to China through their own 

 northern provinces, Constantinople thus became dependent 

 on a rival power for an article which its sumptuous nobles 

 deemed essential to the enjoyment of refined life. Of 

 course the Persians, with the accustomed and long-con- 

 tinued rapacity of monopolists, raised the price to an ex- 

 orbitant height, and many attempts were made by Justinian 

 to free his subjects from such exaction. An accidental 

 circumstance is said to have accomplished what the wisdom 

 of the great legislator was unable to achieve. Two Per- 

 sian monks, who had been employed as missionaries in one 

 of the Christian churches established in India, had pene- 

 trated into the country of the Seres, that is, to China, 

 where they observed the natural operations of the silk-worm, 

 and acquired a knowledge of the arts of man in working up 

 its produce into so many rich and costly fabrics. The love 

 of lucre, mingled perhaps with a feeling of indignation 

 that so valuable a branch of commerce should be enjoyed 

 by unbelieving nations, induced them to repair to Constan- 

 tinople, where they explained to the emperor the true origin 

 of silk, and the various modes by which it was prepared 

 and manufactured. Encouraged by the most liberal prom- 



* Robertson's Historical Disquisition concerning Ancient India. 

 K2 



