SILK. 165 



The fur or hair from the squirrel's tail is used for artists' pencils, and 

 many of the camel-hair and other fine brushes sold under that name are 

 made from it. 



There are various species of squirrel, which produce the grey, black r 

 and the American red squirrel fur chiefly used as fancy furs. 



ANIMAL FIBRES. SILK. 



THIS is the product of the silkworm, the cultivation of which 

 has been carried on from a very early period, several centuries, indeed, 

 before the Christian era. 



The principal silk used for commercial purposes is a material obtained 

 from the larva or worm of the silk-moth. 



The fibre is contained in the cocoon, the protective covering of the 

 pupa, which is the intermediate stage of the development of the actual 

 silk-moth. 



The larva or caterpillar of the silk-moth feeds on the leaves of plants, 

 more particularly on those of Morus alba, or white mulberry tree. When 

 the larva has attained its full period of growth, it ceases to eat for a time 

 and remains quiet, during which period the silk and cocoon become 

 the temporary home of the pupa. 



The silkworm or caterpillar possesses two glands, one on each side of 

 the head. When the caterpillar has finished eating, a fine silk commences 

 to exude from the glands, and the upper part of the body and head is 

 moved forwards and round, the silk being left in the path of the circuit 

 taken, and the deposition of silk continued until the cocoon is completed. 

 The larva then passes into its pupa stage. 



The cultivation of the silkworm dates back to remote antiquity, viz., 

 about 2640 B.C. The Empress of China, Se-ling-she, gave encourage- 

 ment to the rearing of the insect and the planting and growth of the 

 mulberry tree. Its culture spread to Japan, India, and Central Asia. 



The cultivation of silk in England commenced about 1585, when a 

 body of Flemish weavers settled at Spitalfields in London, and initiated 

 the silk-throwing industry of that locality. 



Royalty encouraged it. James I. extended and promoted the culture 

 of the mulberry and silkworms, and a company was incorporated as the 

 British and Colonial Silk Company, with a capital of .1,000,000, for its 

 cultivation in Ireland. This, however, proved to be a failure. 



In 1838 Mr Samuel Whitmarsh introduced the culture of silk into 

 America from the Morus multicaulis. Plantations were set up' in 

 Pennsylvania, and spepulation became rife. 



