THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



35 



and of embalming the remains. These 

 rites finished, Toung Young went to de- 

 liver himself to his purchaser. While on 

 his way, he suddenly met a girl of rare and 

 striking beauty. To his great surprise she 

 offered to share his fortunes. He explained 

 the difficulties of his position, and she 

 agreed to go with him to his employer and 

 give her services in weaving. The residt 

 of this arrangement was that within a 

 month she wove a hundred pieces of silk 

 of new and marvelous patterns, which she 

 offered as a ransom for Toung Young, and 

 they were accepted. The young man, 

 freed from obligations to his employer, 

 started to return home, along with the 

 beauteous maid, seemingly on domestic 

 bliss intent. But when the time for appre- 

 ciating blessings has come, they usually 

 take their flight. On reaching the place 

 where they had first met, the girl bade the 

 young man farewell. She had been sent, 

 she told him, from Heaven, to reward his 

 piety ; and now her mission was accom- 

 plished. She immediately ascended to the 

 sky. The deserted swain went back to his 

 employer and resumed the business of silk- 

 weaving. By carefully imitating the de- 

 signs of the fabrics made by the beautiful 

 being, new goods were produced far su- 

 perior to the ordinary patterns, and the 

 fortunes of Toung Young were assured. 



The story of the introduction of the silk- 

 worm into Europe has been often told. 

 Two Nestorian monks, it is said, brought 

 the eggs from China. The hollow of the 

 staff which it was customary for every pil- 

 grim to carry, served as a place for con- 

 cealing the eggs. The monks presented 

 themselves and their curiosities to the Em- 

 peror Justinian, A. D. 555. Under their 

 direction the eggs were hatched and the 

 worms fed on leaves of the wild mulberry. 

 From this brood all the silkworms of Eu- 

 rope sprang. Some modern critics have 

 thrown a doubt over this tale. It bears a 

 striking likeness to other and earlier le- 

 gends. One of these sets forth that Kho- 

 tan, a country on the Persian Gulf, was 

 and had always been destitute of silk- 

 worms and mulberry trees. Unsuccess- 



ful efforts had been made to obtain the 

 worms from other nations, and an official 

 embassy encountered refusal. But event- 

 ually the coveted insects were procured by 

 stratagem. The daughter of an eastern 

 king was affianced to the sovereign of 

 Khotan, and she brought to him not only 

 herself, but also, enwrapped in her turban, 

 the eggs of the silkworm and the seed of 

 the mulberry tree. There can be no doubt 

 that the secrets of silkworm culture were 

 sedulously guarded by the Chinese for 

 many centuries. At the present day there 

 is a considerable party in Japan opposed 

 to the shipment of silkworm eggs from 

 that country, deeming such export con- 

 trary to sound public policy. Neverthe- 

 less, large quantities are shipped to France 

 and Italy, every year. 



Whether the story of the conveyance of 

 silkworm eggs by Nestorian monks be true 

 or false, it is quite certain that Justinian 

 effected a total revolution in the silk in- 

 dustry. The measures which he took were 

 vigorous and oppressive, the object being 

 to destroy the trade of Persia. It has 

 been said of the great European contest 

 which began with a struggle for the pos- 

 session of the spice islands, that " all Christ- 

 endom went to war for the sake of a gilly- 

 flower." It would be no exaggeration to 

 say, similarly, that the history of mankind 

 was changed on account of the silkworm. 

 We have the authority of the historian 

 Finlay for asserting that the great transfer 

 of civilization from the Hellenic to the 

 Semitic races, which took place in the sixth 

 century, was largely due to the alterations 

 in the currents of trade which Justinian 

 effected. By diverting the commerce with 

 China from its old course through Persia 

 to a new route by Arabia and the Red Sea, 

 fresh life was stirred in the Saracen race, 

 and a pathway was opened for Moham- 

 med's career. 



When the empire of the Saracens was at 

 its zenith, silk culture and silk manufac- 

 tures were added to the commerce with the 

 farther East, which had already proved a 

 large element of prosperity. The Arabian 

 tales are full of allusions to silk. It was 



