THE EARLY HISTORY OF SILK. ] 5;J 



contradicts. There remains but little doubt that, 

 whatever fabrics were there wove from raw silk, that 

 it was the produce of Eastern countries, as was the 

 case with stuffs woven at Tyre, Berytus, and Persia. 

 This seems beyond a doubt ; for the historians Zo- 

 naras and Theophanes say, that before the introduc- 

 tion of Silkworms into Constantinople, in the middle 

 of the sixth century, nobody in that city was aware 

 that silk was the produce of caterpillars. 



In the enumeration of the articles mentioned in 

 the embellishment of Solomon's Temple, we are 

 expressly told of line linen, but no mention what- 

 ever is made of silk, which could not fail to have 

 been noticed had it been then in use ; nor did it 

 seem to be known even after the rebuilding of the 

 Temple, as it is not recorded amongst its decora- 

 tions. It, however, is mentioned as an article of 

 trade in Jerome's translation of the Bible, where it 

 is said to have been sent from Syria to Tyre, 588 

 years before the time of Christ. It must then have 

 been a rare article, as the building of the Temple 

 was completed only sixty-four years before that 

 period. 



Alexander the Great — who, along with his am- 

 bitious desires, united much zeal in extending useful 

 arts throughout his dominions, most probably im- 

 bibed from his great instructor Aristotle, who 

 prompted him to explore the great field of nature 



VOL. n. L 



