26 
pliny's natural history. [Book XI, 
These insects weave webs similar to those of the spider, the 
material of which is used for making the more costly and 
luxurious garments of females, known as bombycina.'' Pam- 
phiie, a woman of Cos,^^ the daughter of Platea, was the lirst^^ 
person who discovered the art of unravelling these webs and 
spinning a tissue therefrom ; indeed, she ought not to be de- 
prived of the glory of having discovered the art of making 
vestments which, while they cover a woman, at the same mo- 
ment reveal her naked charms. 
CHAP. 27. (23.) THE SILK -WORM OF COS — HOW THE COAN 
VESTMENTS ARE MADE. 
The silk- worm, too, is said to be a native of the isle of Cos, 
where the vapours of the earth give new life to the flowers 
of the cypress, the terebinth, the ash, and the oak which have 
been beaten down by the showers. At first they assume the 
appearance of small butterflies with naked bodies, but soon 
after, being unable to endure the cold, they throw out bristly 
hairs, and assume quite a thick coat against the winter, b ; 
rubbing off the down that covers the leaves, by the aid of 
the roughness of their feet. This they compress into balls 
by carding it with their claws, and then draw it out and 
hang it between the branches of the trees, making it fine 
by combing it out as it were : last of all, they take and roll it 
round their body, thus forming a nest in which they are enve- 
loped. It is in this state that they are taken ; after which 
they are placed in earthen vessels in a warm place, and fed 
upon bran. A peculiar sort of down soon shoots forth upon 
the body, on being clothed with which they are sent to work 
upon another task. The cocoons which they have begun to 
form are rendered soft and pliable by the aid of water, and 
are then drawn out into threads by means of a spindle made of 
a reed. !N'or, in fact, have the men even felt ashamed to make 
use^^ of garments formed of this material, in consequence of 
83 The first kinds of silk dresses worn by the Roman ladies were from 
this island, and, as Pliny says, were known by the name of Coce vestes. 
These dresses were so fine as to be transparent, and were sometimes dyed 
purple, and enriched with stripes of gold. They probably had their name 
from the early reputation which Cos acquired by its manufactures of silk. 
^* This account is derived from Aristotle, Hist. Anim. E. v. c. 19. 
^5 "Lanificia," 
S6 Early in the reign of Tiberius, as we learn from Tacitus, the senate 
