weight in Gold : And * Vopifcus relates, that for this 
reafon the Emperor AurdUn reiufed his Emprefs a Suit 
of Cloaths of -Silk, notwithstanding {he earneftly de- 
fired it. Its fcarcity continued a long time } and it was 
to the Monks at laft that we owe the Manner of breed- 
ing Silk-Worms, who brought their Eggs from Greece , 
under the Reign of the Emperor Jitflinian, 39 we learn 
from \ .Godefridus in his Notes upon the Code 3 and 
Ulpian allures us, that the Price of Silk was equal to 
that of Pearls. 
It was late before France made any advantage of this 
Difcovery 5 when Henry II. brought to the Marriages 
of his Daughter and Sifter the || firft Silk Stockings that 
were feen in his Kingdom. To him and his Succeffors 
it is we owe the Eftablifhment of this Manufa&ure at 
Tours and Lions , which has made Silk fo common, and 
fo greatly increafed the Magnificence of Furniture and 
Cloaths. 
So many Examples ought to (hew us of what Impor- 
tance it is to negleft nothing in the Study of Nature : 
What at firil Teems of no uTe, or alraoft impoffible to 
* Vopifcus ftb finem vita Aureliani. Veftem holoferisam neque ipfe 
in vejiiario habuit, neque alteri utendam dedit, dr cum ab eo uxor fua pe- 
teret, ut unicopallio btateo ferico uteretur, Ille refpondit, ab/it, Mt auro fila 
penfentur ; libra enim auri tunc libra Scrici fait. 
■f Putat Seres vermieulos fuijfe , quorum femen ovis pifcium fimile in 
Grdciam fuerit allatum a Monachis ex Serindia India civitate fub Jufll- 
niano , ut tradit Procopius. Temptribus Gratiani ignorabatur in 
Impede Romano Serici cenficiendi ratio. /. i. Cod. Qux res venire non pof- 
funt. Vefiis Serica inter res pretiofiffmas computabatar abXJlpiano L. 
37. §. T. j if.de evictionibus & L.i. & temper ent. Cod. de veftibus Holobcris 
lib. ii.foli principi licebat gcjlare vefles fericas aut faltem holofericas , et in 
folis Gynaciis principit confui pot er ant • & lege Rhoiid Holoferica auro a* 
qualia. 
II Mezeray edit. Parif.in Pol. tm. 3; fub finem vita Henrici IV. Pag. 
1254. 
B a be 
