Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1857-11-05
Silk and the Silk Worm.

they ever think Of the humble worm
to which they owe their dresses
Yet there is world to reflect upon
in even the cheapest silken web. o.
all textile fabrics. silk is the mosl
tenacious. A thread Of it, ofnny 81.
ven diameter, is twice as strong az
thread of hemp Of the same thick.
ness, and three times as strong as a
similar one Of fax. The threads. as
spun by the worm, curious to say, are
all twins. owing to the twin orifice
in the nose of the insect though
which they are projected; they are
luid parallel TO esch other and glued
together and enveloped by glossy
varnish. constituting about twenty
five per cent of their weight. Each
pair of threads in fine silks has a
q diameter Of about q tbousandth
part of an inch. These pairs are
too delicate to use, however, as they
come from the cocoon. In raw silk
as il is called, several of these pairs
are slightly twisted and aggluiinated
to form single thread; and several
Of these are united to make such a
thread as is employed in weaving
Thousands of worms labor for q
whole season to furnish the material
for mn ordinary silk dress. The but
terHy beauty who sails along a pub.
lie promenade little thinks how ma.
ny real butterflies have had to do
with her Aounced and fringed foul
ard. Fas
The silk worm, in fact, has four
metamorphoses. There is first the
egg, then the caterpillar, next the
cocoon, and finally the moth. The
caterpillar state CONTINUES about four
weeks. The cocoon is formed in
three OF four days, but the insect.
passing into the chry sails state lies
muddled for some twenty days lon.
ger, when it emerges a butterfly
In this latter state it remains but. a
short period. its whole existence
rarely exceeding two months. When
the worm is to be used for its silk,
the cocoon is put in a hot oven. or
enveloped in steam, or exposed to
the sunshine, 10 order to kill the in
sects; for if the animal should live to
eat its way out, the threads at one
end of the cocoon will be cut and the
cpcoons become worthless An
ounce of eggs yields about eighty
eight pounds OF cocoons. Each CO.
loon gives from seven hundrsd and
fifty to eleven hundred and fifty feet
Of silk. A hundred pounds of. Co
coons is estimated to average eight
pounds of reeled raw silk. The worms
necessary to produce this weight of
cocooDs devour, when at their maxi
! mum appetite, about two hundred and
fifty pounds of mulberry leaves dai-
lly. The more food they consume
the more silk they will yield. 1t
would be nice exercise in arithme-
tic for every fair dame to calculate
how many mulberry leaves went to
the making of her best silk dress.
With the ancient Romans silk was
costly luxury, for it could only be
had from India, whence it was brought
overland by tedious caravans. II
was not until the sixth century o1
the Christian era that two monks
brought some silk worm eggs from
China to Constantinople. The En-
peror Justiniu encouraged this new
branch Of industry, and silk factories
soon sprung up at Athens, Thebes
and Corinth. Five hundred years
elapsed, however, before the silk
culture spread TO Italy. The Moorf
carried it into Spain. where !: be-
came a Aourishing branch OF manu-
factures and commerce, at q period
when most I'll Western Europe wat
still plunged in barbarism. 1t was
not till A. D. 1864. or subsequent
to the discovery Of America, that the
silk culture was established 10 France
/ Silk growing has often been attempt
ed in England, but as the climate is
unfayorable the experiment has a.
ways failed. In the United States
the culture is comparatively IN it's IN
fancy, though the day ~illoome when
it will be an important element Q
national wealth. Lowbardy at pre-
sent Yields the largest quantity o
silk Of any country in Europe !n'
dis, the original home Of the SUI