, 1891-03-18

could thus wear SILK OF a different origin.
lie slowed the cocoons of the principal .varie-
ties and then told the pretty story of the
discovery of the value of the cocoon by EN-
press Sc Ling She. 2,64O years before the
birth of Christ. The empress, having soften
ed a cocoon in hot water, found the end of
the thread, drew out several hundred wards of
silk and thereafter devoted herself to the
culture OF the silk worm, thus bringing untold
riches to the people of her nation. She wove
the silk into fabric and the next season sue
had all her maids drawing silk and weaving
1t, and they We're all soon clad in garments
If dazzling hriIliancy. To this day the en-
Perors OF China feed silk worms each spring
- )rate the fortunate discovery of
Re Ling She. The holding of the secret Of
silk manufacture by the court of China for
many centuries and the flaI leaking of the
well guarded secret which resulted in India
becoming possessed of it was described and
then the lecturer told the anecdote of silk
being OF such great value in Rome in 79I AID.
that AurelIan declined to purchase a gown
OF that material for his spouse. The spread
OF the art OF serlcuIture, or the rearing of silk
worms under artificial or domestic conditions.
was explained and a tribute was paid to
Oliver de Serre, who in the seventeenth CEN
fury advanced the culture of the mulberry tree
and serlculture In France, and who was stoned
and had to flee for his life, but to whose
memory q monument has been reared on the
spot where he stood when the first stone
struck him. "America,' said the lecturer.
is well adapted for the cultivation of the
silk worm. No country that l know of is so
well adapted. ] have seen silk from
worms raised in the show window of an At
IantIc avenue silk manufacturer equal to any
ever raised IN Italy, the best silk producing
country in the world Professor Dean next
described the care needed in sericulture. He
began with the egg Of the mulberry feeding
moth, or bombyx mori, the principal source
Of silk. The first essential was a stock of
mulberry trees adequate to feed the worms in
their larval stage. The eggs are Matched out
by artificial heat when the mulberry leaves
are ready for feeding the Larvae. These are
very small. They are placed in wooden trays
covered with mosquito netting, on top of
which fresh leaves are placed. They grow
rapidly and have voracious appetities. In
creeping through the openings of the netting
the worms scrape off any fragments of shell
which adhere to their skin and which if not
saraped off would kill the worms. Scrupu-
Ions cle2llI2e5s ald sweet air arc necessary.
The trays used were shown, and the wire
selves which take the place of the netting
with increasing mesh was exhibited. Five
ages Of larva, with a term of molting between
cacn, was described. Then at the end OF
thirty-nine days the worm exhibits a desire to
wander, and twigs are placed about the edges
Of the trays. Into these the worms climb and
c1mm9nco their spinning of cocoons. When
first born 100 worms weigh but one grain.
Now each worm weighs 50 grains. While
spinning the silk flament issues from the
spinneret at the rate of from four to six
inches per minute, the worm making in that
time So e~llipticll motions of its head, or q
total of 300, 900 in an average cocoon, which
requires from three to five days to complete.
In about tea days the moth energies from It's.
cocoon, deposits about $50 eggs, and in a few
days dies. There are about 10000 eggs in an
ounce. Sixty thousand eggs Matched and
matured would produce sufficient silk to Cir
die the earth at the equator. Cocoons vary
in length from 300 to 1900 yards in one con-
tinuous thread, which is 1880 of an inch in
diameter, composed of two ibres. Ten to-
twelve pounds of leaves, consumed by the
worms, produce one pound of cocoons, and
three and three quarter pounds of eoeoons
yield one pound of raw silk. Eight thousand
pounds of raw silk, or the product Of more
than 10000, 900 worms, are used weekly by
a leading American firm in the manufacture of
spool silk alone. Over $780, 100000 were ex-
pended in the United States during the year
1888 for silk. In coloured silk So, 900 shades
or tints can be dyed.