The record-union., 1891-10-17
TIE SILK WORM.
Singular Origin of a Most Impor-
tant Manufacture.
Care of the worms-Unwinding the
Cocoons-Enormous Prices Paid in
Early Times for the Fabrfc-worth
Three Times Its Weight in Gold.

Cocoons-Enormous Prices Paid in
Three Times Its Weight in Gold.
The credit OF originating the silk in
dustry is due to woman. About 1850
years ago, the Empress Si-Ling-Chi was
passing an artificial pond in the palace
grounds, when she perceived, lying in
the water, certain cocoons of a bright
yellow color, from which pretty threads
fioated away on the surface of the water.
She bade one of her maids stoop and
gather up the threads, when, to her
astonishment, they unwound from the
cocoons. The process continued, the
bright yellow strands were wound
round a stick until the cocoons were ex-
hausted, and thus was begun what, next
To tea-growing, proved to be the most inn
portant industry of the Chinese Empire
The incident led to the prosecution of ex-
periments; the threads were spun and
woven, and gorgeous fabrics, such as till
then the world had never seen, soon
adorned the Princess and her maids of
honor. For her discovery she was held
IN the highest esteem; she was enrolled
among the Chinese goddeSses under the
title of Sienthsan, ''the first who raised
silk worms,'' and to the present day is
the patron deity Of all silk-worm growers
and silk workers.
Understanding the importance of their
newly discovered manufacture, the Chi
neSe made an effort to keep il secret
and derive benefit from the export of
silk, without allowing others to share in
! the knowledge of the manner in which it
was made. The frontiers were guarded.
1T was made a crime punishable by death
to carry either silk worms, their eggs, or
cocoons out Of the Empire. The silk
only was exported, and for twenty CEN
turieS the Chinese enjoyed a monopoly of
the silk manufacture and trade. The
! fabric was excessively rare in every coun-
! try but China, and the most fabulous
tales were told of its origin. People said
it grew on trees like cotton, that it was
made of the wool from the sheep on the
| Elysian Fields. that it was woven of
thread sent by the gods, that it was the
clothing of the deities, loaned by them
for the use of men.
Finally, however, the secret of the
| manufacture spread to India, brought
either by travelling merchants or by Chi
nese who traversed the passes of the Hi
malaga Mountains, but the process was
even in India kept secret from all save
those Immediately engaged in the manu-
facture, and to prevent injury, or perhaps
to satisfy idle curiosity, even wilder tales
were told concerning it's manufacture.
reach the Western World, and more than
one European writer intimated that silk
was the product of some sort of worm,
| but, as truth is stranger than fiction, this
method of accounting for the gorgeous
fabric was deemed too wild to be believed
/ tNN1 N1~ IL.
missionaries, in the course of their wan
derings, crossed the Chinese frontier.
They were kindly received, and for some
years abode in city in the south of
China. There they learned the secret of
the silk manufacture, and ON their return
determined to convey their knowledge
and the means of spreading the industry
to Europe. Eachprepared a hollow cane
as walking staff, and filled the hollow
with silkworm eggs. These they SNUG
| gled across the frontier, and after many
weeks of weary travel finally reached
| Constantinople and were admitted to the
presence Of Emperor Justinian. To him
| they related their marvellous story and
presented their treasure. Under the in
struction of the monks vino had wit
messed the methods practiced by the Chi
| nese, the eggs were placed under favora-
bic conditions, the worms reared and the
first cocoonS ever seen in Europe were
spun into thread.
From this humble start the silk indus
try of Europe began. 1t was destined to
| reach mighty proportions and in time to
be so aided by machinery and mechanical
devices of various descriptions as scarcely
| to be recognizable by the originators. In
| certain essentials silk industry is. of
course, practically to-day what it was in
the time of Justinian, or for that matter
in the time of the Empress Si-Ling-Ch
but the use of machinery for unwinding
the cocoons and for spinning the thread
has practically placed the business under
new conditions. Meantime, however.
the Chinese have kept on in the same
way without the slightest improvement
on the methods of 4, 900 wears ago. and in
a Chinese village of the present day men
and women may be seen reeling off
threads from the cocoons Just as their an
ceStors did in the time of Christ 1t is an
industry which can be followed any-
where, and in the humblest Chinese
dwellings, IN the lighthouses along the
rivers, in the alleys which, in every di-
rection, branch out from the main streets
of any Chinese city, the silk reeler and
his primitive apparatus may be seen.
Anyone, however, who, from the fact
that the work is done by ignorant peo-
pie, comes to the conclusion that a for
tune is easily made by raising silk
worms, labors under q serious mistake.
There are few industries in which chance
plays so large part, or which require
such earnest and constant attention of
the manipulation. The eggs are uncer-
tain in Matching, the worms REQUIRE
almost continual attention. both as to
their food, temperature and light. A
sudden draught may destroy the owners
hope of a crop. Even the cocoons must
be looked after, for if they are killed too
soon the total amount of silk will not
have been deposited by the inmate, while
If left too long the worms burst through
their covering and spoil the product
The insects are subject to all sorts of dis
eases, innumerable parasites feed upon
them and impair their health, and even
after the cocoons are prepared for the
winder improper treatment may subject
the grower TO heavy loss.
The silk worm is commonly spoken of
as though there were but one kind. AS
fact, every caterpillar produces silk when
nine varieties of fworm which produce an
excellent article of silk, but only three or
four are raised exclusively for this pro-
duct, and of these one is best in China.
while another is better adapted to the
climate of India, still another fares best
in Asia Minor, and another in Europe.
The eggs of the best kind, the Chinese
worm, are exceedingly minute, about
100000 to the ounce, and the caterpillar
when first hatched is less than quarter
of an inch in length. The insect lives
from forty-ive to tifty-three days, and
increases in month to a length some
times exceeding three inches and a
weight $500 times that at Matching. He
eats incessantly, save when throwing off
the old skin, when he desists for day or
so, only to begin with fresh vigor, and to
make marvellous increase in size within
few hours after the skin is shed.
The best food is the leaf of the white
IL <~Ff
leaves are greedily eaten, and the worm
will thrive ON the leaves ofthe black mul-