Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1894-05-17
A SILK WORMS THREAD.
The Wonderful Creation Of stiII More
Wonderful Insect.


Silk What wonderful product it Is,
and what marvellous trade has sprung
out Of it'll One Of the astonishing facts
In the history Of the human race is the
way in which great results are attained
for it out Of little causes. 1t is conceiva-
bic that the food Of man might have
been derived from some Of the largest
fruits or nuts or roots which grow upon
the earth The bulk Of the bread Of man
kind-"the staff Of life"-is, however.
drawn, as all know, not from the heavy
bread fruit or big tubers, but from the
comparatively minute grains Of wheat,
barley and rye, millet and rice In like
manner the larger portion Of the gar
ments Of human beings is obtained from
the short wool on the backs Of sheep and
goats or from the small pod of the cot
ton plant, which hides its seeds in ball
of white fluff from which we spin the
cotton Silk is an especially notable in
stance Of the way in which our race
makes much out of little for its needs.
Here is an insignificant worm which
feeds upon the glutinous leaves Of the
mulberry and gradually fills itself with
a sticky compound which has for its di-
rect purpose to compose the cocoon.
When the time comes for the worm to
undergo that strange metamorphosis
into the chrysalis, 1t ceases to eat and
slowly weaves round itself a casing
composed entirely of one long thread
Its spinning finished, the attenuated
creature takes the intermediate form
preparatory to its winged state as
moth, nor is anything in nature more
full Of creative mystery and design
What the worm does for its own lonely
ends man undoes for objects of beauty,
fashion and comfort, The silk grower
patiently unwinds the lustrous thread
from the point where the silkworm be-
gan to that where its flmy house was
finished, and from this tiny plunder
springs the whole vast edifice Of the silk
industry. To the small pale worm beau
ty owes her most lovely and glittering
raiment, nor has art anything more ex-
quisite to fashion, to embroider, to be-
stow in splendid folds or to initiate in
painting than the soft shining web
which is made from the poor worms
patient labor.
Extraordinary is the difference be-
tween the minute cocoon and the great
bale Of Lyons or china satin-the un-
conscious toll Of the caterpillar and the
looms that in thousand factories and
workshops interlace the thin fiber into
such superb and dazzling patterns
Nothing can initiate, nothing excel the
charm Of that fine microscopic tissue
drawn by the worms magic from the
mulberry leaf. 1t possesses a natural
glitter which is shared by nothing else
in the world and which makes it resem-
BILE under the microscope waving wires
of gold Manufactured into cloth, it
gives us a substance at once light and
warm, durable and freely taking all
sorts Of dyes, each creature contributing
in his cocoon about l, 900 feet of the
thin thread The west knew nothing Of
silk at all before the reign of Augustus,
though the Chinese had woven it ever
since 9700 B. G. Some Persian monks
first brought eggs of the silkworm in a
hollow cane to Constantinople, A. D.
552. The Emperor Justinian took the
business up, and SO it spread to Italy,
Spain and southern France, although
China was still the chief source Of sup
ply. Telegraph