The San Francisco call., 1910-03-20
Rzz<L11 SIR EP0E NzE
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By Tohn !. Cowen

1T is related by Chinese clrCniclers
that about 1850 years ago the en-
{ press. 81 Ling Chi. was once walk
ing in the palace grounds when her
attention was attracted by a small.
ugly, green worm feeding upon the
leaves OF q mulberry tree Day after
day she returned TO watch it as it
grew TO maturity. when it finally spun
q silken shroud around its shriveling
body. At the suggestion of the en-
peror. Hoang tt, she took the cocoon.
disentangled the flament and wove
therefrom the first silk fabric
II the story be true that was the be-
ginning Of the worlds great silk pro-
ducing and manufacturing industries.
For more than 5000 years China jeal-
ously guarded its monopoly Of the pre-
cious fabric, and great caravans jour
neyed from the cities Of the Celestial
Empire TO Syria and other parts of
Asia. laden with woven silks and the
raw hlaments. The Persians became
the Intermediates in this trade be-
tween China and Europe, supplying
the Greeks and Romans until the mid
die of the sixth century A. D.
How two HISTORIAN monks journeyed
from China with quantity of silk
worm eggs concealed in their pilgrims
staffs is an oft told tale. These eggs
were delivered to the emperor, Jus
tinian. who for time monopolized the
his death ia 565 a D. the production
and manufacture Of silk became widely
disseminated.
The silk worm IS known to entomol-
ogists as the larva of the bombyx mort.
The eggs are very small. about 100
weighing one grain They are Matched
by artificial means and the caterpillars
reared ir rooms where they may have
an abundance Of light and air, with
little variation in temperature. They
are voracious feeders and are kept lib
orally supplied with freshly gathered
leaves of the mulberry tree. They
grow rapidly and, as a rule, molt
about the sixth. tenth, fifteenth and
twenty-third days after Matching. In
from 35 to 30 days, having increased in
weight about 10000 times and grown
TO length Of about three inches, they
climb upon twigs and small branches
that have been supplied for them and
begin spinning their cocoons. In this
process the caterpillar elects from
convoluted glands along the sides OF
the body two lines Of semihuid fla
ment. The two flaments are laid side
by side and are held together as one
as they harden. In from three to FIVE
days the cocoon is complete and the in
dustrious caterpillar. having lost fully
half its weight and shrunken to half
its former size. is metamorphosed into
a chrysalis. housed in an oviform lodge
from an inch to an inch and half in
length and from half an inch to an inch
IN diameter.
Left TO the processes Of nature. in
due time the chrysans will break the
flaments of the cocoon and come out
into the open fun nedged but unat-
tractive moth, waich many centuries
Of domestication have almost deprived
OF the power OF UlGlL Inc moth laws
from 900 TO 400 eggs and then dies. its
mission OF reproduction accomplished.
But in breaking the hbers to permit
its emergence the moth sadly depre-
ciates the value of the cocoon. So
only enough to serve as seed are per-
mitted to complete the life cycle, and
all oths~- are placed in steam heaters
to kill o.. ehrysalides.
The Cocoon consists of an exterior
norton OF stra ggIing flamants INV
means Of which ii was fastened to the
twigs or branches that supported it,,
and closely cemented sheath around
the body Of the chrysalis. The threads
OF this sheath are so tightly glued to-
gether that they can not be unwound
until after st has been thoroughly
soaked in water. The exterior portion
IS removed being known as floss or
waste, and is spun with the material
Of broken or defective cocoons by
methods similar to those used with
cotton and other fbrous materials.