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SILK

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Originally appearing in Volume V25, Page 97 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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SILK , a fibrous substance produced by many See also:

INSECTS

insects, principally in the See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form of a cocoon or covering within which the creatures are enclosed and protected during the See also:

period of their See also:

PRINCIPAL

principal transformations. The webs and nests, &c., formed by See also:

SPIDERS

spiders are also of silk. But the See also:

fibres used for manufacturing purposes are exclusively produced by the mulberry silk-See also:

MOTH

moth of See also:

CHINA

China, Bombyx mori, and a few other moths closely allied to that See also:

INSECT

insect. Among the See also:

CHINESE, JAPANESE AND

Chinese the name of the silkworm is " si, " Korean " soi "; to the See also:

ancient Greeks it became known as Tip, the nation whence it came was to them libses, and the fibre itself r prxov, whence the Latin sericum, the See also:

French See also:

SOLE (Solea)

sole, the See also:

German Seide and the See also:

ENGLISH

English silk. See also:

HISTORY

History.—The silk See also:

INDUSTRY (Lat. industria, from indu-, a form of the pre, position in, and either stare, to stand, or struere, to pile up)

industry originated in China; and according to native records it has existed there from a very remote period. The empress, known as the See also:

LADY (0. Eng. hlaefdige, Mid. Eng. ldfdi, lavedi; the first part of the word is hldf, loaf, bread, as in the corresponding hldford, lord; the second part is usually taken to be from the root dig-, to knead, seen also in " dough "; the sense development fr

lady of Si-See also:

LING, PER HENRIK (1776-1839)

ling, wife of a famous See also:

EMPEROR (Fr. empereur, from the Lat. imperator)

emperor, Huang-ti (2640 B.c.), encouraged the cultivation of the mulberry See also:

tree, the rearing of the See also:

WORMS

worms and the reeling of silk. This empress is said to have devoted herself personally to the care of silkworms, and she is by the Chinese credited with the invention of the See also:

LOOM

loom. A voluminous ancient literature testifies not only to the antiquity but also to the importance of Chinese sericulture, and to the care and See also:

ATTENTION (from Lat. ad-tendo, await, expect; the condition of being " stretched " or " tense ")

attention bestowed on it by royal and See also:

NOBLE, SIR ANDREW (1832- )

noble families. The Chinese guarded the secrets of their valuable See also:

art with vigilant See also:

JEALOUSY (adapted from Fr. jalousie, formed from jaloux, jealous, Low Lat. zelosus, Gr. j'i os, ardour, zeal, from the root seen in '&u', to boil, ferment; cf. " yeast ")

jealousy; and there is no doubt that many centuries passed before the culture spread beyond the See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country of its origin. Through See also:

Korea a knowledge of the silkworm and its produce reached See also:

JAPAN

Japan, but not before the See also:

early See also:

PART

part of the 3rd See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century. One of the most ancient books of See also:

JAPANESE

Japanese history, the Nihongi, states that towards A.D. 300 some Koreans were sent from Japan to China to engage competent See also:

PEOPLE

people to See also:

TEACH [THATCH OR THACH], EDWARD (d. 1718)

teach the arts of See also:

WEAVING

weaving and preparing silk goods.

They brought with them four Chinese girls, who instructed the See also:

court and the people in the art of See also:

PLAIN (O. Fr. plain, from Lat. plenum)

plain and figured weaving; and to the See also:

HONOUR (Lat. honos or lwnor, honoris; in English the word was spelled with or without the u indifferently until the 17th century, but during the 18th century it became fashion-able to spell the word " honor "; Johnson's and Webster's Dictionaries stereoty

honour of these See also:

PIONEER

pioneer silk weavers a See also:

temple was erected in the See also:

province of Settsu. See also:

GREAT

Great efforts were made to encourage the industry, which from that period See also:

GREW, NEHEMIAH (1641-1712)

grew into one of See also:

NATIONAL

national importance. At a period probably little later a knowledge of the working of silk travelled westward, and the cultivation of the silkworm was established in See also:

India. According to a tradition the eggs of the insect and the See also:

SEED (from the root seen in Lat. serere, to sow)

seed of the mulberry tree were carried to India by a Chinese princess concealed in the lining of her See also:

head See also:

DRESS (from the Fr. dresser, to set out, arrange, formed from Lat. directus, arranged, dirigere, to direct, arrange)

dress. The fact that sericulture was in India first estalished in the valley of the See also:

BRAHMAPUTRA

Brahmaputra and in the See also:

TRACT (from Lat. tractare, to treat of a matter, through Provencal tractat and Ital. trattato)

tract lying between that See also:

RIVER

river and the See also:

GANGES (GANGA)

Ganges renders it probable that it was introduced overland from the Chinese See also:

EMPIRE

empire. From the Ganges valley the silkworm was slowly carried westward and spread in See also:

KHOTAN (locally ILcm)

Khotan, See also:

PERSIA

Persia and the states of Central See also:

ASIA

Asia. Most critics recognize in the obscure word d'meseq or d'mesheq, See also:

Amos iii. 12, a name of silk corresponding to the Arabic dimaks, See also:

LATE

late See also:

Greek p.fraEa, English See also:

DAMASK

damask, and also follow the ancients in understanding meshi, Ezek. xvi. 10, 13, of " silken See also:

GAUZE

gauze." But the first See also:

NOTICE

notice of the silkworm in Western literature occurs in See also:

Aristotle, Hist. anim. v. 19 (17), 11 (6), where he speaks of " a great See also:

WORM

worm which has horns and so differs from others. At its first See also:

METAMORPHOSIS

metamorphosis it produces a See also:

CATERPILLAR

caterpillar, then a bombylius and lastly a chrysalis—all these changes taking See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place within six months. From this See also:

animal See also:

WOMEN

women See also:

SEPARATE

separate and See also:

REEL (O.E. hreol, glossed by the Med. Lat. alibrum in .lelfric's Glossary, c. 1o5o; the word is of unknown origin; it does not appear in cognate languages, and Celtic forms such as Gaelic ruidhil are from English)

reel off the cocoons and afterwards spin them.

It is said that this was first spun in the See also:

ISLAND (O.E. ieg =isle, +land')

island of See also:

Cos by Pamphile, daughter of Plates." Aristotle's vague knowledge of the worm may have been derived from See also:

INFORMATION (from Lat. informare, to give shape or form to, to represent, describe)

information acquired by the Greeks with See also:

Alexander the Great; but See also:

long before this See also:

time raw silk must have begun to be imported at Cos, where it was See also:

WOVEN

woven into a gauzy See also:

TISSUE (Fr. tissu, tissue, participle of tisser, Lat. texere, to weave)

tissue, the famous Coa vestis, which revealed rather than clothed the form. Towards the beginning of the See also:

Christian era raw silk began to form an important and costly See also:

ITEM (a Latin adverb meaning " also," " likewise ")

item among the prized products of the See also:

East which came to See also:

Rome. Allusions to silk and its source became See also:

COMMON

common in classical literature; but, although these references show familiarity with the material, they are singularly vague and inaccurate as to its source; even See also:

Pliny knew nothing more about the silkworm than could be learned from Aristotle's description. The silken textures which at first found their way to Rome were necessarily of enormous cost, and their use by men was deemed a piece of effeminate luxury. From an See also:

ANECDOTE (from av-, privative, and isSLSwµu, to give out or publish)

anecdote of See also:

AURELIAN [Lucius DoMITIus AURELIANUS]

Aurelian, who neither used silk himself nor would allow his wife to possess a single silken garment, we learn that silk was See also:

worth its See also:

WEIGHT

weight in See also:

gold. Notwithstanding its See also:

price and the restraints otherwise put on the use of silk the See also:

trade grew.

End of Article: SILK

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