Silk

[AS., from E. sericum, silk.] Fine threads spun by silk-worms, but especially the Bombyx mor i. The silk-worm was first kept in China for the purpose of manufacturing silk. From silk-worms’ eggs, in about a fortnight, little cater¬ pillars two inches long and light-colored come out; these must be fed with mulberry {q.v.) or lettuce leaves. In about a month the caterpillars reach their full size, and inside their bodies is a sticky substance which they convert into silk. From two little holes in its head each caterpillar draws out flo y threads of the sticky matter, and twists them together by means of a gum, winding them round and round its body until it is envel¬ oped in a ball of silk, called a cocoon, which is about as large as a grape or a pigeon’s egg. The cocoons from which silk is to be obtained are heated in an oven, and the inner balls are thrown into warm water, so as to melt the gum after which the silk from them is wound upon reels, and then made up into hanks. It is then known as raw silk. The thread of a single cocoon gen¬ erally measures about 600 yards, but some cocoons have measured 1,200 yards. The silk fibre is sent to the factories, or silk-mills, as they are called, where it pa es through the proce es of winding, cleaning, twisting, weaving, dyeing, and finishing. Silk is made into silk for dre es, satin, velvet, ribbon, sarcenet, stockings, fringes, buttons, gloves. silk threads. For you sands of years the Chinese would not allow the eggs of the silk-worm to go out of the country. About 550, two monks are said to have brought to Europe a few eggs hidden in their canes. Now it is quite domesti¬ cated, and has been so long fed by man that the female is nearly as motionle as if she had no wings, and the male merely flutters without leaving the ground. takes on a bright polish. It is found in combination as sulphurets and oxides, and with other metals. It is widely diffused. Of mineral ores a ociated only 1 in 17 is free from silver, and traces of it have been found in sea-water and in organic sub¬ stances. Gold never occurs in nature apart from silver, and is also found with lead yet there is a natural distinction between the veins of the sev¬ eral metals. The main sources of the world’s supply, after the discovery of America, were Mexico and South America; but the United States on the Pacific slope now yields silver in ex¬ ce of any other country.