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 Maybe it's because I've
been so busy lately, but |
constantly find myself
thinking, “I wish | could
draw without worrying about
time.” But in reality, when |
do get some free time, I'll
o)go)e)-|)Wao) (e|(-|ae)0 ale -lale|
fo(om ate)rialig\o am Me)? (-\=1- Imfel.
always want what you don't
have.
Tite Kubo

BLEACH is author Tite Kubo’s second title. Kubo made his

debut with ZOmMBIEPOWDER., a four-volume series for WEEKLY
SHONEN JUMP.To date, BLEACH has been translated into numer-
ous languages and has also inspired an animated TV series
that began airing in Japan in 2004. Beginning its serialization
in 2001, BLEACH is still a mainstay in the pages of WEEKLY
SHONEN Jump. In 2005, BLEACH was awarded the prestigious
Shogakukan Manga Award in the shonen (boys) category.
 BLEACH
Vol. Il: ASTAR AND A STRAY DOG
SHONEN JUMP Manga Edition

STORY AND ART BY

TITE KUBO

English Adaptation/Lance Caselman

Translation/Joe Yamazaki
Touch-Up Art & Lettering/Andy Ristaino
Design/Sean Lee
Editor/Kit Fox

BLEACH © 2001 by Tite Kubo.All rights reserved. First published in Japan in

2001 by SHUEISHA Inc., Tokyo. English translation rights arranged by
SHUEISHA Inc.

The rights of the author(s) of the work(s) in this publication to be so

identified have been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the
British Library.

The stories, characters and incidents mentioned in this

publication are entirely fictional.

No portion of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or

by any means without written permission from the copyright holders.

Printed in the U.S.A.

Published by VIZ Media, LLC

P.O. Box 77010
San Francisco, CA 94107

1098
First printing, January 2006
Eighth printing, May 2012

\J \Za wD) PARENTAL ADVISORY

BLEACH is rated T for Teen and is
recommended for ages 13 and up. This volume
mepia contains fantasy violence. PJUMed
WWW.V1z.com. ratings.viz.com www.shonenjump.com
Light a fire to the fang that cannot be reached
So that | do not have to see that star
So that ! do not slit this throat

Shonen Jump Manga

 a:
While Rukia awaits execution in a Soul Society
cell, Ichigo and the others try to rescue her. They
manage to penetrate the shield that protects the
inner city of the Soul Reapers but are hurled in
different directions by the impact. They find
themselves scattered and hunted by an army of
Soul Reapers. Ichigo fights and defeats Ikkaku
Madarame, a Sansetsukon user! Meanwhile, Ganju
faces off with a pursuer of his own...
cA Al
anon
Yumichika
Ayasegawa

CTD
BLEAVTL
A STAR AND A STRAY DOG

Contents
89. Masterly! And Farewell! Fi
90. See You Under the Fireworks ay
91. DER FREISCHUTZ King 47
92. Masterly! And Farewell! (Reprise 7\
93. Steer For The Star 9|
94. A Jail Called Remorse lil
95. CRUSH 129
96. BLOODRED CONFLICT 149
97. Talk About Your Fear 169
98. A Star AndA Stray Dog 189
 THERE
WASA
LOT OF
NOISE...

PERHAPS
IT’S TIME
THAT WE...
 .FUTI
KUJAKU,
MY
WISTERIA
<iie€
FINISH
THIS,
EH?
 WHAT IS
THIS?
iTS
STINGING
MY EYES!! fF

THAT WAS A
KUKAKU-
BRANO
CHILI-
PEPPER
SMOKE

| CALL IT,
“TEARS
OF
BLOOO"!
 BREATHE!!
KOFF
KOFF KOFF
KOFF!!

/
|a
S
 (eg
as
RG G
 My
mM

«GOES BACK THAT A | DION’T

TO NORMAL ZANPAKU-
WHEN ITS Te.
OWNER
PASSES
OUT.

RELAX, I’M
NOT GONNA
STEAL IT.
| JUST
NEEDED THE
STYPTIC
STUFF THAT
WASINIT.
 THAT'S
NOT THE IT’S NOT LIKE
| COULD ASK
SOMETHING YOUR
WAS
WRONG!!
THAT
WOUND
SHOULD'VE
KILLED Me!!

BY
IF | SAVING
COULD MWY LIFE,
MOVE, YOU'VE...
VO KILL SHAMED
lin IF VOKNOWN YOU RIGHT
| YOU WERE
GONNA BE A
NOw!!
JERK
ABOUT IT,
(0 HAVE LET
YOU DIE.
 | DON’T
REALLY
|JUST CARE
WANT HOW YOu
THE FEEL.
ANSWERS
TOAFEW
QUES-

MY
BIRTHDAY?

WT T MM

lh
lll A
a LL

WHERE'S
RUKIA
KUCHIKI?

16
 KUCHI- |
KI?
E
PRISONER?

THING?

SAVE
HER?!
HOW
seven? BIG!S
YOUR
EIGHT
PEOPLE? TEAM?!
 | LAUGHED
SO HARD

IDIOT!!

GO STRAIGHT
SOUTH FROM
HERE ANO YOU'LL
COME TO THE
BARRACKS OF
THE THIRTEEN
COURT GUARD
COMPANIES.

WH-WHAT 7!
: THERE'S A QUIET SHUT WHY ARE
YOU'LL WHITE ANO
YOU TELLING
TOWER AT ME THIS?!
THE WEST
END OF THE
THAT WAS
TOO EASY...
BARRACKS...
KR
DON’T
YOu :
BELIEVE|:
Me?! f::

ANO
HURRY,
BEFORE
THE
OTHERS
 MAY |
ASK YOU
SOME-
THING?

ee
y
j
¢
74

7
4
y

HE’LL THEN
IGNORE BEWARE
THE OF MY
WEAKER CAPTAIN.
ONES.

IF
7 HELL YOU ARE
CERTAINLY INDEED
GO AFTER THE
STRONG-
EST...
WHAT’S
HS
 HMPH

weal

AC

VY YOU HAVE

OF
DIRECTION, |

ITWAS
YOUR
HUNCH
THAT
BROUGHT
US HERE!!

f LY
7 rea)
FORGET
IT!
;
ZH); Uy sal{Hi H
Yi PNE-AYE,
SIR!! “||| To THe
| NEXT
PLACE!!
 amn
AWV\WA\\\\\V
\

Oa
+4 \ \\\ \\

POE AAEM ERE

\\

PTE
\

| SEE
WELL,
SOMETHING
THAT LOOKS
LIKE A
wat
AsBouT
THAT
were
Here, BuT
IIT
[P/U
Towerway WAY? Citi f] PEPE ET ||
OVER WHICH WAY
THERE. NOw?
THEY
MUST BE NO.
LIKE
ICHIGO...
 HAD NOT
ENCOUN-
TERED ME...

YOU WOULD
HAVE LIVED
AWHILE
LONGER!
WEWERE / | iff
JUST WU,
THERE! ‘e
 Pe 2S
90.See You Under the Fireworks

; ACCORDING
BEL Gangu
HEPROBABLY : ¥gj ee
> ) TOIKKAKU,
THE DUDE
eos
2p
HANOLE HIM , " AFTER
GANT IS
ON HIS OWN... >= THE FIET
SEAT™ IN
ELEVENTH
COMPANY...
ALREAD
VAGUE MEMORY

FIFTH STRONGEST, INCLUDING THE CAPTAIN.

 THERE
HE IS!!
THE
ORANGE-
HAIRED
SOUL
REAPER!!!

GWA HA
HA HA!!
SCREAM
YOUR HEAD
OFF!!
YOU WON'T
ESCAPE
Me!!
90. See You Under the Fireworks
 HEH HEH
HEH!

YOU MUST
BE EXx-
HAUSTED

YOU DIO
WELL,
IN YOUR
OWN UN-
SIGHTLY

YOU DIO
MANAGE
TO RUN
AWAY
FROM ME
FORA
| SHOULD \\. ,/\3 LONG
PROBABLY | °
PRAISE k
 f : J : YOU'RE

ae | DE \ awoyin s
IT’S \ me j Z : : ONE
NATURAL NS | G

UNSIGHTLY \ ae OE...
TO ENVY NEE Wy
THE
BEAUTIFUL.

Vo IS THAT
YOUR FRIEND
| HEAR
SCREAMING?

HE SEEMS
TO BE
LOOKING “4 FRIENOIS
FOR YOU, j NO LESS
BUT HE’S
ONLY |I) UNSIGHTLY
attracting [ ’/7Fp \ THAN YOU
OTHERSOUL ¥& |
REAPERS.

MAYBE
YOU'RE
ALITTLE
SLOW.
THEN HE
MUST'VE
KILLED
YOUR
BALO
FRIEND.

TH-
THAT'S
IMPOS-
IKKAKU IS SIBLE!
= an f ELEVENTH
H COMPANY
j IS THE
SEAT! ee ae ULTIMATE
2PY, COMBAT
f UNIT! THE
BEST OF
ALL THE
THIRTEEN
COURT
GUARD
COMPANIES!
 AKW

SHIBA-STYLE
BATTLE-
LEVEL
SHOOTING
FLOWER!!

YOUR ONLY
SKILL
SEEMS TO
BE
RUNNING
AWAY!
 SENPEN &.
_| BANKAI"! /
(TEN {|
THOUSAND [|=
SPINNING |—~S
FLOWERS) =
<<

NO MOVE!!
4 ITSA
Wu CHILDISH
 MY GUESS IS,
YOU INTEND TO
USE ONE OF
YOUR PECULIAR
SPELLS TO
CAUSE THE
GROUND TO
CRUMBLE,
KILLING BOTH ARE FLEEING
AND
SCRATCHING
THE GROUND
LIKE A
CHICKEN THE
EXTENT OF
TO KILL YOUR
you? ABILITIES?!
 W

i
|Dra tx at ail

YOU HAVE
REMARK-

RUNNING
ALL THIS
TIME ANO
MEETING
MY
ATTACKS...

YOU CAN
LITTLE STILL
MOVE
THIS
SAS

HIM WITH
HU tabeasas 2

HAD YOU
BEEN
BORN
BEAUTIFUL...
 YOUR
WILL
TO LIVE
IS
INSPIRING.

BUT WHAT
GOOD CAN
COME OF AN
UNSIGHTLY, UNSIGHTLY
YOU CAN AT THING
LEAST... LIVING AN
UNSIGHTLY
LIFE?
 YOU ANDO
| HAVE
DIFFERENT
CONCEPTS
OF
BEAUTY.

TAUGHT
THAT IT’S
 HOW DARE
YOU PUT
YOUR
UNSIGHTLY
HAND ON MY
RENKAN
SEPPA-
SEN!!!
(LINK
ROCK-
Ww
A
A
A
A
A
A
H
Random documents with unrelated
content Scribd suggests to you:
thus the cocoons, being loosened from the leaves and twigs, would
be easily collected. In the subsequent processes, water would be
further useful in enabling the women to spin the silk or to wind it
upon bobbins.
[45] “The remaining shores are occupied by savage nations, as
the Melanchlæni and Coraxi, Dioscurias, a City of the Colchians,
near the river Anthemus, being now deserted, although formerly
so illustrious, that Timosthenes has recorded that three hundred
nations used to resort to it speaking different languages; and that
business was afterwards transacted on our part through the
medium of one hundred and thirty interpreters.”

It may be observed that in this use of water art only follows nature.
When the moth is ready to leave its cell, it always softens the
extremity of it by emitting a drop of fluid, and thus easily obtains for
itself a passage. In the third volume of the Transactions of the Royal
Asiatic Society (p. 543.), Colonel Sykes gives the following account of
the process by which the moth of the Kolisurra silk-worm liberates
itself from confinement. “It discharges from its mouth a liquor, which
dissolves or loosens that part of the cocoon adjoining to the cord
which attaches it to the branch, causing a hole, and admitting of the
passage of the moth. The solvent property of this liquid is very
remarkable; for that part of the cocoon, against which it is directed,
although previously as hard as a piece of wood, becomes soft and
pervious as wetted brown paper.”
In the seventh volume of the Linnæan Transactions, is an account by
Dr. Roxburgh of the Tusseh silk-worm. Both species are natives of
Bengal. The cocoons require to be immersed in cold water before
the silk can be obtained from them. In the latter species it is too
delicate to be wound from the cocoons, and is therefore spun like
cotton. Thus manufactured it is so durable, that the life of one
person is seldom sufficient to wear out a garment made of it, and
the same piece descends from mother to daughter. (See Chap. VIII.
of this Part.)
 CHAPTER III.
HISTORY OF THE SILK MANUFACTURE FROM
THE THIRD TO THE SIXTH CENTURY.

spinning, dyeing, and weaving.—high degree of excellence attained in these

arts.

Fourth century—Curious account of silk found in the Edict of

Diocletian—Extravagance of the Consul Furius Placidus—
Transparent silk shifts—Ausonius describes silk as the
produce of trees—Quintus Aur Symmachus, and
Claudian’s testimony of silk and golden textures—Their
extraordinary beauty—Pisander’s description—Periplus
Maris Erythræi—Dido of Sidon. Mention of silk in the laws
of Manu—Rufus Festus Avinus—Silk shawls—Marciannus
Capella—Inscription by M. N. Proculus, silk manufacturer
—Extraordinary spiders’ webs—Bombyces compared to
spiders—Wild silk-worms of Tsouen—Kien and Tiao-Kien
—M. Bertin’s account—Further remarks on wild silk-
worms. Christian authors of the fourth century—Arnobius
—Gregorius Nazienzenus—Basil—Illustration of the
doctrine of the resurrection—Ambrose—Georgius Pisida—
Macarius—Jerome—Chrysostom—Heliodorus—Salmasius
—Extraordinary beauty of the silk and golden textures
described by these authors—Their invectives against
Christians wearing silk. Mention of silk by Christian
authors in the fifth century—Prudentius—Palladius—
Theodosian Code—Appollinaris Sidonius—Alcimus Avitus.
Sixth century—Boethius. (Manufactures of Tyre and Sidon
—Purple—Its great durability—Incredible value of purple
stuffs found in the treasury of the King of Persia.)
 FOURTH CENTURY.

Some curious evidence respecting the use of silk, both unmixed with
linen and with the warp of linen, or some inferior material, is found
in the Edict of Diocletian, which was published A. D. 303 for the
purpose of fixing a maximum of prices for all articles in common use
throughout the Roman Empire[46]. The passage pertaining to our
present subject, is as follows:
Sarcinatori in veste soubtili replicat(u)ræ * sex
Eidem aperturæ cum subsutura olosericræ * quinquaginta
Eidem aperturæ cum subsutura su(b)sericæ * triginta
(Sub)suturæ in veste grossiori * quattuor.
Denarii[47].
To the Tailor for lining a fine vest 6
To the same for an opening and an edging with silk 50
To the same for an opening and an edging with stuff
30
made of a mixed tissue of silk and flax
For an edging on a coarser vest 4
Colonel Leake’s translation.
[46] It was edited A. D. 1826, by Colonel Leake, as a sequel to
his Journal of a Tour in Asia Minor, and is also published in Tr. of
the Royal Society of Literature, vol. i. p. 181.
[47] A Roman coin of the value of about sixteen or seventeen
cents, called Denarii from the letter X upon it; which denoted ten.

This document proves, in exact conformity with the passages quoted

from Solinus and Ammianus, that silk had come into general use at
the commencement of the fourth century. It is also manifest from
this extract, that silk was employed in giving to garments a greater
proportion of intricacy and ornament than had been in use before.
The authors who make mention of silk in the fourth and following
centuries are very numerous. We shall first take the heathen
authors, and then the Christian writers, whose observations often
have some moral application, which gives them an additional
interest.
The unknown author of the Panegyric on the emperor Constantine,
pronounced A. D. 317, thus mentions silk as characterizing oriental
refinement.
Facile est vincere timidos et imbelles, quales amœna Græcia
et deliciæ Orientis educunt, vix leve pallium et sericos sinus
vitando sole tolerantes.
It is easy to vanquish the timid and those unused to war, the
offspring of pleasant Greece and the delightful East, who,
whilst they avoid the heat of the sun, can scarcely bear even
a light shawl and folds of silk.
The testimony of the Roman historian Flavius Vopiscus, in reference to
the practice of the emperor Aurelian and the dearness of silk during
his reign, has already been produced. This author, in his life of the
same emperor, makes the following remarks on a display of silk
which he had himself recently witnessed.
We have lately seen the Consulate of Furius Placidus
celebrated in the Circus with so great eagerness for
popularity, that he seemed to give not prizes, but
patrimonies, presenting tunics of linen and silk, borders of
linen, and even horses, to the great scandal of all good men.
The exact period here referred to is no doubt the Consulship of
Placidus and Romulus, A. D. 343.
In the Epistles of Alciphron (i. 39.) Myrrhine, a courtesan, loosens her
girdle, which probably fastened her upper garment or shawl. Her
shift was silk, and so transparent as to show the color of her skin.

AUSONIUS
satirizes a rich man of mean extraction, who nevertheless made lofty
pretensions to nobility of birth, pretending to be descended from
Mars, Romulus, and Remus, and who therefore caused their images
to be embossed upon his plate and woven in a silken shawl.—Epig.
26.
In the following line, he alludes to the production of silk in the usual
terms:

Vellera depectit nemoralia vestifluus Ser.

Idyll. 12.

The Ser remote, in flowing garments drest,

Combs down the fleeces, which the trees invest.

QUINTUS AUR SYMMACHUS.

This distinguished officer, in a letter to the Consul Stilicho, apologizes

in the following terms for his delay in sending a contribution of
Holoseric pieces, that is, webs wholly made of silk, to the public
exhibitions.
Others have deferred supplying the water for the theatre and
the Holoseric pieces, so that I have examples in my favor.—
Epist. l. iv. 8.
In a letter to Magnillus (l. v. 20.) he speaks of Subseric pieces, webs
made only in part of silk, as presents;
At your instigation the Subseric pieces have been supplied,
which my men kept back after the price had been settled;
and likewise everything else pertaining to the prizes which
were to be given.

CLAUDIAN

mentions silk in numerous passages. This poet, in describing the

consular robes of the two brothers Probinus and Olybrius (A. D.
395.), represents the Gabine Cincture, by which the toga was girt
over the breast, as made of silk.
In the following passage he represents the two brothers, Honorius
and Arcadius, as dividing the empire of the world between them and
receiving tributes of its productions from the most distant regions:

Vestri juris erit, quicquid complectitur axis.

Vobis rubra dabunt pretiosas æquora conchas,
Indus ebur, ramos Panchaia, vellera Seres.
De III. Cons. Honorii, l. 209-211.

To you the world its various wealth shall send:

Their precious shells the Erythrean seas;
India its iv’ry, Araby its boughs,
The distant Seres fleeces from the trees.

In a poem, which immediately succeeds this in the order of time,

Claudian describes a magnificent toga, worn by Honorius on being
appointed a fourth time consul, by saying, that it received its color
(the Tyrian purple) from the Phœnicians; its woof (of silk forming
stripes or figures) from the Seres; and its weight (produced by
Indian gems) from the river Hydaspes[48]. Again, in his poem on the
approaching marriage of Honorius and Maria, he mentions yellow
silk curtains (l. 211.) as a decoration of the nuptial chamber.
[48] De IV. Cons. Honorii, i. 600, 601.

Again he says (in Eutrop. l. i. v. 225, 226. 304. l. ii. v. 337.):

Te grandibus India gemmis,

Te foliis Arabes ditent, te vellere Seres.

Let India with her gems thy wealth increase,

The Arabs with their leaves, the Seres with their fleece.
He also mentions with delight the use of gold in dress, as well as of
silk. The following passage represents the manner in which Proba, a
Roman matron, near the end of the fourth century, expressed her
affectionate congratulations on the elevation of her two sons to the
Consulship, by preparing robes interwoven with gold for the
ceremony of their installation.

With joy elated at this proud success,

Their venerable mother now prepares
The golden trabeas, and the cinctures bright
With Seric fibres shorn from woolly trees:
Her well-train’d thumb protracts the length’ning gold,
And makes the metal to the threads adhere.
In Probini et Olybrii Consulatum, l. 177-182.

From these verses we learn that Proba had herself acquired the art
of covering the thread with gold, and that she then used her gold
thread in the woof to form the stripes or other ornaments of the
consular trabeæ. These are afterwards called stiff togas (togæ
rigentes, l. 205.), on account of the rigidity imparted to them by the
gold thread.
The same poet gives an elaborate description of a Trabea which he
supposes to have been woven by the Goddess Rome with the aid of
Minerva for the use of the Consul Stilicho. Five different scenes are
said to have been woven in this admirable robe (regentia dona,
graves auro trabeas), and certain parts of them were wrought in
gold[49].

[49] In I. Cons. Stilichonis, L. ii. 330-359.

Again, Claudian supposes Thetis to have woven scarfs of gold and

purple for her son Achilles:
Ipsa manu chlamydes ostro texebat et auro. (Ep. 35.)
The epigram in which this line occurs, seems to imply that Serena,
mother-in-law of the Emperor Honorius, wove garments of the same
kind for him.
Maria, the daughter of the above-mentioned Stilicho, was bestowed
by him upon Honorius, but died shortly after, about A. D. 400. In
February, 1544, the marble coffin, containing her remains, was
discovered at Rome. In it were preserved a garment and a pall,
which, on being burnt, yielded 36 pounds of gold. There were also
found a great number of glass vessels, jewels, and ornaments of all
kinds, which Stilicho had given as a dowry to his daughter[50]. We
may conclude, that the garments discovered in the tomb of Maria
were woven by the hands of her mother Serena, since the epigram
of Claudian proves that she wove robes of a similar description for
Honorius, and probably on the same occasion. Anastasius
Bibliothecarius says, that when Pope Paschal was intent on finding
the body of St. Cæcilia, having performed mass with a view to
obtain the favor of a revelation on the subject, he was directed A. D.
821 to a cemetery on the Appian Way near Rome, and there found
the body enveloped in cloth of gold[51]. Although there is no reason
to believe, that the body found by Paschal was the body of the saint
pretended, yet it may have been the body of a Roman lady who had
lived some centuries before, and probably about the time of
Honorius and Maria.

[50] Surii Comment. Rerum Gest. ab anno 1500, &c.

[51] “Aureis vestitum indumentis.” De Vitis Rom. Pontificum
Mogunt. 1602, p. 222.

Pisander, who belonged to the same period (900 B. C.) with Homer,
speaks of the Lydians as wearing tunics adorned with gold. Lydus
observes, that the Lydians were supplied with gold from the sands of
the Pactolus and the Hermus[52].

[52] De Magistratibus Rom. L. iii. § 64.

Virgil also represents the use of gold in weaving, as if it had existed

in Trojan times. One of the garments so adorned was manufactured
by Dido, the Sidonian, one by Andromache, and another was in the
possession of Anchises[53]. In all these instances the reference is to
the habits of Phœnice, Lycia, or other parts of Asia.

[53] Æn. iii. 483.; iv. 264.; viii. 167.; xi. 75.

He describes an ape ludicrously attired in a silk jacket; and,

inveighing against the progress of luxury, he speaks of some to
whom even silk garments were a burthen. In elaborate descriptions
of the figured consular robes (the Trabeæ) of Honorius and Stilicho,
he mentions the reins and other trappings of horses, as being
wrought in silk[54].

[54] Rubra Serica, De VI. Cons. Honor. I. 577. Serica Fræna. In I.

Cons. Stilichonis 1. ii. V. 350.

The frequent allusions to silk in the complimentary poems of

Claudian, receive illustration from various imperial laws, which were
promulgated in the same century, and in part by the very emperors
to whom his flattery is addressed, and which are preserved in the
Code of Justinian. Their object was not to encourage the silk
manufacture, but, on a principle very opposite to that of modern
times, to make it an imperial monopoly. The admiration excited by
the splendor and elegance of silk attire was the ground, on which it
was forbidden that any individual of the male sex should wear even
a silken border upon his tunic or pallium, with the exception of the
emperor, his officers and servants. To confine the enjoyment of
these luxuries more entirely to the imperial family and court, all
private persons were strictly forbidden engaging in the manufacture,
gold and silken borders were to be made only in the imperial
Gynæcea[55].

[55] See the Corpus Juris Civilis, Lugduni 1627, folio, tom. v.
Codex Justiniani, l. x. tit. vii. p. 131. 134.

THE PERIPLUS MARIS ERYTHRÆI.

In this important document on ancient geography and commerce,
we find repeated mention of silk in its raw state, in that of thread,
and woven[56]. These articles were conveyed down the Indus to the
coast of the Erythrean Sea. They were also brought to the great
mart of Barygaza, which was on the Gulf of Cambay near the
modern Surat, and to the coast of Lymirica, which was still more
remote. The author of the Periplus states, that they were carried by
land through Bactria to Barygaza from a great city called Thina, lying
far towards the North in the interior of Asia. He of course refers to
some part of Serica. It is remarkable, that he makes no mention of
silk as the native production of India.

[56] Arriani Opp., vol. ii. Blancardi, pp. 164. 170. 173. 177.

Silk is mentioned in two passages of the laws of Manu, viz. XI. v.

168, and XII. v. 64. It is, however, observed by Heeren, who quotes
passages of the Ramayana that make mention of silk, that garments
of this material are there represented as worn only on festive
occasions, and that they were undoubtedly Seric or Chinese
productions[57]. Indeed it appears that the cloth made from the
thread of the native worms of Hindostan, although highly valued for
strength and durability, is not remarkable for fineness, beauty, or
splendor.

[57] Ideen über die Politik, &c. der alten Welt, i. 2. pp. 647. 648.
665-668. 677. 3rd edition. Göttingen, 1815.

RUFUS FESTUS AVIENUS.

This author, adopting the common notion of his time, supposes the
Seres to spin thread from fleeces which were produced upon the
trees. He also mentions silk shawls (Serica pallia, l. 1008.) as worn
by the female Bacchantes of Ionia in their processions in honor of
Bacchus; and it is worthy of remark, that they are not mentioned in
the original passage of Dionysius, the author whom Avienus
translates, so that we may reasonably infer, that the use of them on
these occasions was introduced between the time of Dionysius
(about 30 B. C.) and that of Avienus (A. D. 400).

MARTIANUS CAPELLA.

Beyond these (the Anthropophagi) are the Seres, who

asperse their trees with water to obtain the down, which
produces silk. L. vi. p. 223. ed. Grotii, 1599.
The following Inscription is given in Gruter, Tom. iii. p. dcxlv. It was
found at Tivoli, and expresses that M. N. Proculus, silk-manufacturer,
erected a monument to Valeria Chrysis, his excellent and deserving
wife.
D. M.
VALERIAE. CHRYSIDI.
M. NVMIVS. PROCVLVS.
SERICARIVS.
CONJVGI. SVAE.
OPTIMÆ. BENEM.
FECIT.

Before proceeding to the Christian writers of the 4th and following

centuries we may now introduce the remarks of Servius on the
passage formerly quoted from Virgil. He is supposed to have written
about A. D. 400.
Among the Indians and Seres there are on the trees certain
worms, called Bombyces, which draw out very fine threads
after the manner of spiders; and these threads constitute silk.
It will be seen hereafter, that these “Indian Seres” were the
inhabitants of Khotan in Little Bucharia.
The frequent comparison of Bombyces to spiders by the ancients
suggests the inquiry whether they employed the thread of any kind
of spider to make cloth, as was attempted in France by M. Bon. The
failure of his attempt is sufficient, as it appears, to show, that the
extensive manufacture of garments from this material must have
been scarcely possible in ancient times. It is also to be observed,
that the ancients, when they compare the silk-worm to the spider,
refer to the spider’s web, whereas M. Bon, not finding the web
strong enough, made his cloth from the thread with which the spider
envelopes its eggs[58].

[58] The most extraordinary account of a spider’s web, which we

have ever seen, is that given by Lieutenant W. Smyth. He says,
“We saw here (viz. at Pachiza, on the river Huayabamba in Peru)
a gigantic spider’s web suspended to the trees: it was about 25
feet in height, and near 50 in length; the threads were very
strong, and it had the empty sloughs of thousands of insects
hanging on it. It appeared to be the habitation of a great number
of spiders of a larger size than we ever saw in England.” Narrative
of a Journey from Lima to Para, London, 1836, p. 141.
For some interesting notices of the great spider of Brazil the
reader is referred to Caldcleugh’s Travels in South America,
London 1825, vol. i. ch. 2. p. 41; and to the Rev. R. Walsh’s
Notices of Brazil, London 1830, vol. ii. p. 300, 301. Mr. Caldcleugh
“assisted in liberating from a spider’s net a bird of the size of a
swallow, quite exhausted with struggling, and ready to fall a prey
to its indefatigable enemies.” Mr. Walsh had his light straw hat
removed from his head by a similar web extending from tree to
tree in an opening through which he had occasion to pass. He
wound upon a card several of the threads composing the web;
and he observes, that, as these spiders are gregarious, the
difficulties experienced by M. Bon from the ferocity of the solitary
European spiders in killing and devouring one another, would not
exist if the attempt were made to obtain clothing from the former.
In the forests of Java Sir George Staunton “found webs of
spiders, woven with threads of so strong a texture as not easily to
be divided without a cutting instrument.”—Account of Lord
Macartney’s Embassy to China, London 1797, vol. i. ch. 7. p. 302.
(See Chap. IX.)

But, although we have no reason to believe, that the web of any

spider was anciently employed to make cloth, yet these accounts
may have referred to worms, possibly varieties of the silk-worm,
which spun long threads floating in the air. The common silk-worm
spins and suspends itself by its thread, long before it begins its
cocoon. It appears probable, therefore, that there may have been
wild varieties of this creature, or perhaps other species of the same
genus, which in the earlier stages of their existence spun threads
long enough for use. We ground this conjecture partly on the
following passage from Du Halde’s History of China[59].

[59] Vol. ii. p. 359, 360, 8vo. edition, London, 1736.

“The province of Chan-tong produces a particular sort of silk,

which is found in great quantities on the trees and in the
fields. It is spun and made into a stuff called Kien-tcheou.
This silk is made by little insects that are much like
caterpillars. They do not spin an oval or round cocoon, like
the silk-worms, but very long threads. These threads, as they
are driven about by the winds, hang upon the trees and
bushes, and are gathered to make a sort of silk, which is
coarser than that made of the silk spun in houses. But these
worms are wild, and eat indifferently the leaves of mulberry
and other trees. Those who do not understand this silk would
take it for unbleached cloth, or a coarse sort of drugget.
“The worms, which spin this silk, are of two kinds: the first,
much larger and blacker than the common silk-worms, are
called Tsouen-kien; the second, being smaller, are named
Tiao-kien. The silk of the former is of a reddish gray, that of
the latter darker. The stuff made of these materials is
between both colors, it is very close, does not fret, is very
lasting, washes like linen, and, when it is good, receives no
damage by spots, even though oil were to be shed on it.
“This stuff is much valued by the Chinese, and it is sometimes
as dear as satin or the finest silks. As the Chinese are very
skilful at counterfeiting, they make a false sort of Kien-tcheou
with the waste of the Tche-kiang silk, which without due
inspection might easily be taken for the genuine article.”
This account affords a remarkable illustration of many of the
expressions of the ancient writers, such as “Bombyx pendulus urget
opus,” Martial; “Per aerem liquando aranearum horoscopis idoneas
sedes tendit,” Tertullian; “In aranearum morem tenuissima fila
deducunt,” Servius.
In further illustration of the subject, and as tending to show that the
Kien-tcheou is manufactured from the thread of a silk-worm,
modified in its habits and perhaps in its organization by
circumstances, we shall now quote a few passages from a work
having the following title: “China; its costume, arts, manufactures,
&c., edited from the originals in the cabinet of M. Bertin, with
observations by M. Breton. Translated from the French. London,
1812.” Vol. iv. p. 55, &c.
“The wild silk-worms are found in the hottest provinces of
China, especially near Canton. They live indifferently on all
sorts of leaves, particularly on those of the ash, the oak, and
the fagara, and spin a greyish and rarely white silk. The
coarse cloth manufactured from it is called Kien-tcheou, will
bear washing, and on that account persons of quality do not
disdain to wear clothes of it. With this silk also the strings of
musical instruments are made, because it is stronger and
more sonorous.
“Entomologists treat but very superficially of the habits of the
wild silk-worms, while they dwell in minute detail on the
method of rearing them in Provence.
“It is between the nineteenth and twenty-second day of their
existence, that they undertake the great work of spinning
their cocoon. They curve a leaf into a kind of cup, and then
form a cocoon as large and nearly as hard as a hen’s egg!
This cocoon has one end open like a reversed funnel; it is a
passage for the butterfly, which is to come out.
“The oak-worms are slower in making their cocoon than those
of the fagara and ash, and they set about it differently.
Instead of bending a single leaf, they roll themselves in two
 or three and spin their cocoon. It is larger, but the silk is
inferior in quality, and of course not so valuable.
“The cocoons of wild silk-worms are so strong and compact,
that the insects encounter great difficulty in extricating
themselves, and therefore remain inclosed from the end of
the summer, to the spring of the following year. These
butterflies, unlike the domestic insect, fly very well.—The
domestic silk-worm is but a variety of the wild species. It is
fed on the leaves of the mulberry tree.” (See chap. VIII.)
The circumstance that the worms were sometimes fed with oak-
leaves is mentioned in Du Halde’s History of China, vol. ii. p. 363.
Here then we have a justification of the ancients in asserting, both
that the silk-worms produced long threads and webs floating in the
air like those of spiders, and that they fed upon the leaves of the
oak, the ash, and many other trees. It may be recollected, that Pliny
expressly mentions both the oak (quercus) and the ash (fraxinus).
Until very lately the use of silk among the ancients was investigated
only by philologists. Within a few years M. Latreille, an entomologist
of the highest distinction, has directed his attention to the subject
and has examined particularly the above-cited passages of Aristotle,
Pliny, and Pausanias[60]. He never supposes the ancient Sericum to
have been the produce of anything except the silk-worm. But of this
there are several varieties, partly perhaps natural, and partly the
result of domestication. He endeavors to explain some parts of
Pliny’s description by showing their seeming correspondence with
some of the practices actually observed by the Orientals in the
management of silk-worms.

[60] M. Latreille’s paper is published in the Annales des Sciences

Naturelles, tome xxiii. pp. 58-84.

An account of the wild silk-worms of China is to be found in the

“Mémoires concernant l’Histoire, les Sciences, les Arts, &c., des
Chinois,” compiled by the missionaries of Peking[61]. This account is
principally derived from the information of Father D’Incarville, one of
the missionaries. It coincides generally with the accounts already
quoted from Du Halde and Breton. We extract the following
particulars as conveying some further information:

[61] Tome ii. pp. 579-601. Paris, 1777, 4to. This Memoir is
reprinted with abridgments as an Appendix to Stanislas Julien’s
Translation of the Chinese Treatise on the Breeding of Silk-worms,
Paris, 1837, 8vo.

“The Chinese annals from the year 150 B. C. to A. D. 638

make frequent mention of the great quantity of silk produced
by the wild worms, and observe that their cocoons were as
large as eggs or apricots.”
The following passage is also deserving of attention: “Le papillon de
ces vers sauvages, dit le Père d’Incarville, est à ailes vitrées.” This
information, if correct, would prove that there was at least one kind
of wild silk-worms in China, which was a different species from the
Phalæna Mori; for that has no transparent membranes in its wings,
and would not be likely to receive them in consequence of any
change in its mode of life.
We now proceed to take the Christian authors of the fourth and
following centuries in the order of time.

ARNOBIUS (A. D. 306.)

thus speaks of the heathen gods:

They want the covering of a garment: the Tritonian virgin
must spin a thread of extraordinary fineness, and according
to circumstances put on a tunic either of mail, or silk[62].

[62] Adv. Gentes, l. iii. p. 580, ed. Erasmi.

GREGORIUS NAZIENZENUS, CL., A. D. 370.

The following passage contains, we believe, the earliest allusion to
the use of silk in the services of the Christian Church.

Ἄλλοι μὲν χρυσόν τε καὶ ἄργυρον, οἱ δὲ τὰ Σηρῶν

Δῶρα φέρουσι θεῷ νήματα λεπταλέα.
Καὶ Χριστῷ θυσίην τὶς ἁγνὴν ἀνέθηκεν ἑαυτον·
Καὶ σπένδει δακρύων ἄλλος ἁγνὰς λιβάδας.
Ad Hellenium pro Monachis Carmen. tom. ii. p. 106. ed. Par.
1630.

Silver and gold some bring to God

Or the fine threads by Seres spun:
Others to Christ themselves devote,
A chaste and holy sacrifice,
And make libations of their tears.
Yates’s Translation.

BASIL, CL., A. D. 370.

Although this celebrated author was a native of Asia Minor, and had
studied in Syria and Palestine, he appears to have known the silk-
worm only from books and by report. His description of it in the
following passage, in which we first find the beautiful illustration of
the doctrine of a resurrection from the change of the chrysalis, is
chiefly copied from Aristotle’s account as formerly quoted.
Τί φάτε οἱ ἀπιστοῦντες τῷ Παύλῳ περὶ τῆς κατὰ τὴν
ἀνάστασιν ἀλλοιώσεως, ὁρῶντες πολλὰ τῶν ἀερίων τὰς
μορφὰς μεταβάλλοντα; ὁποῖα καὶ περὶ τοῦ Ἰνδικοῦ σκώληκος
ἱστορεῖται τοῦ κερασφόρου· ὃς εἰς κάμπην τὰ πρῶτα
μεταβαλὼν, εἶτα προϊὼν βομβυλιὸς γίνεται, καὶ οὐδὲ ἐπὶ
ταύτης ἵσταται τῆς μορφῆς, ἀλλὰ χαύνοις καὶ πλατέσι
πετάλοις ὑποπτεροῦται. Ὅταν οὖν καθέζησθε τὴν τούτων
ἐργασίαν ἀναπηνιζόμεναι αἱ γυναῖκες, τὰ νήματα λέγω, ἃ
πέμπουσιν ὑμῖν οἱ Σῆρες πρὸς τὴν τῶν μαλακῶν ἐνδυμάτων
κατασκευὴν, μεμνημέναι τῆς κατὰ τὸ ζῶον τοῦτο μεταβολῆς,
 ἐναργῆ λαμβάνετε τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἔννοιαν, καὶ μὴ ἀπιστεῖτε
τῇ ἀλλαγῇ, ἣν Παῦλος ἅπασι κατεπαγγέλλεται.—
Hexahemeron, p. 79. A. Ed. Benedict.
What have you to say, who disbelieve the assertion of the
Apostle Paul concerning the change at the resurrection, when
you see many of the inhabitants of the air changing their
forms? Consider, for example, the account of the horned
worm of India, which (i. e. the silk-worm) having first
changed into a caterpillar (eruca, or veruca), then in process
of time becomes a cocoon (bombylius, or bombulio), and
does not continue even in this form, but assumes light and
expanded wings. Ye women, who sit winding upon bobbins
the produce of these animals, namely the threads, which the
Seres send to you for the manufacture of fine garments, bear
in mind the change of form in this creature; derive from it a
clear conception of the resurrection; and discredit not that
transformation which Paul announces to us all.—Yates’s
Translation.
When St. Basil says of the new-born moth, that “it assumes light and
expanded wings,” the beauty of the comparison in illustrating the
Christian doctrine of the resurrection is enhanced, when we consider
that in its wild state the moth flies very well, although, when
domesticated, its flight is weak and its wings small and
shrivelled[63]: but still more beautiful does the figure become, if we
suppose a reference to those larger and more splendid Phalænæ
which produce the coarser kinds of silk in India, and probably in
China also.
[63] The Phalæna Atlas, apparently a native of China, measures
eight inches across the wings from tip to tip.

Basil is the first writer, who distinctly mentions the change of the
silk-worm from a Chrysalis to a moth. In his application of that fact
he addresses himself to his countrywomen in Asia Minor, and his
language represents them sitting and winding on bobbins the raw
silk obtained from the Seres and designed to be afterwards woven
into cloth.
Between these two authors, Aristotle and Basil, we observe a
difference of phraseology which appears deserving of notice. While
they both describe the women, not as spinning the silk, but as
winding it on bobbins, they designate the material so wound by two
different names. Basil uses the term νήματα, which might be meant
to imply that the silk came from the Seres in skeins as it comes to us
from China: Aristotle, on the contrary, uses the term βομβύκια,
which can only refer to the state of silk before it is wound into
skeins. As it might appear impossible to convey it in this state to
Cos, we shall here insert from the authorities already quoted, the
Chinese Missionaries, an account of the process by which the
cocoons are prepared for winding, and it will then be seen, that the
cocoons might have been transported to any part of the world.
“To prepare the cocoons of the wild silk-worms, the Chinese cut the
extremities of them with a pair of scissors. They are then put into a
canvass bag, and immersed for an hour or more in a kettle of boiling
lye, which dissolves the gum. When this is effected, they are taken
from the kettle; pressed to expel the lye, and then laid out to dry.
Whilst they are still moist, the chrysalises are extracted; each cocoon
is then turned inside out, so as to make a sort of cowl. It is
necessary only, to put them again into lukewarm water, after which
ten or twelve of them are capped one upon another like so many
thimbles, to insert a small distaff through them, when the silk may
be reeled off.”
Basil, in one of his Homilies, (Opp. tom. ii. p. 53. 55. ed. Benedict.)
inveighs against the ladies of Cæsarea, who employed themselves in
weaving gold; and he is no less indignant at their husbands who
adorned even their horses with cloths of gold and scarlet as if they
were bridegrooms.
The author of a Treatise “De disciplinâ et bono pudicitiæ,” which is
usually published with Cyprian, and which may be referred to the
fourth or fifth century, thus speaks (Cypriani Opera, ed. Erasmi, p.
499.):
To weave gold in cloth is, as it were, to adopt an expensive
method of spoiling it. Why do they interpose stiff metals
between the delicate threads of the warp?
The same censure is implied in the following address of Alcimus
Avitus to his sister.

Non tibi gemmato posuere nonilia collo,

Nec te contexit, neto quæ fulguratauro
Vestis, ductilibus concludens fila talentis:
Nec te Sidonium bis coeti muricis ostrum
Induit, aut rutilo perlucens purpura succo,
Mollia vel tactu quæ mittunt vellera Seres:
Nec tibi transfossis fixerunt auribus aurum.

No threaded gems have pressed thy sparkling neck:

No cloth, with lines incased in ductile gold,
Or twice with the Sidonian murex dyed,
Has glittered on thee: thou hast never worn
The fleeces soft which distant Seres send:
Nor are thy ears transfixed for pendent gold.

The effect of such exhortations as the preceding, was to induce

piously disposed persons to apply pieces of gold cloth to public and
sacred, instead of private purposes. After this period we find
continual instances of their use in the decoration of churches and in
the robes of the priesthood.

AMBROSE, CL. A. D. 374.

Sericæ vestes, et auro intexta velamina, quibus divitis corpus

ambitur, damna viventium, non subsidia defunctorum sunt.—
De Nabutho Jezraelitâ, cap. i. tom. i. p. 566. Ed. Bened.
 Silken garments, and veils interwoven with gold, with which
the body of the rich man is encompassed, are a loss to the
living, and no gain to the dead.
Here we think it not out of place to introduce the account of the silk-
worm by Georgius Pisida, who flourished about A. D. 640, although
he lived at Constantinople after the breeding of silk-worms had been
introduced there. According to him the silk-worm pines or moulders
almost to nothing in its tomb, and then returns to its former shape.
The verses are however deserving of attention for their elegance,
and for the repetition of Basil’s idea, which Ambrose has left out, of
the analogy between the restoration of the silk-worm and the
resurrection of man.

Ποῖος δὲ καὶ σκωλήκα Σηρικὸν νόμος

Πείθει τὰ λαμπρόκλωστα νήματα πλέκειν,
Ἃ, τῇ βαφῇ χρωσθέντα τῆς ἁλουργίδος,
Χαυνοῖ τὸν ὄγκον τῶν κρατούντων ἐμφρόνως;
Μνήμη γὰρ αὐτοὺς εὐλαβῶς ὑποτρέχει,
Ὅτι πρὸ αὐτῶν τῆς στολῆς ἡ λαμπρότης
Σκώληκος ἦν ἔνδυμα καὶ φθαρτὴ σκέπη,
Ὃς, τῇ καθ’ ἡμᾶς μαρτυρῶν ἀναστάσει,
Θνῆσκει μὲν ἔνδον τῶν ἑαυτοῦ νημάτων,
Τὸν αὐτὸν οἶκον καὶ ταφὴν δεδεγμένος,
Σχεδὸν δὲ παντὸς τοῦ κατ’ αὐτὸν σαρκίου
Σαπέντος ἢ ῥυέντος ἢ τετηγμένου,
Χρονόυ καλοῦντος ἐκ φθορᾶς ὑποστρέφει,
Καὶ τὴν πάλαι μόρφωσιν ἀῤῥήτως φύει
Ἐν τῷ περιττεύσαντι μικρῷ λειψάνῳ,
Πρὸς τὴν ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς σωματούμενος πλάσιν.
l. 1265-1282.

What law persuades the Seric worm to spin

Those shining threads, which, dyed with purple hue,
Inflate, yet check the pride of mighty men?
For, whilst they blaze in grand attire, the thought
 Steals on,—This splendid robe once cloth’d a worm:
Type of our resurrection from the grave,
It dies within the tomb itself has spun,
That perishing abode, which is at once
Its house and tomb; in which it rots away,
Till at the call of time it gladly leaves
Corruption, and its ancient shape resumes.
A little remnant of its mould’ring flesh,
By processes unspeakable and dark,
Restores the wonders of its earliest form.
Yates’s Translation.

MACARIUS, CL., A. D. 373.

This author gives us an additional proof (Homil. 17, § 9,) that the
use of silken clothing was characteristic of dissolute women.

JEROME, CL., A. D. 378.

This great author mentions silk in numerous passages.

In his translation of Ezekiel xxvii. he has supposed silk (sericum) to
be an article of Syrian and Phœnician traffic as early as the time of
that prophet.
In his beautiful and interesting Epistle to Læta on the Education of
her Daughter (Opp. Paris, 1546, tom. i. p. 20. C.), he says:
Let her learn also to spin wool, to hold the distaff, to place
the basket in her bosom, to twirl the spindle, to draw the
threads with her thumb. Let her despise the webs of silk-
worms, the fleeces of the Seres, and gold beaten into
threads. Let her prepare such garments as may dispel cold,
not expose the body naked, even when it is clothed. Instead
of gems and silk, let her love the sacred books, &c.
 Because we do not use garments of silk, we are reckoned
monks; because we are not drunken, and do not convulse
ourselves with laughter, we are called restrained and sad: if
our tunic is not white, we immediately hear the proverb, He is
an impostor and a Greek.—Epist. ad Marcellum, De
Ægrotatione Blesillæ, tom. i. p. 156, ed. Erasmi, 1526.
You formerly went with naked feet; now you not only use
shoes, but even ornamented ones. You then wore a poor
tunic and a black shirt under it, dirty and pale, and having
your hand callous with labor; now you go adorned with linen
and silk, and with vestments obtained from the Atrebates and
from Laodicea.—Adv. Jovinianum, l. ii. Opp. ed. Paris, 1546,
tom. ii. p. 29.
In the following he further condemns the practice of wrapping the
bodies of the dead in cloth of gold:
Why do you wrap your dead in garments of gold? Why does
not ambition cease amidst wailings and tears? Cannot the
bodies of the rich go to corruption except in silk?—Epist. L. ii.
You cannot but be offended yourself, when you admire
garments of silk and gold in others.—Epist. L. ii. No. 9, p.
138, ed. Par. 1613, 12mo.

CHRYSOSTOM, CL., A. D. 398.

Ἀλλὰ σηρικὰ τὰ ἱμάτια; ἀλλὰ ῥακίων γέμουσα ἡ ψυχή.

Comment. in Psalm 48. tom. v. p. 517. ed. Ben.

Does the rich man wear silken shawls? His soul however is
full of tatters.

Καλὰ τὰ σηρικὰ ἱμάτια, ἀλλὰ σκωλήκων ἐστὶν ὕφασμα.

(Quoted by Vossius, Etym. Lat. p. 466.)

Silken shawls are beautiful, but the production of worms.

Chrysostom also inveighs against the practice of embroidering shoes
with silk thread, observing that it was a shame even to wear it
woven in shawls. Such is the change of circumstances, that now
even the poorest persons of both sexes, if decently attired, have silk
in their shoes.

HELIODORUS, CL., A. D. 390.

This author, describing the ceremonies at the nuptials of Theagenes

and Chariclea, says, “The ambassadors of the Seres came, bringing
the thread and webs of their spiders, one of the webs dyed purple
(!), the other white.” Æthiopica, lib. x. p. 494. Commelini.
Salmasius (in Tertullianum de Pallio, p. 242.) quotes the following
passage from an uncertain author.
Ὁμοία ἐστὶν ἡ τοῦ παρόντος βίου τερπνότης Ἰνδικῷ
σκωληκιῷ, ὅπερ τῷ φυλλῷ τοῦ δένδρου συντυλιχθὲν, καὶ τῇ
τροφῇ ἀσχοληθὲν, συνεπνίγη ἐν αὐτῷ τοῦ μεταξίου
κουκουλίῳ.
The pleasure of the present life is like the Indian worm,
which, having involved itself in the leaf of the tree and having
been satisfied with food, chokes itself in the cocoon of its own
thread.—Yates’s Translation.
This writer, whoever he was, appears to have had a correct idea of
the manner in which the silk-worm wraps itself in a leaf of the tree,
on which it feeds, and spins its tomb within[64].

[64] In the Royal Museum of Natural History at Leyden are eight

or ten cocoons of the Phalæna Atlas from Java. They consist of a
strong silk, and are formed upon the leaves of a kind of Ficus.
The first layer of the cocoon covers the whole of a leaf, and
receives the exact impress of its form. Then two or three other
layers are distinctly perceptible. Two or three leaves are joined
together to form the cocoon. In regard to the looseness of the
layers these cocoons do not correspond to M. Breton’s description
of the cocoons of the wild silk-worms of China, which are very
 strong and compact, and therefore more resemble those of the
Phalæna Paphia.

FIFTH CENTURY.

PRUDENTIUS, CL., A. D. 405.

The following sentence occurs in a speech of St. Lawrence at his

martyrdom:

Hunc, qui superbit serico,

Quem currus inflatum vehit;
Hydrops aquosus lucido
Tendit veneno intrinsecus.
Peristeph. Hymn. ii. l. 237-240.

See him, attir’d in silken pride,

Inflated in his chariot ride;
The lucid poison works within,
Dropsy distends his swollen skin.

In another Hymn to the honor of St. Romanus we find the following

lines:

Aurum regestum nonne carni adquiritur?

Inlusa vestis, gemma, bombyx, purpura,
In carnis usum mille quæruntur dolis.
Peristeph. Hymn. x.

To please the flesh a thousand arts contend:

The miser’s heaps of gold, the figur’d vest,
The gem, the silk-worm, and the purple dye,
By toil acquir’d, promote no other end.

In the same Hymn (l. 1015.) Prudentius describes a heathen priest

sacrificing a bull, and dressed in a silken toga which is held up by
the Gabine cincture (Cinctu Gabino Sericam fultus togam). Perhaps,
however, we ought here to understand that the cincture only, not the
whole toga, was of silk. It was used to fasten and support the toga
by being drawn over the breast.
In two other passages this poet censures the progress of luxury in
dress, and especially when adopted by men.
Sericaque in fractis fluitent ut pallia membris
Psychomachia, l. 365.
The silken scarfs float o’er their weaken’d limbs.

Sed pudet esse viros: quærunt vanissima quæque

Quîs niteant: genuina leves ut robora solvant,
Vellere non ovium, sed Eoo ex orbe petitis
Ramorum spoliis fluitantes sumere amictus,
Gaudent, et durum scutulis perfundere corpus.
Additur ars, ut fila herbis saturata recoctis
Inludant varias distincto stamine formas.
Ut quæque est lanugo feræ mollissima tactu,
Pectitur. Hunc videas lascivas præpete cursu
Venantem tunicas, avium quoque versicolorum
Indumenta novis texentem plumea telis:
Ilium pigmentis redolentibus, et peregrino
Pulvere femineas spargentem turpitur auras.
Hamartigenia, l. 286-298.

They blush to be call’d men: they seek to shine

In ev’ry vainest garb. Their native strength
To soften and impair, they gaily choose
A flowing scarf, not made of wool from sheep,
But of those fleeces from the Eastern world,
The spoil of trees. Their hardy frame they deck
All o’er with tesselated spots: and art
Is added, that the threads, twice dyed with herbs,
May sportively intwine their various hues
And mimic forms, within the yielding warp.
 Whatever creature wears the softest down,
They comb its fleece. This man with headlong course
Hunts motley tunics which inflame desire,
Invents new looms, and weaves a feather’d vest,
Which with the plumage of the birds compares:
That, scented with cosmetics, basely sheds
Effeminate foreign powder all around.

PALLADIUS.

A work remains under the name of Palladius on “The Nations of

India and the Brachmans.” Whether it is by the same Palladius, who
wrote the Historia Lausiaca, is disputed. But, as we see no reason to
doubt, that it may have been written as early as his time, we
introduce here the passages, which have been found in it, relating to
the present subject. The author represents the Bramins as saying to
Alexander the Great, “You envelope yourselves in soft clothing, like
the silk-worms.” (p. 17. ed. Bissœi.) It is also asserted, that
Alexander did not pass the Ganges, but went as far as Serica, where
the silk-worms produce raw-silk (p. 2.).
In the London edition this tract is followed by one in Latin, bearing
the name of St. Ambrose and entitled De moribus Brachmanorum. It
contains nearly the same matter with the preceding. The writer
professes to have obtained his information from “Musæus
Dolenorum Episcopus,” meaning, as it appears from the Greek tract,
Moses, Bishop of Adule, of whom he says,
Sericam ferè universam regionem peragravit: in quâ refert
arbores esse, quæ non solum folia, sed lanam quoque
proferunt tenuissimam, ex quâ vestimenta con ficiuntur, quæ
Serica nuncupantur. p. 58.
He travelled through nearly all the country of the Seres, in
which, he says, that there are trees producing not only
leaves, but the finest wool, from which are made the
garments called Serica.
These notices are not devoid of value as indicating what were the
first steps to intercourse with the original silk country. It may
however be doubted, whether the last account here quoted is a
modification of the ideas previously current among the Greeks and
Romans, or whether it arose from the mistakes of Moses himself, or
of other Christian travellers into the interior of Asia, who confounded
the production of silk with that of cotton.

THE THEODOSIAN CODE,

published A. D. 438, mentions silk (sericam et metaxam) in various

passages.

APOLLINARIS SIDONIUS, CL., A. D. 472.

Describing the products of different countries, this learned author

says (Carmen. v. l. 42-50),

Fert
Assyrius gemmas, Ser vellera, thura Sabæus.

Th’ Assyrian brings his gems, the Ser

His fleeces, the Sabean frankincense.

In a passage (Carmen. xv.), he mentions a pall,

Cujus bis coctus aheno

Serica Sidonius fucabat stamina murex.

The Tyrian murex, twice i’ th’ cauldron boil’d,

Had dyed its silken threads.

The expression here used, indicates that the silk thread was brought
from the country of the Seres to be dyed in Phœnice. In Horace we
have already noticed the “Coæ purpuræ.”
A passage from the Burgus Pontii Leontii (Carmen. xxii.), shows that
the same article (Serica fila) was imported into Gaul.
In the same author (l. ii. Epist. ad Serranum) we meet with
“Sericatum toreuma.” The latter word probably denoted a carved
sofa or couch. The epithet “sericatum” may have referred to its
silken cover.
The same author describes Prince Sigismer, who was about to be
married, going in a splendid procession and thus clothed:
Ipse medius incessit, flammeus cocco, rutilus auro, lacteus
serico.
L. iv. Epist. p. 107. ed. Elmenhorstii.
He himself marched in the midst, his attire flaming with
coccus, glittering with gold, and of milky whiteness with silk.
Describing the heat of the weather, he says:
One man perspires in cotton, another in silk.
L. ii. Epist. 2.
Lastly, in the following lines he alludes to the practice of giving silk
to the successful charioteers at the Circensian games:

The Emp’ror, just as powerful, ordains

That silks with palms be given, crowns with chains:
Thus marks high merit, and inferior praise
In brilliant carpets to the rest conveys.
Carmen. xxiii. l. 423-427.

ALCIMUS AVITUS, CL., A. D. 490.

Describing the rich man in the parable of Lazarus, this author says:

Ipse cothurnatus gemmis et fulgidus auro

Serica bis coctis mutabat tegmina blattis.
L. iii. 222.
 In jewell’d buskins and a blaze of gold,
Silk shawls, or twice in scarlet dipt, he wore.
Avitus also mentions “the soft fleeces sent by the Seres.”

SIXTH CENTURY.

BOETHIUS, CL., A. D. 510

Nor honey into wine they pour’d, nor mix’d

Bright Seric fleeces with the Tyrian dye.
De Consol. Philos. ii.

The Tyrians are chiefly known to us in commercial history for their

skill in dyeing; the Tyrian purple formed one of the most general and
principal articles of luxury in antiquity: but dyeing could scarcely
have existed without weaving, and though we have no direct
information respecting the Tyrian and Sidonian looms, we possess
several ancient references to their excellence, the less suspicious
because they are incidental. Homer, for instance, when Hecuba, on
the recommendation of the heroic Hector, resolves to make a rich
offering to Minerva, describes her as selecting one of Sidonian
manufacture as the finest which could be obtained.

The Phrygian queen to her rich wardrobe went

Where treasured odors breathed a costly scent;
There lay the vestures of no vulgar art—
Sidonian maids embroider’d every part,
Whom from soft Sidon youthful Paris bore
With Helen, touching on the Tyrian shore.
Here, as the queen revolved with careful eyes
The various textures and the various dyes,
She chose a veil that shone superior far,
And glow’d refulgent as the morning star.
Iliad, vi.
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