Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/206

* SILITJS ITALICirS. 166 SILK. bears his name in acrostic at beginning and end. It is an epitome of the /;iod. He is better known by the Puiiica, an artiiicial heavy epic in seven- teen books. The poem is edited by Euperti (17!)5-98) and by Bauer (1890-92). SILK (AS. seolc, sioloc, sioluc, OHG. silccho, silken robe, probably from OC'hurch Slav. Sclku, silk, from Lat. serictim. silk, neu. sg. of Sejicus, Chinese, from Seres, Gk. Tf/pet, Chinese; cf. Mongol, sirek, silk, Korean sn, sil. sir, silk, from Chin, sze, szu, sz', sei, si, silk). The fibre derived from the cocoon of the silkworm {Bombi/x mori) , or from some other form of caterpillar or spider, and woven into many useful and ornamental fabrics. Historical Sketch. Silk appears not to have been well known to the ancients; although sev- eral times mentioned in the translations of the Bible, the best authorities deny that it is in the original, or that it was known to the Hebrews. Among the Greeks, Aristotle is the first who mentions it, and he only says that "Pamphile, daughter of Plates, is reported to have first woven it in Cos;" an*l from all the evidence which has been collected, it would appear that the natives of Cos received it indirectly through the Phoeni- cians and Persians from China. The silken webs of Cos found their way to Eome, but it was very long before it was obtainable except by the most wealthy. The cultivation in Europe of the worm itself did not take place until a.d. 530, when, according to an accoimt given by Procopius, the eggs were brought from India (China) to the Emperor Justinian by some monks. In China the cultivation of silk is of the highest antiquity, and, according to Chinese authorities, it was first begun by Si-ling, the wife of the Emperor Hoang-ti, B.C. 2600, and the mulberry was cultivated for the purpose of feed- ing silkworms only forty years later. Since its introduction into Europe silk culture has always formed a great branch of industry in Italy, Turkey, and Greece, and it has been car- ried on to some extent in France, Spain, and Por- tugal. In England, too, from time to time, efforts have been made to cultivate silk, but with limited success. In the early days the American colonists de- voted much time and labor to the growth of the mulberry tree and the culture of silkworms. In 1732 the colonial Government of Georgia allotted a piece of ground for use as a nursery planta- tion for white mulberry trees. Lands were granted to settlers on condition that they planted 100 of these trees on every 10 acres when cleared, 10 years being allowed for their cultivation. In 1749 the British Parliament passed an act ex- empting from duty all raw silk which was cer- tified to be the production of Georgia or Caro- lina. In the same year an Italian expert was sent to Georgia to conduct a filature — for reeling, doubling, cleaning, and twisting, or throwing silk — and in 1759 the receipts of cocoons at the filature exceeded 10,000 pounds, and the quality of the raw silk was so good that it sold in London as high as three shillings a pound more than that from any other part of the world. Af- ter 1759, however, the production of silk in Georgia fell off greatly, though a French settle- ment at New Bordeaux, on the Savannah River, manufactured considerable quantities of sewing- silk during the Revolution. Mansfield, Conn., be- came, in the latter part of the eighteenth century, an important silk-raising section; and this con- tinued to be a fixed industry in that locality. Pennsylvania engaged in the culture about 1767, and a filature was established in Philadelphia in 1769 or 1770. and in 1771 2300 pounds of cocoons were brought there to reel. This State maintained some prominence in the industry up to the time of the Revolution. From the period of the close of the Revolution up to about 1825 the silk manufacture in the United States was purely domestic, families making small quantities — ■ hardly ever reaching 100 pounds per annum in a single family. The importation of silk goods in the meantime had increased enormously, so that in 1821 it amounted to $4,486,024. It was felt that this costly importation should be stayed, if possible, and several Congressional committees investigated the subject, and voluminous reports were made upon it. This brought about the en- thusiastic culture of the Moms multicaulis, which grew into a mania, during whose existence hun- dreds of speculators and thousands of private buyers were ruined. The result of this speculative incident, the financial depression of 1837, and the fact that in 1844 a blight afl'ected all the mulberry trees in the country were disastrous to silk culture in the Linited States, and the effort to rear silkworms ceased. In California, in 1860-75, the business was largely prosecuted, but did not succeed financially. In 1884 Congress began making appropriations for the encouragement of silk culture in the L'nited States, and these appro- priations, expended imder the Department of Agriculture, were continued until 1890, when they lapsed and were renewed in 1901. In the meantime considerable silk was grown in Utah under State bounties, and private individuals have raised cocoons and reeled the silk on hand reels for home weaving in many other States. The climate and soil of many parts of the L^nited , States seem admirably adapted to silk culture, but as yet there are no commercial reeling estab- lishments. The first silk mill on the Western continent was set up at Mansfield. Conn., in 1810. The manufacture was introduced into Philadel- phia about 1815; and as early as 1824 the Jae- quard loom began to be used there. Power- looms were next introduced, and power-loom weaving was begim about 1838. From 1831 to 1839 a large number of factories were started at Windsor Locks, Conn. ; Poughkeepsie, N. Y. ; in Philadelphia, and elsewhere, most of which failed. Burlington. N. J., became an important silk-producing locality, beginning about 1838. The industry included the culture of the mul- berry tree and the raising of silkworms, as well as the manufacture of silk. Hartford, South JIanchester (Conn.), Holyoke, North- ampton, and Haydcnville ( ilass. I, are among the New England towns in which silk has been manufactured extensively. But the most important centre of this industry in America is Paterson, N. J. (q.v.), where the water power of the Passaic River, facilities for trans- portation, etc., seem to offer the best pos- sible conditions for its prosecution. The first silk mill in Paterson was set up -about 1838, in the fourth floor of Samuel Colt's pistol factory. This was followed by the establishment of other factories, until in the years inmiediately succeed-