10.04.2013 Views

The history of silk, cotton, linen, wool, and other fibrous ... - Cd3wd.com

The history of silk, cotton, linen, wool, and other fibrous ... - Cd3wd.com

The history of silk, cotton, linen, wool, and other fibrous ... - Cd3wd.com

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

74 CULTIVATION AND MANUFACTURE OF SILK<br />

leaves <strong>of</strong> <strong>other</strong> plants, <strong>and</strong> a law was enacted, that no worm^<br />

were to be destroyed or sacrificed until their quantity was suffi-<br />

cienth' great. <strong>The</strong> n'loaastery was founded to <strong>com</strong>memorate so<br />

great a benefit, <strong>and</strong> some trunks <strong>of</strong> the original mulberry-trees<br />

can yet be seen there*."<br />

In the following passage [Regne Animal, par Ciivier, torn.<br />

V. p. 402.,) Latreille mentions Tuifan as an important city as<br />

far as it aflfected the early <strong>silk</strong>-trade. In <strong>other</strong> respects his ac-<br />

count coincides wdth that aheady given.<br />

" La ^^lle de Turfan, dans la petite Bucharie, fut long-temps le rendez-vous<br />

des caravanes venant de I'Ouest, et I'entrepot principal des soieries de la Chine.<br />

Elle ^tait la mdtropole des Sferes de I'Asie superieure, ou de la Serique de Pto-<br />

l^m^e. Expuls^s de leurs pays par les Huns, les Sferes s'etablirent dans le gr<strong>and</strong>e<br />

Bucharie et dans I'lnde. C'est d'une de leurs colonics, du Ser-hend (Ser-indi),<br />

que des missionaires Grfecs transportferent, du temps de Justinien, les oeufs du ver<br />

k sole i Constantinople."<br />

<strong>The</strong> City <strong>of</strong> Turfan in Little Bucharia was for a long time the rendezvous <strong>of</strong><br />

the caravans <strong>com</strong>ing from the West, <strong>and</strong> the principal market for Chinese <strong>silk</strong>s.<br />

It was the metropolis <strong>of</strong> the Seres <strong>of</strong> L^^pper Asia, or the Serica <strong>of</strong> Ptolemy. <strong>The</strong><br />

Seres having been expelled their countrj' by the Huns, established themselves in<br />

Great Bucharia <strong>and</strong> in India. It is from one <strong>of</strong> their colonies (<strong>of</strong> Ser-indi), that<br />

the Grecian ^Missionaries, in the time <strong>of</strong> Justinian, brought the eggs <strong>of</strong> the <strong>silk</strong>worm<br />

to Constantinople.<br />

A diploma <strong>of</strong> Ethelbert, King <strong>of</strong> Kent, mentions "Armilausia<br />

holoserica," proving that <strong>silk</strong> was known in Engl<strong>and</strong><br />

at the end <strong>of</strong> the sixth centuryt. <strong>The</strong> usual dress <strong>of</strong> the<br />

earhest French kings seems to have been a <strong>linen</strong> shirt <strong>and</strong><br />

drawers <strong>of</strong> the same material next to the skin ; over these a<br />

tunic, probably <strong>of</strong> fine <strong>wool</strong>, which had a border <strong>of</strong> <strong>silk</strong>, orna-<br />

mented sometimes with gold or precious stones; <strong>and</strong> upon this<br />

a sagum, which was fastened with a fibula on the right shoul-<br />

der. Eginhart informs us, that Charlemange wore a tunic, or<br />

vest, with a <strong>silk</strong>en border {limbo serico)t.<br />

* It may be observed, that the folds <strong>of</strong> the turban are not unfrequently used in<br />

the East to convey articles <strong>of</strong> value. See Journal <strong>of</strong> a Tour in Asia Minor, by<br />

Charles Fellows, London, 1839, p. 216.<br />

t Dugdale's Monasticon, vol. i. p. 24. Adelung's Glossarium Manuale, v. Ar-<br />

milauFiia.<br />

X Examples <strong>of</strong> it may be seen, I. in the two figures <strong>of</strong> Charlemagne, executed<br />

in mosaic during liis life-time, one <strong>of</strong> which is preserved in the Penitentiary <strong>of</strong> St

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!