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deal of Diflrufl, as he has Reafon ; it having no Warrant : He adds, That the Devil invented the Fable of Silentis, to turn the Myfteries of our Religon into Ridicule. But it mutt be a very ignorant Devil, to take Rubent Mi oculi ex vino, £jf dentes ejus ex IciSe albefceut, in the Scnfe he has done; as if the Words lignified any Thing more, in the Propriety of the Hebrew Tongue, than, His Eyes are redder than Wine ; His Teeth whiter than Milk. We may add, That no Body, before Sechart, neither Chriflian nor Idola- ter, ever law any Thing of Jefus drift in the Fable of Silcnus.
S1LIQJJA, in Botany, is the Seed-Veffel, Husk; Pod, or Shell of Plants, of the leguminous Kind. Whence Sili- qttous Seeds, &c.
SILK, a very Toft, fine, bright, delicate Thread ; the .Work of an Intecl, called the Silk Worm. The Antients were but little acquainted with the Ule and Manufaclute of Silk. They took it for the Work of a Kind of Spider, or Beetle, who fpun it out of its Entrails, and wound it with its Feet about the little Branches of Trees. This Infefl they called Ser, from Seres, a People in Scytbia, who kept it ; whence, the Silk it ftlf they called Sericum. But the Ser has very little Affinity with our Silk-Worm, Sombyx: The former living Five Years; but the latter dying annually, envelop'd in a yellowifh Cover, or Ball; which, wound out into little Threads, makes what we call Silk. 'Twas in the Me of Cos, that the Att of manufafluring Silk, was firft invented ; and Tamphila, Daughter of <Platis, the In- ventor. The Difcovery was not long unknown to the Ro- mans. Silk was brought them from Seres, where the Worm was a Native. But lb far were they from profiting by the Difcovery, that they could not be induced to believe fo fine a Thread mould be the Work of a Worm ; and thereupon formed a Thoufand Chymerical Conjectures of their own.
This Temper rendered Silk a very fcarce Commodity among them for many Ages : Twas even ibid Weight for Weight againtt Gold ; infomuch, that VoplfctiS tells us, The Emperor Aurelian, refufed the Emprefs, his Spoufe, a Suit of Silk, which fhe folicited of him with much Earneftnefs; merely for its Dcarnefs. At length, Two Monks, coming from the Indies to Conftanunople, in 55$ ; brought with them great Quantities of Silk Wcrms, with Inftructions for the hatching of their Eggs, rearing and feed- ing the Worms, drawing qut the Silk, lpinning and work- ing it. Upon this, Manufactures were let up at Athens, Thebes, and Corinth.
About the Year 1130, Roger King of Sicily, eflablifhed a Silk Manufactory at 'Palermo, and another in Calabria. ; managed by Workmen, who were Part of the Plunder brought from Athens, Corinth, &c. whereof that Prince made a Conqueft in his Expedition to the Holy Land. By Degrees, Meaeray adds, the reft of Italy and Spain learned from the Sicilians, and Calabrians, the Management of the Silk-Worms; and the working of the Silk : And at length the French, by Right of Neighbourhood, a little before the Reign of Francis I. began to imitate them. The great Advantage the New Manufacture turned to, made our King James I. very earneft for its being introduced into England. Accordingly, it was recommended feveral Times from the Throne, and in the molt earned: Terms, to plant Mulberry-Trees, igc. for the Propagation of Silk Worms ; but, unhappily, without Effect : Tho' from the various Ex- periments are meet withal in the Thilofophical TranfatJions, and other Places, it appears, That the Silk-Worm thrives and works as well, in all Refpeils, in England, as in any Part of Europe.
The Silk-worm is an Infecf, not more remarkable for the precious Matter it furnifhes for divers Stuffs; than for the many Forms it atTumes, before and after its being invelop'd in the rich Cod or Ball it weaves it felf. From a Grain, or Seed, which is its firft State, it becomes a pretty big Worm, of a whirifh Colour, bordering on a yellow. When a Worm, it fhuts its felf up in its Cod, and affumes the Form of a kind of greeni/li Bean, without any Signs of Life or Mo- tion. At length it awakes to become a Butter-Fly; after making it felf a Paflage out of its Silken Sepulcher. And, at laft, dying indeed, it prepares it felf, by a Grain, or Seed it cafts, for a New Life ; which the Wafmth of the Summer Weather affifts it in refuming.
Affoon as the Silk-Worm is arrived at the Size and Strength neceffary for the beginning his Cod; he makes his Web : For 'tis thus they call that flight Tiflue, which makes the Beginning, and Ground of this admirable Work. This is his firft Day's Employment. On the Second, he forms his Cod, and covers himfelf almoft over with Silk. The Third Da}', he is quite hid; and the following Days, em- ploys himfelf in thickening and ftrengthening his Cod : Al- ways working from one Angle End, which he never breaks
- W his own Fault; and which is fo fine, and fo long, that
rhofe who have examined it attentively, think they fpeak within Compafs, when they affirm, that each Cod contains Silk enough to reach the Length of Six Englifi Miles In
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Ten Days time, the Cod is ih its Perfeaion ; and is now to be taken down from the Branches of the Mulberry Tree, where the Worms have hung it. But this Point requires a deal of Attention ; for there are fbme Worms more lazy than others ; and 'tis very dangerous waiting till they make themfelves a Paffage, which utually happens about the Fif- teenth Day of the Month.
The firft, finett and ftrongeft Cods or Balls, are kept for the Grain; the reft are carefully wound : or, if 'tis de- fired to keep them all, or if there be more than can be wel! wound at once; they lay them for fbme Time in an Oven mo- derately hot, or elfe expofe them, for feveral Davs fiicceffive- ly, to the greateft Heats of the Sun; in order to kill the Bean or Maggot ; which, without this Precaution, would not fail to open it felf a Way to go and ufe thofe New Wings abroad, it has acquired within. Ordinarily, they only wind the more perfefl Cods. Thofe that are double, cr too weak, or too coarfe, are laid afide ; not as altogether ufelefs, but that, being improper for winding, they are referred to be drawn out into bkains. The Cods are of different Colours; the moft common are Yellow, Orange-Colour, Uabella, and Flefh-Colour.
There are fome alfo of a Sea-green ; others of a Sulphur Colour, and others White : But there is no Neceffity for feparating the Colours and Shades to wind them apart 5 as all the Colours are to be loft in the future Scouring and Preparing of the Silk.
To wind the Silk from off the Cods, Two Machines are neceffary; the one a Furnace, with its Copper; the other a Reel, or Frame, to draw the Silk. The Winder, then, feated near the Furnace, throws into the Copper of Water over the Furnace (firft heated and boiled to a certain De- gree which Cuftom alone can teach) a Handful or Two of Cods, which have been firft well purged of all their loofe furry Subftance. He then ftirs the whole very briskly about with Birchen Rods, bound and cut like Brufhes ; p.nd when the Heat, and Agitation have detach'd the Ends of the Silks of the Pods, which are apt to catch on the Rods, he draws them forth ; and joining Ten or Twelve, or even Four- teen of them together, he forms them into Threads, accord- ing to the Bignefs required to the Works they ate deftined for: Eight Ends fufhVng for Ribbonds ; and Velvets, £fjc. requiring no lefs than Fourteen. The Ends thus joyncd in- to Two or Three Threads, arc firft patted into the Holes of Three Iron Rods, in the Fore-part of the Reel, then upon the Bobbins, or Pullies, and at laft are drawn out to the Reel it felf, and there fattened, each to an End of an Ann or Branch of the Reel. Thus dilrofed, the Workman, giv- ing Motion to the Reel, by turning the Handle; guides his Threads ; fubftitutes new ones, when any of them break, or any of the Cods are wound out ; ftrengthens them where neceffary, by adding others ; and takes away the Cods wound out, or that, having been pierced, are full of Water. In this Manner, Two Workmen will fpin and reel Three Pounds of Silk in a Day ; which is an otherguife Difpatch than is made by the Spinning Wheel, or Diftaff. Indeed, all Silks cannot be fpun, and reeled after this Manner : Either, by Reafon the Cods have been perforated by the Silk-Worms themfelves, or becaufc they are double, or too weak to bear the Water ; or becaufe they are coarle, g?c. Of all thefe together, they make a particular Kind of Silk called Fleuret : Which being carded, or even fpun on the Diftaff, or the Wheel in the Condition it comes from the Cod, makes a to. lerable Silk.
As to the Cods, after opening them with Sciffars, and taking out the Beans (which are of fome Ule for the feed- ing of Fowl) they are fteeped Three or Four Days in Troughs, the Water whereof is changed every Day to pre- vent their (linking. When they ate well foftened by this Scowring and cleared of that gummy Matter; the Worm had lined the Infide withal, and which renders it impenetrable to the Water, and even to Air it felf; they boil them Half an Hour in a Lie of Afhes, very clear and well ftrained : and after wafhing them out in the River, and drying them in the Sun, they card and fpin them on the Wheel, g?c. and thus make another Kind of Fleuret, fomewhat inferior to' the former.
The feveral Preparations which Silks undergo, to fit them to be ufed in the Manufacture of Silken Stuffs, are the Spin- ning, Reeling, Milling, and T)ying. The Two firft we have already fpoke of, as they are concerned in drawing the Silk from off the Cods. As to the Spinning and Reeling of Raw Silks, already off the Cods, fuch as they are brought hi- ther from Italy, the Levant, &c. the firft is chiefly performed on the Spinning-wheel; and the latter, either on Hand Reels, or on Reels mounted on Machines, which ferve to reel feveral Skains at the fame Time. As to the Milling, they ufe a Mill cotnpofed of feveral Pieces, which may Mill Two or Three Hundred Bobbins at once, and make them into as many Skains. SeeSpiNNiNG, Reeling, Milling, and Dying, each under its proper Article.
Rain
