Websailor's Wacky Wildlife World
Created | Updated Jun 19, 2008
A quirky look at wildlife. To be taken with a pinch of
salt, but with more than a grain of truth!
Silk Moths and Teabags
Regular readers will know I am a bit of a hoarder, and it only takes a thought to send me delving in my cupboards. This happened last week. Watching something about the making of silk reminded me I had some silk thread and a silkworm cocoon tucked away somewhere. I dug it out, along with a genuine silk scarf given to me by a Chinese acquaintance some years ago, and my curiosity was aroused. So began my journey of discovery.
Let's start with a cup of tea and ponder the wonders of the natural world!
So where does the link between a cup of tea and silken threads figure in the growth of an empire, yet still connect with modern life? Well, ‘Confucius he say’ that in 2640 BC the Chinese princess Xi Ling Shi found a silk cocoon (from a white silk moth) floating in her cup of tea. The other connection with a cup of tea will become clear later.
Princess Xi Ling Shi was the first person to reel a cocoon of silk thread and discover the wonders of silk. Presumably the cocoon unravelled in the tea revealed its secret. A trade secret, which was to be kept by China for the next 3,000 years and the profits from which would help build an enormous empire. A potted history of silk can be found here so I will only touch on snippets of interest.
If anyone doubts the importance of wildlife in the scheme of things, then how a pretty little moth helped found an empire should be proof enough that we dismiss the natural world at our peril.
The process of weaving silk from silk worm caterpillars was originally unique to China, but in the 6th Century AD some of the caterpillar eggs were smuggled out of China by monks and its stranglehold on the trade soon ceased. The resulting decline in Chinese silk production has in recent years been reversed and it has once more regained its premier position in the trade, although many other countries produce silk.
The monks smuggled the eggs along The Silk Road (or Silk Route, thus named only in the 19th century). This was a network of ancient rugged, treacherous routes through mountainous country. It became the means by which silk and many other commodities were moved from Chang'an (now Xi'ian), China, to Rome, Italy, as early as the 2nd Century BC. It comprises some 2,800 miles (4500 kilometres) of some of the most hostile and varied terrain in the world.
Like spiders' silk, which is lighter than a feather and ounce for ounce stronger than steel, silk from the silkworm is one of Nature’s miracles. It comes not from a worm, but principally from the larvae of the white silk moth, the Bombyx mori. The caterpillar of the silkworm makes its cocoons of a much stronger silk than the caterpillars that we see in our own gardens.
From the eggs, which are no bigger than a pinhead, to caterpillars, to pupae, the process takes several weeks. During the latter part of that time in particular, the caterpillar literally gorges itself on its sole food - mulberry tree leaves. Silkworms fed on smaller, domestic mulberry leaves produce the finest silk, while a coarser silk is produced by silkworms fed on oak leaves.
The caterpillar sheds its skin four times, doubles in size and takes on a very ugly appearance! The hairy silkworm caterpillar is known as "kego" in Japan, or "chawki silkworm" in India. Once it begins to spin its cocoon it stops eating, and will spin a single thread as much as a mile long, making it ideal for weaving fabric. Once spinning is complete it takes approximately fourteen days for the moth to hatch.
However, for the purpose of silk production (sericulture) this must be prevented and the cocoons are ‘stifled’, that is baked or boiled, as a hatching moth will spoil the silk. The thread is reeled off, this process producing the best silk. Female cocoons are heavier than males.
Centuries of selective breeding for larger cocoons and better silk have rendered this particular species of moth extinct in the wild. Indeed it would be unable to survive, so dependent and delicate has it become. There are between 300 and 500 species of wild silk moths including the Wild Silk moth Bombyx mandarina and the Tussah Silk moth Antheraea mylitta from India, the latter producing a much coarser 'wild' silk.
The silken thread is used for rope, cushions, blankets, robes, rugs, wall hangings, artificial flowers, kimonos, scarves, shirts, ties and underwear. It is believed that Genghis Khan's secret weapons in the wars of the 13th century were the long silk shirts worn by his soldiers. The close-woven silk under shirts prevented arrows from embedding deep in the skin, enabling the arrow heads to be lifted out with minimal harm to the soldiers.
Silk is prized for its versatility, sensuous comfort and ability to absorb moisture, making garments cool in summer and warm in winter. It keeps its shape, doesn’t crease easily and is the strongest natural fibre. It dyes easily in a rainbow of lustrous colours. It is no wonder that silk stockings were a bargaining tool with the ladies for many a GI in WWll (US soldiers - Government Issue!). The silk previously used for parachutes was often 'acquired' for underwear and wedding dresses and was much in demand too.
The cocoon I have is about the size of a small broad bean and the skein of silk is pure white. It must be forty years old at least. It came from a silk farm which originated in Eynsford, Kent at Lullingstone Castle. It was this silk farm that provided the silk for the wedding dress of Princess Elizabeth when she married Prince Philip on 20 November, 1947. The same farm, by that time operating from Dorset, provided the silk for the wedding dress of Lady Diana Spencer on 29 July, 1981.
In the UK, when an established member of the legal profession reaches a certain status he/she can be invited to 'take silk', becoming Queen's Counsel (QC), and being entitled to wear a silk gown in court.
All this and more from a fairly insignificant little white moth.
I found it interesting that it takes about 110 cocoons to make a silk tie and 630 for a blouse, the only other items of real silk I am ever likely to own. It takes a mere 8,000 worms, eating 350 lbs of mulberry leaves to make ten blouses. That is a munching marathon by anyone's standards.
Now to go full circle and back to that cup of tea! This month is the 100th birthday of the tea bag. So what has that to do with silk moths?
Well, it seems that in June 1908 a tea merchant in New York City wanted to send sample tea leaves to future clients, and he did this by putting the precious leaves in pouches made of silk. The recipients were unsure what to do with this silky little bag, but had the presence of mind to put them in a cup of hot water! The silk was too close-woven to let the tea escape fully and was soon replaced with gauze, then paper, and so the forerunner of today's tea bag was born!
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