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.