Here we think it not out of place to introduce the account of the silk-worm by Georgius Pisida, who flourished about A. D. 640, although he lived at Constantinople after the breeding of silk-worms had been introduced there. According to him the silk-worm pines or moulders almost to nothing in its tomb, and then returns to its former shape. The verses are however deserving of attention for their elegance, and for the repetition of Basil’s idea, which Ambrose has left out, of the analogy between the restoration of the silk-worm and the resurrection of man. Ποῖος δὲ καὶ σκωλήκα Σηρικὸν νόμος Πείθει τὰ λαμπρόκλωστα νήματα πλέκειν, Ἃ, τῇ βαφῇ χρωσθέντα τῆς ἁλουργίδος, Χαυνοῖ τὸν ὄγκον τῶν κρατούντων ἐμφρόνως; Μνήμη γὰρ αὐτοὺς εὐλαβῶς ὑποτρέχει, Ὅτι πρὸ αὐτῶν τῆς στολῆς ἡ λαμπρότης Σκώληκος ἦν ἔνδυμα καὶ φθαρτὴ σκέπη, Ὃς, τῇ καθ’ ἡμᾶς μαρτυρῶν ἀναστάσει, Θνῆσκει μὲν ἔνδον τῶν ἑαυτοῦ νημάτων, Τὸν αὐτὸν οἶκον καὶ ταφὴν δεδεγμένος, Σχεδὸν δὲ παντὸς τοῦ κατ’ αὐτὸν σαρκίου Σαπέντος ἢ ῥυέντος ἢ τετηγμένου, Χρονόυ καλοῦντος ἐκ φθορᾶς ὑποστρέφει, Καὶ τὴν πάλαι μόρφωσιν ἀῤῥήτως φύει Ἐν τῷ περιττεύσαντι μικρῷ λειψάνῳ, Πρὸς τὴν ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς σωματούμενος πλάσιν. _l._ 1265-1282. What law persuades the Seric worm to spin Those shining threads, which, dyed with purple hue, Inflate, yet check the pride of mighty men? For, whilst they blaze in grand attire, the thought Steals on,--This splendid robe once cloth’d a worm: Type of our resurrection from the grave, It dies within the tomb itself has spun, That perishing abode, which is at once Its house and tomb; in which it rots away, Till at the call of time it gladly leaves Corruption, and its ancient shape resumes. A little remnant of its mould’ring flesh, By processes unspeakable and dark, Restores the wonders of its earliest form. Yates’s Translation. MACARIUS, CL., A. D. 373. This author gives us an additional proof (_Homil._ 17, § 9,) that the use of silken clothing was characteristic of dissolute women. JEROME, CL., A. D. 378. This great author mentions silk in numerous passages. In his translation of Ezekiel xxvii. he has supposed silk (_sericum_) to be an article of Syrian and Phœnician traffic as early as the time of that prophet. In his beautiful and interesting Epistle to Læta on the Education of her Daughter (_Opp. Paris_, 1546, _tom._ i. _p._ 20. C.), he says: Let her learn also to spin wool, to hold the distaff, to place the basket in her bosom, to twirl the spindle, to draw the threads with her thumb. Let her despise the webs of silk-worms, the fleeces of the Seres, and gold beaten into threads. Let her prepare such garments as may dispel cold, not expose the body naked, even when it is clothed. Instead of gems and silk, let her love the sacred books, &c.