THE STORY OF ARTIFICIAL SILK 
chemist, a silkworm spins 300 yards of fine 
silk around itself when it is nine weeks old. 
It makes what we call a cocoon—a snug, 
warm, little sleeping-bag. It sleeps for three 
weeks, and then breaks out of its sleeping-bag 
and finds that it has become a moth—a very 
beautiful moth, with a thick, hairy body and 
large, broad wings. 
This resurrection is still one of the marvels 
of Nature. We know nothing about it. We 
can merely watch it happen with wondering 
eyes. A poor little caterpillar, creeping along 
with its 16 short legs, goes to sleep in a silk 
bag and wakes up to find itself a little moth 
angel, flying freely in the sunshine. As to 
how this is done, not a scientist in the world 
tan say. 
We do not care much for the caterpillar 
itself, but we are greatly interested in the 
resurrection robe that it spins for itself. We 
rob the sleeping worm of its robe. 
To tell the brutal truth, we kill the sleeping 
worm. Then we slightly roast the cocoon, 
dip it into warm water and unroll the silk 
threads. We kill hundreds of worms to make 
just one silk dress. 
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