Story of Silk

Excerpt: "e;Father once told me he had known of a lot of silkworms that stopped eating and died because a sudden noise frightened them,"e; observed Pierre. "e;Such a calamity is not at all unusual, Pierre,"e; returned his mother. "e;And more than that, if anything alarms them after they have begun to spin they will frequently snap the thread of their cocoon and refuse to spin any more; if they do[24] continue the interruption causes a lump, or rough place, in the filament so that it is imperfect and has to be broken and tied. In consequence the silk is poorer and brings a lower price. So you see how really important it is not to jar their sensitive nerves."e;