Silk

Silk

Silk is a natural protein fibre, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fibre of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity (sericulture). The shimmering appearance of silk is due to the triangular prism-like structure of the silk fibre, which allows silk cloth to refract incoming light at different angles, thus producing different colors.

Read more about Silk.

Famous quotes containing the word silk:

    Come, let me sing into your ear;
    Those dancing days are gone,
    All that silk and satin gear;
    Crouch upon a stone,
    Wrapping that foul body up
    In as foul a rag....
    William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)

    Like a skein of loose silk blown against a wall
    She walks by the railing of a path in Kensington Gardens,
    And she is dying piecemeal
    of a sort of emotional anemia.
    Ezra Pound (1885–1972)

    ‘Tis not your inky brows, your black silk hair,
    Your bugle eyeballs, nor your cheek of cream
    That can entame my spirits to your worship.
    William Shakespeare (1564–1616)