Athothis : a satire on modern medicine / by Thomas C. Minor.
192/210

The primitive dress was a leaf, and to-day most fashion- able dresses are fabricated from a material derived from a worm that feeds on leaves; so feminine costume is yet indirectly Eve-like. Yes, all these handsome silks are the result of a transmigration; a worm feeds on leaves, weaves its cocoon, becomes a chrysalis, changes to a butterfly, and flits about in royal attire, to the de- light of the children of mankind." " I know full well that silk is the result of a metamor- phosis," answered Paulus Androcydes, petulantly. "Ah f my Egyptian friend, you carry your peculiar doctrine too far. Transmigration even in dress ! What a wild absurdity!" " But even this little example must prove the sound- ness of my views," retorted Athothis " for you must acknowledge that the larva, pupa, and moth, although widely different in form and manner of living, are never- theless one and the same organism existing under varied conditions. I notice that moderns, like ancients, utilize all kinds of substances for self-adornment, and often clothe themselves in the former earthly skins of their an- cestors. I see in this audience the fragmentary remains of insects, animals, birds, fishes, and plants, which, for the sake of quieting conscience, are called silk, bone, fur, leather, feathers, pearls, linen, muslin, and cotton—a formula the ingredients of which, when properly com- pounded and added to woman, make a dame of fashion." " You are not only unreasonable, but ungallant," ob- served Paulus Androcydes, in a tone of vexation. "All moderns have a highly cultivated sense of modesty, and our polite society would be sadly shocked at the primeval costume, except when noticed in pictures and statuary. 16