MUSEOS DE LA SEDA / SILK MUSEUMS

industry was the main source of wealth of many Spanish regions, and in particular, Va- lencia and Murcia, as shown by a large number of historical documents. However, in the mid-nineteenth century, certain endemic diseases of the silkworm ac- quired epidemic characters and threatened to make sericulture disappear in Europe. The most fearsome was the “pebrina”. This disease, very contagious and transmitted by eggs, is caused by the infection of the microsporidian parasite Nosema bombycis , and it was in 1870 when Pasteur published his discoveries about its prevention and control. But by then, the damage to the industry in Europe was already irreparable. In Spain, the seri- culture activity disappeared throughout Andalusia, Castile and Aragon, and was greatly reduced in Valencia, the main producer. Only Murcia and the low basin of the river Se- gura conserved their mulberry trees and avoided the total disappearance of this industry in Spain. The eradication of the “pebrina” demanded a radical improvement of the way of raising the silkworm. Given the transmission of the disease through the eggs, a strict control of the sanitary quality of them was imperative. Louis Pasteur developed a system, known by his name, which implemented this sanitary control. The fertilized female butterfly was en- closed in a small bag to deposit the eggs, and later, a sample of its homogenized body was examined for the presence of the Nosema corpuscles. Only the eggs of the clean females were used for propagation. This procedure required a new level of technical expertise and the creation of a body of experts able to perform and propagate the method for the eradication of Nosema . Consecutively, specialized institutions were created for improving and teaching the modern advances in the technology of Sericulture. These Sericultural Stations, as they were known, were stablished in different countries, being the one in Padova (Italy), founded in 1872, the most prestigious and active. The situation in Spain was similar and following the European trend, the General Directorate of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce decided to establish in Spain a specialised Institution for the development of modern Sericulture. For that purpose, it requested at the end of 1891 to the Agricultural Engineer D. Vicente Sanjuán the preparation of a project to install an Experimental Sericulture Station in Murcia. In order to acquire information about the latest developments in the field, he had to travel to Italy, a country with cutting-edge seri- culture technology at the time, in order to visit the different institutions established there, starting by the one in Padova. After the corresponding project, the Government granted the creation of the Sericultural Station of Murcia (SSM), by Royal Order of May 3, 1892, being Director of the same since its foundation until 1900 the author of the project D. Vicente Sanjuán. The station was located on the road to El Palmar, a small town close to the city of Murcia. During the first years, the activity of the SSM was limited and diffi- cult, with a scarce response of the farmers to its efforts. But after some years, its work was fully recognised and appreciated and the need for an expansion arise. In 1912, the SSM planned to move to a new location. With that aim, the Provincial Council acquired a farm of 11 hectares of land in the small town of La Alberca de las Torres, and transferred it to the SSM. In 1914, they began to build the installations of the new Station, under the direction of D. Adolfo Virgili. The new Station was completed by 1925. It included two houses as residences for the Director and Vice Director of the Station, three pavilions for the administration and the activities of the institution, a building to locate the freezing chambers for the hibernation of eggs (also known as “seed”), and another big building 58