CH. v.] HISTORY OF SILK, ETC. 97 



change. The gatherer must be neat, have his hands 

 clean, and his breath sweet, and not poisoned with 

 onions or tobacco, and be careful not to press the 

 leaves, by crowding them into bags or baskets. 

 Lastly, that they gather only, unless in case of ne- 

 cessity, leaves from the present, not from the former 

 year's sprigs or old wood, which are not only rude 

 and harsh, but are annexed to stubbed stalks, which 

 injure the worms and spoil the denudated branches. 

 One note more let me add, that in first hatching 

 the eggs sometimes disclose earlier than there is 

 provision for them on the trees, in which case the 

 tender leaves of lettuce, dandelion, and endive may 

 supply the defect, so they feed not on them too long 

 or over much, which gives them the lask. 



" I have no more to add but for this our encour- 

 agement, and to encounter the objections which may 

 be suggested about the coldness and moisture of 

 our country — that the spring is in Provence no less 

 inconstant than is ours in England, that the colds at 

 Paris are altogether as sharp, and that in May, 

 when it had continued raining for nine-and-twenty 

 days successively, M. Jenard assures us he pro- 

 ceeded in hi^ work without the least disaster ; and 

 in the year 1664 he presented the French king, his 

 master, with a considerable quantity of better silks 

 than Messina or Bononia could produce, which he 

 sold raw at Lyons for a pistole the pound, when 

 that of Avignon, Provence, and Dauphine produced 

 little above half that price. There is a mulberry-tree 

 brought from Virginia not to be contemned, upon 

 which they find silkworms, which would exceed 

 the silk of Paris itself, if the planters of nauseoua 

 tobacco did not hinder the culture. 



" Sir J. Berkley, who was many years governor 

 of that ample colony, told me he presented King 

 Charles the Second with as much silk as made his 

 majesty a complete suit of apparel. 



" Lastly, let it not seem altogether impertinent if 



Vol. 1L— I 



