90 ’ REPORT—1843. 
In the period, from 1765 to 1777, when the bounty system was in full operation, the 
following were found to be the averages— 
18,200 lb. Manufactured. 
45,990 lb. Raw. 
1,060 lb. Riband. 
That is, the imported fabrics had increased, while the raw material, to be worked up 
in Ireland, had diminished. This decline appears to have continued, and, in fact, we 
find, from Parliamentary documents, that in 1784 there were only 800 silk-weavers at 
work in Dublin, and that even these were not all in constant employment. In 1786 Par- 
liament withdrew its support from the Society’s silk warehouse. The trade was alto- 
gether suspended by the insurrection of 1798, and in 1800 it was deemed necessary 
to protect it by a duty of ten per cent. on the introduction of foreign and British 
silks. Soon after this, the silk manufacture began to be established in Lancashire and 
Cheshire, while in Ireland the trade was severely injured by combinations and trades- 
unions; several excellent workmen, unable to endure the arbitrary regulations esta- 
blished by these self-constituted bodies, removed to England, and, at this hour, there 
are more Irish than English engaged in silk-weaving at Macclesfield. In 1826 the 
protecting duties expired, and as the silk-weavers refused to modify their arbitrary 
laws so as to meet the altered circumstances of the times, the whole silk-weaving was 
destroyed as a branch of industry in Dublin. The poplin or tabinet manufacture, in 
which the weft is worsted, is always classed with the silk-trade in the returns made to 
the Irish Parliament. ‘There are at present about 280 men and 70 women engaged 
in the poplin manufacture, assisted by 150 children employed in winding the bobbins 
or quills for the shuttles, at ages varying from 7 to13 years. As the poplin manu- 
facture is a yery limited branch of industry, the Society of Operative Weavers has 
been able to maintain a fixed and uniform rate of prices for several years; and the 
master manufacturers generally concur in the system, because in an article of limited 
consumption, the use of which is exclusively confined to the wealthier classes of the 
community, if is of far greater importance to maintain the acknowledged superiority of 
the article than to produce it at a lower cost. The greatest improvements in the 
manufacture have resulted from the introduction of the Jacqtiatd loom, and from a 
machine of recent invention for introducing a variety of colours in fancy brocading by 
a more effective process than that which was anciently employed. In what are called 
French poplins, cotton is very freely introduced, and though they are thus ren- 
dered much cheaper than the Irish, they are obviously inferior in richness and 
beauty, and they have been found still more so in permanence of colour and durability 
of material. The Irish poplins are highly esteemed abroad, and they are occasionally 
ordered in limited quantities for the principal continental courts, the United States of 
America, and the East and West Indies. Silk has not been thrown in Dublin since 
the year 1837; it is chiefly imported from England, and the consumption of organzine 
is estimated at about 18,0001b. annually. There are about 240 poplin looms in Dublin, 
20 velvet, and a few furniture tabbareas ; so that the poplin may be regarded as the only 
branch of the silk-manufacture which has a healthy existence in Ireland. It has been 
already stated, that the high price of the fabric must always restrict the manufacture 
of poplin within what large mill-owners would consider exceedingly narrow limits, 
particularly as it is believed impossible to apply power successfully to this species 
of weaving. 
On the Pauper Lunatics of Ireland, from materials supplied by the Earl of 
Devon. By Dr. W. C. Taytor. 
Before the year 1817, a few cells in gaols and houses of industry were the only 
accommodation provided for lunatics; but in various parts of Ireland, and more 
especially in Kerry, certain secluded glens, called madmen’s glens, were, by the tacit 
consent of the peasantry, set apart for the use of idiots and the insane. In 1817 dis- 
trict lunatic asylums were formed, and placed under the superintendence of govern- 
ment officers. A table was exhibited of the districts for which these hospitals were 
established, the population of these districts, and the number of patients admitted from 
the contributory counties; but as these give insufficient accommodation, cells for the 
insane are connected with several of the old houses of industry, where proper medical 

