25 



of food required for its proper sustenance was something 

 very enoroious. In countries where the silk worm is cul- 

 tivated the people care very little about the mulberry 

 itself. Captain Cox explained that the quality of the silk 

 produced depended on the food supplied to the worms, and 

 that the mulberry leaf contained the essence of the very 

 best that could be produced. Worms fed upon lettuce 

 leaves produce a very poor quality of silk indeed. He then 

 proceeded to describe the modus operandi by which the 

 silk is produced, his remarks being illustrated by worms 

 which were handed round the company, and which excited 

 great interest. He then proceeded to observe that a 

 question of very great commercial importance to this country 

 was involved in the production of silk, and to the solution 

 of that question he was directing his attention. He had 

 already stated that the cultivation of the silk worm in 

 England had hitherto failed in a commercial sense on account 

 of the difficulty of procuring the food in sufficient quantity 

 and at a sufficiently cheap rate. But while they must 

 still be dependent upon other countries for the best qualities 

 of silk, would it not be possible to produce in this country 

 an inferior quality in sufficient quantity and at a cost that 

 will enable it to be profitably cultivated, and thus make its 

 production, commercially speaking, a question of national 

 importance ? Captain Cox then proceeded to state that 

 Mrs. Friend had obtained from her worms almost as much 

 silk as would make a dress ; and concluded by explaining 

 the process by which the "gut" used in fishing is made 

 from the silk worm, when the little insect is in a certain 

 state which is fully understood by those who have had ex- 

 perience in its cultivation. 



Captain Cox's address excited a great deal of attention, 

 especially among the ladies. 



The Mayou explained that Lady Burton had presented 

 tho large hornet's nest then upon the table to the Margate 

 Literary and Scientific Institution. lie also took occasion 

 to advert upon the great amount of sagacity displayed by 



