I^d OK REARING SILK-WORMS IN SCOTLAND. June 8 , 



Still, however, it was thought to be in vain to at- 

 tempt to rear this tender iufedV in the lefs genial climates 

 of Italy or other European countries ; — and Greece en- 

 joyed, for a good many centuries, a monopoly of this- 

 lucrative manufaSure, till, at laft, the Normans, by 

 vigorous exertions, obtained poffeffion of Sicily. This 

 daring people, who had been fuccefsful in fo many en- 

 terprizes, which had been by others deemed impoffible, 

 were deftined to open the eyes of their fubje£ls, in re- 

 gard to this article, as well as others. Roger, king of 

 Sicily, about the beginning of the 1 2th century, import- 

 ed the eggs of the filk-worm into his dominions, 

 where they were foon found to profper abundantly. — 

 From thence, they fpread gradually all over Italy ; — and 

 here, again, their progrefs was flayed for feveral ages. 



Italy has been long deemed the garden of Europe, 

 and its climate has been accounted the moft falubrious. 

 Men were accuftomed to look towards it with a kind 

 of religious veneration ; — nor did thofe who inhabited 

 northern climates, even venture, for a long time, to 

 think they had the leaft reafon to fufpeft it was pcffible 

 the}' could rear any of thofe products which had been 

 peculiar to it. — At laft, however, Henry the Fourth 

 of France, whofe mind was endowed with too much 

 vigour to be led in the trammels that entangled the vul- 

 gar, turned his thoughts to this fubjeft, and faw rea- 

 fon to believe that it would not be impoffible to rear 

 lilk- worms even in France itfelf. This extravagant 

 idea, as it was then thought, was ftrongly combated by 

 the fagacious Sully, who, though a man of great ta- 

 lents, was incapable of entering in this particular, into 

 <he more liberal views of his illuftrious fovereign. 

 Henry, in fpite of the oppofition of his minifter, per- 

 fifted in his refolution of having the experiment tried ; 

 and the fuccefs of two hundred years has abundantly 

 teilified, that he judged wifely; for the rearing of filk 

 i« that country has been from that time till tlie prer 



