132 OUR INSECT FRIENDS AND FOES 



them to Constantinople. Here they started a silk 

 industry, teaching the people the whole process 

 of silk manufacture; and from these few silk- 

 worms' eggs has sprung the enormous industry 

 that has spread practically all over the Eastern 

 world. 



At the present day France is the chief silk 

 manufacturing country. Each year 9,918,000 

 pounds of raw silk is used by the French manu- 

 facturers in turning out the silken fabrics, and of 

 this amount of raw silk, France produces about 

 one-eighth, the rest being imported from Italy 

 and Asiatic countries. 



Britain unfortunately comes far behind in the 

 manufacture of silk ; though formerly an extensive 

 trade was carried on at Spitalfields, Coventry, 

 Macclesfield, Dublin, and Manchester it has been 

 practically killed by the treaty with France, which 

 allows foreign silk to come into the English 

 market duty free. 



The common silkworm (Bombyx won) that 

 supplies the raw material from which most 

 of the beautiful fabrics are made, is a very 

 inconspicuous, dull-looking insect, with none of 

 the gorgeous colours and markings which dis- 

 tinguish other members of its family. It has 

 been likened by a French writer to a humble 

 workman toiling in a plain white blouse to 

 produce luxurious array for the favoured people 

 of the world. 



The silk Moths belong to the Order Lepi- 

 doptera, sub-Order Heterocera, or Moths, group 

 Bombycidce. There are upwards of 400 species 

 of known silk producers, but only six species of 



