164 



THE MODERN HISTORY OF SILK. 



FEW articles of commerce are more valuable to 

 mankind than silk. It is extensively cultivated in 

 many of the most populous provinces of southern 

 Europe, and excites as deep an interest among the 

 inhabitants as the crops of flax, hemp, and even 

 grain in the northern countries. The prospect of a 

 failure creates a panic nearly as great as the prospect 

 of a famine. 



In its first production, silk furnishes employment 

 to many thousands, and nearly as great a number in 

 its transportation to foreign lands. In the course of 

 its being manufactured, it furnishes employment and 

 subsistence to hundreds of thousands, and, besides, 

 gives an impulse to the circulating medium of almost 

 all countries, probably in greater degree than almost 

 any other mercantile traffic. 



It is not to Europe alone that this valuable article 

 is of such momentous interest, for, in China and 

 India, silk is cultivated to a still greater extent than 

 in Europe, and with more success, as the climate of 



