178 THE MODERN HISTORY OF SILK. 



rivalling them in the brightness of our colours and 

 the durability of our dyes. The existing prejudice in 

 favour of French silks, is, beyond all doubt, to be 

 ascribed principally to the difficulty of obtaining these 

 articles ; for, it is stated in the evidence before the 

 Lords' Committee, that the greater proportion of the 

 silks professing to be smuggled, disposed of in Lon- 

 don and other places, is of British manufacture, 

 brought from Spitalfields and Manchester, and not, 

 as our ladies implicitly believe, from Lyons and 

 Marseilles. 



About the year 1 780, the breeding of Silk Worms 

 was again revived in Britain. We find, from the 

 Transactions of the Society for the Encouragement 

 of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, that, on the 

 1st February, 1785, the silver medal was awarded to 

 Miss Henrietta Rhodes, of Cann Hall, near Bridge- 

 north, for her sedulous attention to, and judicious 

 observations on, the breeding and treating of Silk 

 Worms. 



To shew their progress and rapid increase, we may 

 mention, that Miss Rhodes got a dozen of Silk 

 Worms in 1782. She was then quite unacquainted 

 with the mode of treating them ; but, by care, pre- 

 served them in health, and they produced a number 

 of eggs. 



In May, 1 783, about thirteen hundred larva were 

 produced from the eggs, and she was so fortunate as 

 to lose very few during the whole time of feeding, 

 and obtained from them twelve hundred and seventy- 

 five cones, which produced nearly four ounces of fine 



