172 



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 gi'eat as the pro- 

 spect 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 



