THE MODERN HISTORY OF SILK. 187 



the manufacture of gloves and hosiery, as well as in 

 that of poplins, tabinets, and all those mixed fabrics 

 of whicli silk is the basis, and we are also already 

 rivaling them in the brightness of our colours and 

 the durability of our dies. 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 be- 

 fore the Lords' Committee, that the greater propor- 

 tion of the silks professing to be smuggled, disposed 

 of in London and other places, is of British manu- 

 facture, — brought from Spitalfields and Manchester, 

 — and not, as our ladies implicitly believe, from 

 Lyons and Marseilles. 



About the year 1780, the breeding of Silkworms 

 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 

 Bridgenorth, for her sedulous attention to, and 

 judicious observations on, the breeding and treating 

 of Silkworms. 



To show 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. 



