TUB MODERN HISTORY OF SILK. 18<) 



June, which spread general alarm throughout Eng- 

 land, deprived her of thousands of her insects. On 

 visiting her manufactory early next morning, she 

 found that the liglitning had struck several of the 

 pans ; at least such was her belief, for she could not 

 believe that the sound of the thunder should occa- 

 sion such appearances. A large pan immediately 

 opposite to the window, containing about five hun- 

 dred Silkworms, was full of a liquor as yellow as 

 gold, and all the little animals who had been its in- 

 habitants were dead, and scorched up as by the 

 influence of fire, while others of the pans had only 

 been partially affected. She removed all the dead : 

 but her misfortune did not end there, for three suc- 

 ceeding days presented her with such numbers who 

 had equally felt the baneful effects of the lightning, 

 that her immense stock was reduced to two thou- 

 sand eight hundred and ninety-three : these were, 

 however, exceedingly healthy, and began spinning 

 their cones on the 7th of July. 



During all this time Miss Rhodes had no other 

 assistance than a servant ; the pans were cleaned 

 out once a-week, and the animals fed three times 

 a-day. So small a portion of her time was taken 

 up by attending the wornis, that neither her amuse- 

 ments nor avocations were interrupted by it. 



Miss Rhodes found, that the average number of 

 three hundred and sixty cones produced an ounce of 

 silk ; and she had, from the remainder of her stock 



