Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from NCSU Libraries http://www.archive.org/details/reporttodepartmeOOcowd UNIVERSAL EXPOSITION, PARIS, 1867. REPORT DEPARTMENT OF STATE SILK AND SILK MANUFACTURES. ELLIOT C. CO WD IN, UNITED STATES COMMISSIONER. WASTII XUTON, D. C 1868. WRE BOOKCASE MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, IN ANSWER TO A resolution of the IIouss of \Sth ultimo, transmitting report of Elliot C. Coirdin, Esq., commissioner to the Paris Exposition of 18G7, on silk and silk manufactures. March Qfi, 1868. — Read, referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and ordered to be printed. To the House of Representatives of the United States : In answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 18th ultimo, relatinp: to the report of Mr. Cowdin, I transmit a report of the Secretary of State, and the document to which it refers. ANDREW JOHNSON. Washington, March 25, 1868. Department op State, Washington, March 25, 1868. The Secretary of State, to whom was referred the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 18th ultimo, requesting the trans mission to that house of the report of Elliot C. Cowdin, Esq., commis- sioner to the Paris Exposition of 1867, on silk and silk manufactures, has the honor to lay before the President the report thus called for. Resjjectfully submitted : WILLIAM H. SEWARD. The President. REPORT. Sir:— The undersigned, Commissioner of the United States, and Menil)er of the " Committee on ra\v materials and manufactures of great use, or displaying remarkalde skill or merit," to whom has l)een specially assigned the suhject of .^llk and xllh manufactiire.% respectfully submits the following REPORT. Silk, l)y its characteristic qualities and un- changeableness, as well as by the richness and beauty of its appearance, is, in relation to textile substances, what gold is to metals. It is, of all filamentary substances, that which gives the finest, most (bira1»le, and most elastic threads. Its tenacity is al)out eciual to that of good iron; that is to say, a thi-ead of silk of the same size will support nearly the same weight l)efore l)reaking, and the textile matter affords an elasticity superior to that of tlie iiiiueral suhstance. Silk consequently unites the most l»rilliaut properties with the most solid qualities. Its various excellent and advantageous charac- teristics have made it an object of research in all ages, l^y the different nations of the world. China, even in our o^^^l day, the most important country for the production of silk, appears to have l)een its cradle, at the most remote epoch. The Chinese annals attri1)ute to the Emperor Fau-Hi the merit of having employed silk in the manufacture of a musical instiniment, of his own invention, 3400 years before the Christian era. The Empress SUiiig-Chi was the first to invent silk tissues 2650 years before our era, which invention contributed so immensely to the pros- perity of her country, that she was placed among the Chinese divinities, under the name of Sien- Thsan;^ and even now the Chinese Empresses offer annually solemn sacrifices to her memory. As it is the ha1)it of the Emperor of China, once a year, to plough the earth, in order to add dignity and honor to agricultural pursuits, so, in This name means th( fi rift promoter of sUk industry. 5 like manner, tlie Empress, hy annually visiting the silk-worm nurseries and laboring with her own hands, encourages the production of this valual>le commodity. Two centuries ])efore the Christian era, the Chinese carried on a commerce of silk with Persia, Greece, and Italy. Their caravans, or troops of dealers, were protected by military settlements or colonies. The generic name given to this precious material has remained unchanged, except with a slight modification of the word. In fact, the French word soie or silk bears among them the name sec. The Mongols name it sirhe. The Mantchoos, sirche. The Russians designate it l)y the word chek^ and the Greeks by sez, etc. Notwithstanding the antiquity of the use of silk, its nature was for a long time unknown, and its importation into the West was of recent date compared to its high antiquity in Asia. The history of the introduction of the first eggs of the silk-worm into Constantinople during the reign of the Emperor Justinian, is well known. The Chinese, determined to retain the monopoly of the silk industry, forbade the exportation of the eggs under penalty of death. 6 They were, nevertheless, ol)tained, A. I). 552, by two Persian monks, who had lived a long time in China, as missionaries, and were acquainted with the rearing of silk-worms ; stimulated 1 »y the gifts and promises of the Emperor Justinian, they succeeded in conveying a large numl )er of eggs concealed in hollow canes, to Constantinoj^le, where they watched their hatching and the development of the V)uttei*flies. The breeding of silk-worms spread, however, very slowly in Europe. The Moors imported them into Cordova altout the year 910. Greece and Italy undertook it in the 12th centuiy. From thence, this l>ranch of industry passed to Mar- seilles. At the commencement of the 14th century. Pope Clement V. introduced it into A^dgnon. Un- der Henry IV., Sully estal:)lished a silk-worm nur- sery in the Oarden of the Tuileries. Louis XIV. continued to encourage this enterprise in France, though with 1 tut slight success, so far as relates to the production of cocoons and the sj)inning of silk. The weaving of silk goods with foreign thread had, on the contrary, already made marked progress in France, and had a great development, which it preserved even up to the revocation of tlie Edict of Nantes, after which period the weaving, as well as the spinning of silk, lost ground considerably. The emigrants carried this beautiful industry into England, Germany, and Switzerland, and raised the most active competition against France, whose manufactures of silk remained in a lan- guishing condition up to the close of the great revolution at the end of the last century, and until shortly before the return of peace to Europe. RISE AND PROGRESS OF SILK INDUSTRY IN THE UNITED STATES. America was not insensible to the efforts made by other nations to appropriate to themselves the production of silk. During the early periods of the colonization of Virginia, James L, on several occasions, advised with and encouraged the London company, in regard to the cultivation of the mull^erry-tree, and addressed a letter to the company, in which he enjoined its members and exhorted the planters to ai)ply themselves with diligence to the breeding of silk-Avorms, to establish silk-worm-nurseries and sj)inning-grounds, and to devote their activity 8 ratlier Ti"' tlie ]tri:idiK-Ti< m i"»t' tlii^ rioli eomiuodity than to that ut* tol'accii. To wliicli he inauifested a protbiiml aveisiou. Upon this advice, they phmted a larL'f nnmlier of inull'eny -trees. l>iit oollfctt-d littlf silk iu conseqiifiiee of the dith- cultifS resiiltiii2" ti'oin the spt-edy dissolution of the'Londiai c-nnpany. HowfVt-r. thf enltiuv 'A' the rniiU'eiTy was resumed in Viru'inia al'out the year li:'51. The tree was imli^'enoiis in the colony, and tlu- enterprise was so far advanced in lHt5iJ that the ci'ifonation r<:ilie of Charle> II. was the product of the >ilk- worms of Virginia. Btit the steady advance ot' tc>l'acco-ctiltiire caii-«ed the litisiness to so decline, that it -eems to have almost disappeared liv the cL;ise ijf the century. Durino" the eiu-hteenth century, efforts were made to introduce silk husliandry into all the American colonies. It had lieen started as early a- 171^ with sc-me success in Louisiana, then under the dnmiiiinn of Spain. The most strenuous exeiti«:>ns were ilirected to Georgia.. Private Ldfts co-operated with acts of Parliament, and its settlers were stimulaterl l:)y grants of land to cul- tivate the muH'Crry and raise silk-wijrms. In 1732, artisans skilled in this industry were sent over from Europe. The French emigrant, Avho had chai'ge of the business, proved treacherous and destroyed the machinery, eggs, and trees, and fled from Georgia. The Italian w^ho succeeded him was more trustworthy, and some raw silk was soon exported to Europe. In 1735, a beautiful rol)e was made in England, of Georgia silk, which Queen Caroline wore on a great state occasion. In 1749, the export of cocoons reached 1,000 lbs., and their product commanded the highest prices. A large silk establishment was soon erected in Savannah. The cocoons annually delivered to it in the years from 1758 to 1766 inclusive, ranged from 10,000 to 15,000 lbs., and in the latter year they reached 20,000 lbs. During the same period the annual export of raw silk ranged from 500 lbs. to 1000 lbs. At this period the silk culture was one of the most flourishing and profitable in the colony. But its success was of short duration. After 1766 the government l)ounties were with- drawn, and this industry began to droop. The storm of the revolutionary war prostrated it. After the peace, the planters of Georgia turned their attention to the growing of cotton, and silk culture utterly and finally disaj)peared. 10 The experiineiit in (ieorgia — its rise, progress, aud decline, are the history of silk culture iu all the colonies. Brief notices of some other colonies must suffice. In South Carolina silk-growing was prosecuted hefore the revolution, and for a time flourished. The mother of the celel>rated Pincknevs carried some silk, produced on her plantation, to England, ^vhere it was woven into tissues. Gowns were made of it and presented 1 >y her to the mother of young George III., and to the elegant Earl of Chestei'field. But the same causes that uprooted the business in Georfria, destroyed it in Carolina. It passed away in the advent of cotton raising. Silk husLandry received early attention in Pennsylvania and Xew Jersey. The British Government aided it V)y li])eral l>ounties. Dr. Franklin, while in Europe in 177 during the revolutionary war. Silk husbandry and manufacturing had almost ceased to exist in the United States at the com- mencement of this century. Since then they have not kept pace with the advance in kindred pursuits. Nevertheless, they have always been prosecuted to an encouraging extent in various parts of Xew England, New York, Xew Jersey, and Pennsylvania. As, for example, Mansfield, already refeiTed to, has done a large business in sewing-silks, and produced in 1839 five tons of the raw material. Washington. Pa., always kept up the Inisiness. It was introduced into the State Prison, at Auburn, X. Y., in 1841 : and. the first year, the product of sewing-silk was ab-mt sl3,U0U. It was steadily increasing in the country when, some twenty-five years ago, its growth was checked by a disastrous speculative n/zc*/- in the Morui< MultlcauUs shrub, which, for a few years, raged thi'oughout the Union like an epidemic. The reaction fell heavily tipon the whole busi- ness, covering it temporarily with odium and 18 ridicule. It has since been slowly recoverinu;' from this season of delusion and folly. In 1840, the product of silk raised in the United States was estimated at about 60,000 lbs., valued at $250,000. In 1844, it had increased to about 400,000 lt)s., worth $1,500,000. By the census of 1850, when the eftects of the speculative mania alluded to had culminated, the annual product was reported at only 14,763 lbs. Then it began to revive; and by the census report of 1860, it appears that the manufacture of sewing- silks was carried on extensively in Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and New York — the States being named in the order of the value of their products. The annual pro- duction in these States, including tram, organzine, etc., was placed at upwards of $5,000,000. Ribbons were made to a small extent, as were also silk stuffs. But, aside from seAving-silks, the chief silk manufacture consisted of ladies' dress-trim- mings, coach-laces, etc., of which the cities of Philadelphia and New York are reported as producing about $2,300,000. Since 1860, the business in all its departments has made steady progress ; and the current period is more favorable than any previous one for its 14 eiivirgetic prosecution. Our countiy is specially fitted for silk culture. The experiments in Georgia and South Carolina proved that their soil and climate were peculiarly suited to it. May we not hope that, after a lapse of eighty-five years, it will be renewed in those States, and be prosecuted successfully, not only there, but also in all the middle latitudes of the Union, whose rich soil, genial sun, and dry atmosphere are admirably adapted to the cultivation and manufacture of this beautiful and useful ar- ticle? But, though the possibility of the success of this kind of industry has been demonstrated in a great number of localities in America, it is probably to the Pacific Coast that we are to look for its greatest triumph. Among the finest cocoons exhibited at the Ex|30sition, were specimens from California. They were perfect in form, and remarkable for their white, silvery hue. The soil in the valleys of Calilbmia is proverbially fertile, and mulberiy- trees are produced of the richest and most lux- uriant growth. Its dry, warm, equable climate make it vastly superior for silk husbandly to France or Italy. In European countries, the rain 15 aud damj)iiess destroy a much larger |)ercentage of tlie grubs than on the Pacific Coast. An intelligent and enterprising French emi- grant, who is enthusiastically ])rosecuting this industry at San Jose, declares that the humidity and electricity of* Europe destroy from 25 to 75 per cent, of the silk-worms, while under the dry, elastic skies of California few ever perish. These considerations, in a measure, compensate for the higher wages of American la])or. There are other savings in this industry, as com- pared with its prosecution in Europe. In California, there is no necessity for artificial heat to hatch the eggs. To transfer them from the cellar to the garret, and exjoose them to the beating of the sun's beams on the roof is sufiicient. Nor need the cultivator run the risk of the " baking " process, so liable to dim the lustre of the silk. The powerful rays of the sun for a few hours will stifle the chrysalis, render the cocoon ready for the spinner, and preserve the brilliancy of the material. California' eggs are already highly valued by foreign silk-growers. Cultivators are diffusing them along the Pacific coast. A considerable capital is invested in the silk business. The largest cocooneries ai'e at Santa Barbara. 16 An important experiment is now being made there by energetic parties, wlio have already 10,000 thrifty mulberry -trees, and have produced the present year (1867) upwards of 300,000 cocoons of excellent quality. An enterprising company is erecting an extensive factory at San Jose, to be furnished with all neces- sary machinery (including some forty looms) for producing taffetas in all colors, and of the best qualities. May we not hope that the day is not far distant when the plains that slide down from the western base of the Sierra Xevada will become as famous for beautiful silks as its gorges have long been for precious metals, and its vallevs are now becomins; for cereals ? The nationality of the Commission, from which this report emanates, must farnish the excuse for dwelling so long at the outset upon the subject of silk culture and manufacture in the United States. It will be resumed in brief terms near the close of the report. As pertaining to the American branch of this subject, it may be stated, in this connection, that silk culture was recently commenced in the Re})ul)lie of Ecuador. Its soil and climate are 17 said to be wondertully {Klaj)te(l to the giowiii of tlie inull)erry and the rearino^ of the criil) especially in the neighborhood of Quito. The first eggs were imported from France in 1859. The first exported to France was in 1865, where the eggs were highly esteemed, and were wholly exempt from the peculiar disease prevail- ing in Europe. Like its vegetation, silk culture in Ecuador can fiourish the year round. The food required by the worms is only half as much as in Europe, because of the superior richness of the leaves, and the more favorable condition of the climate. The number of mul- berry-trees now growing in the republic is nearly a million. Labor is abundant and excessively cheap. The i)romoters of this enterprise in Ecuador indulge sanguine hopes of success. No doubt, considerable portions of South America are well adapted to this department of industry. REARING OF SILK-W()K."\1S. Numerous observations made by French and Italian scientific agricultui'alists and silk-hus- bandmen, show : 1^*-— Tli'^f the culture of the mulberry-tree, and the breeding of silk-worms, are possible up 2 18 tu a limit vt^ry tar advauccd uurtliward>, — a limit fixed by the frequent occurrence of a temperature of 77 degrees Falirenlieit. 2d. — The limit of the culture of the mulberry does not pass beyond that of the cultivation of the grape, and the culture of the former is possible wherever the latter will thrive. 3d. — The mulberry can be raised upon the sides of the mountains of Europe, up to the point where the mean temperature of the year is 49 degrees Fahrenheit. •4th. — Climates, habitually stormy, are not congenial to the breeding of the silk-worms. 5th. — Places afflicted with fevers (proving the existence of marshy emanations) are pernicious to the silk-worms. (3th. — This industry is to l)e considered rather as an adjunct to a large farm, than as a chief occupation. To these principles, given as the natural conditions necessary or hurtful to the industry of silk-husbandry, are to he added the not less impoi'tant questions of the price at which it returns from the hand of the woi-kman in each locality, and of the aViundance <>r scarcity of manual labor. We must, however. 10 remark tluit the iiisutticicncy ol:' worms aiul their high price during more than ten years, in consequence of the malady of the precious grul) in Europe, allow a remuneration suffi- ciently high to cover the expenses of the dearest hand-labor, especially if we consider that the duration of care and attention, which the harvesting of the worms demands, does not exceed six weeks, counting from the day of hatching to a })eriod after the warehousing of the cocoons, which latter, according to the best systems in use in Italy and France, can be reeled during the whole year. PRODUCTION OF KAW SILK. The production of the cocoons is essentially an agricultural industry ; and the winding oif the cocoons into raw silk may be considered as semi-manual, and, in part, automatic. All the other transformations of the silk, from the throwing to the working of stuft's, are entirely mechanical. It can hardly ])e p()ssi])k' that, hencefoi-th, the United States will not take a Uirge share in the immense industrial and commercial movement to which silk has given rise in the world. 20 Certain countries, sucli as Italy and France, and tlie oriental nations in general, employ themselves witli all tlie transt'onnations of silk, from the culture of the mulberry, and the breeding of the worm, to the manulacture of tissues. England (and others follow her example to a limited extent), although not producing silk on her own soil, yet carries on a most imj^oitant commerce in that article, hy means of her colonies and powerful marine. She developes, with equal activity, the spinning or throwing of silk thread, and the weaving of silk goods. In a word, nations, such as the United States, Switzerland, and Xorthern Germany, which are almost exclusively manufacturers, confine them- selves to the transformation of silk bought in markets more or less distant. The aptitudes of manufacturing nations change, or are materially modified, fi'om time to time. Russia, for example, could Ijut recently hardly be ranked among manufacturing nations.* The people of that great empire are now making, * The culture of the mulberry-tree, the inrnduction of which into Russia dates from the period of Peter the Great, remained with- out any g-reat results up to the commencement of the present century. 21 not only rapid progress in the industrial arts, but tliey have advanced in the south of Russia, on the Caucasus, even to the breeding of silk- worms. The production of the silk-worm in that country, since the annexation of Trans-Caucasian Asia, for example, has been three-fold, though the silk is far from l)eing worked with the requisite care, it being generally irregular, and suited only to the most common productions. In 1865, this part of Russia exported nearly 30,000 kilo's, or 66,155 lbs. of silk,* representing a sum of about 1,560,000 francs (|312,000), that is to say, at the price of about 52 fi'ancs the kilogramme, while that of France and Italy sold for at least double that price. It is thought that the total silk production of Russia amounted to about 88,000 kilogrammes, or 194,054 lbs., estimated at a value of about 4,576,000 francs ($915,200.) This result is far short of the limit which * The metrical system beinfr in use in most of the countries from which we have derived our information, and constantly tending to extend itself more and more, especially since the luternatvuml Conference at Paris, in which our countryman, Mr. Samuel B. Kujjfrles, bore so distinguished a i)art, we have thoujjht it useful and jiroper to retain, in i>ai-t, iov the numbers cited, tlu> franc as the unit of money, and the kilojcrramme as the unit of wel fi'ancs.* But by degrees French silk improved to such * These are the prices as published in the price-current of the Amsterdam marliet, where, at that period, the greatest quantity of foreign silk was sold. 25 an extent, that in the early part of this century the price advanced to 7<> francs the kilogramme. This rate was maintained almost without varia- tion up to the year 1840, while foreign products were depreciated to such a degree that the very best quality from the Levant and from Persia sold at 40 francs, and the waste at 32 francs. Italy, during this period, maintained the elevation in its prices, on account of the very excellent quality of its silks. That was, never- theless, surpassed by the French silks, which finally rose from the last to the first rank, which they still maintain. The raw silks of France, of the first quality, at a later period brought 150 francs, while those of the best kind fi'om Italy realized hardly loo francs. These results are due entirely to the progress in French manufactures, which has largely con- tributed to the extraordinary development of the silk industry that has occurred in that country. This specialty of silk industry has given to France the importance that the cotton industry has to England. In this connection, it may be profital>le to give ji rapid sketch (so far as data at hand will permit) of the proorressive development of silk culture and manufacture in tlie principal countries of Eiu'ope and Asia. Tlie amounts are given in round numbers, and. tliougli ol:»tained from trust woitliy sources, mav be lialde to some corrections. As first in importance we begin witli Friince. PROGRESSIVE DEYELOPME^"^ OF SILK LNDUSTRY IX FRANCE. In 17>^'. France produced 1,000,000 lbs. of raw silk. Xear tlie close of tlie century she con- sumed al)Out 1,200,000 lbs. of silk thi*ead, from Avhich she manufactured ft-om $3,000,000 to $4,000,000* (^fifteen to twenty million fi-ancs) of tissues. Of this she pui-chased about s 1,400,000 (seven million francs ) from other countries. The stock of stuff goods consec^uently amounted to from $4,400,000 to $5,400,000 (twenty-two to twenty-seven million ft-ancs\ of which France ex- ported about one-half to foreign countries. In In 12, France produced 600,000 Tbs. of raw silk, and 340,000 lbs. of organzine, valued at $5,000,000. The same year she imported 900,000 lbs., valued at $6,750,000. * Dollars at gold valuation in all cases. 27 In 1820, it is estimated tliat FiencL mauiifac- turers transformed $10,000,000 (fifty million francs) of materials, of whicli one half was furnished by the Southern Departments. The goods produced ft'om these materials represented a value of more than $20,000,000 (one hundred million francs), of which $14,000,000 (seventy million francs) were consumed at home, and $0,000,000 (thirty million francs) were exported. In 1812, the silk looms, in seven of the prin- cipal towns of the empire, nimibered 27,000. In 1824, Lyons alone had nearly 25,000. In 1839, the number in Lyons had increased to 40,000, and in the whole kingdom to 85,000, employing about 170,000 workmen. In the latter year, the entire production was estimated at $40, 800,000. In 1850, the business had largely increased. The value of raw silk grown in the kingdom was $28,000,000 (one hundred and forty million francs). The amount employed, $50,000,000 (two hundred and fifty million francs) ; the amount imported being $22,000,000. The silk goods produced were valued at $75,000,000 (three hundred and seventy million francs), of which, about one-third were consumed at home, nnd two-thirds expoited. 28 In 1855, the value of silk goods produced was estimated at ,$10(),5(M>,()()0, of which al)Out $26,500,00(1 was imported. The home consump- tion was $35,000,000, and the export al)Out $71,500,000. The mmiber of silk looms in the empire Avas al»out 225,000. The number of persons engaged in this industry was upwards of half a million. In 1860, the value of French silks amounted to upwards of $140,000,000 (seven hundred million francs),, and yet this was not sufficient to supply the demand. France purchased in foreign coun- tries $40,000,000 (two hundred million francs), chiefly of piece goods, velvets, and ril>l)ons. Of this $180,000,000, France exported about $110,000,000 (five hundred and fifty million francs). These totals were i-educed at the outT>reak of the American reljellion. France restricted to a marked degree her purchases of silks. The United States imported from France, of silk tissues alone, in 1859, $27,600,000 {one hundred and thirty-eight million francs) ; in 1860, $20,800,000 (^one hundred and four million fi-ancs) ; hut in 1861, only $5,000,000 (^twenty- five million francs). 2V) Subsequently, the business increased ; the Lyons' exports of silk goods to the United States in 1865 amomitino- to Sr^9,9' )(',(>•>'>, and in ISfWV to ^(),i)i »(),()()(). Thouirh the rebellion has l»een sup- pressed, the fiscal measures resultino- therefrom still have their effect u{)()n the silk husbandry and manufacture of France, ()i)t'ratinu\ as they do, at the same ])er!()d with the scarcity of indigen- ous silk, and the [)re valence of the mysterious disease among the silk-worms, which has by no means disappeared, and to which s})ecial reference will be hereinafter made. RISE AND PRO(rRESS OF SILK INDUSTRY IN GREAT BRITAIN. When the Duke of Farma sacked the City of Antwerp in loST), its silk artificers iied to Eng- land, carrying with them their exi)erience and skill in this novel branch ot industry. It was encouraged by the English (xovernment. But, the humid climate l)eing unfavorable to the rearing of the grul), it was n:)t specially successful. On the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in l(iS.5, some 7r),()(i;> of the most skillful artizaiis of France took refuge in 'xre-it Britain, among whom were a large body of silk weavers, who 30 settled in Spitaliields (then a London subiu-b), and, uuder tli'e fostering care of the crown, they and their children plied their vocation with success for a century and more : some of their descendents remaining in the same locality to this day. For thiity or forty years after this immigra- tion, England was wholly dependent on foreign- ers for organzine silk-thread. But, in 171S, ^Ii\ Lomhe, an English capitalist, visited Piedmont, disguised as a common laborer, took sketches of silk-thi'owing machinery in use there, and, on his return, erected an extensive mill at Derby, which produced more than three million yards of organ- zine per day. For many years, raw silk was largely impor- ted ; acts of Parliament were passed from time to time stimulating its manufactui*e, and the l)usi- ness was steadily advancing, when, in 1704. on account of low wages, scarcity of work, and the preference shown for French silks, the weavers of Spitalfields, and the silk operatives of other localities, assembled in a tumultuous manner, and petitioned parliament for the total prohil)ition of foreign-wrought silks. The commotion was kept alive by coml>inations of operatives for several 31 years, till, in 1772, it l)i-()k(j into open I'iots, wliieli convulsed London many days, the final result Leing the passage of prolii])itiou laws, which, after trial, proved unsatisfactory. This system of prohibitory legislation con- tinued till 1824. A high English authority has declared that " the manufacturer, depending upon the protection of Parliamentary restrictions on foreign co-mpetition, rather than on liis own skill and exertions, was not anxious to discover and introduce improvements into the manufacture." And he states that, " since the change of system, the imports of the raw material, and the exports of the manufactured article, have rapidly in- creased." In 1825, the English silk-looms num])ered a])out 24,000. In 1855, they had increased to more than 110,000, consuming al)out 5,500,000 pounds of thrown-silk, and producing goods to the value of nearly $45, 000,000, besides a con- siderable amount of spun-silk, and goods of which silk constituted a part. In 1855, England consumed, of her own silk manufactures, more than $85,ooo,ooo, while she imported about |2< ),( )< )( ►,( )( »( ). 32 In 1860, the value of her silk manufactures was estimated at some sOiijiimj hk i. ( )n account of tlie extreme rms. l>ut imports the raw material. In 1856, the value of her imports of raw silk was (omitting fi'actions) $32,t>(»(ijtiHi. and in 1>«57, $58,000,001'. It tVll off in 185.^, on account of the '• panic,"" but again revived, Nearly one-half the amount of the raw material came from China. and a large share of the balance from her East India possessions. During the three years ju-^t mentioned. Eng- land impoited slS.ooo.niin of thr 0.42' ',417 It.s. : in 1561, &,125,982 !!.>.: in 1562, 9,7"6,2t»2 It.s.; in 1863, 8,182,645 Itjs. ; in 186-4, 7,541,758 lt:>s. : in 1865. 6.492.72;66. it was but 5,273.767 It.s. In 1523, (Treat Britain ex]:)Oited of silk goods only s7'>2,"i'": in 1^44 it exported s3,682,0O0 ; in 1656, .S14,8<>()jtMMi : in 1858, $11,950,000; in 1861, i$ll,56o,9o<»: in 1^65. $ln,886,Ooo. 33 Thus we see that this great manufacturing nation, although deprived of the capacity to successfully produce the raw material, by its uncongenial climate, has long prosecuted a large business, in the transformation of this beautiful article, though now seriously checked in many branches of its silk industry, l)y the effect of the recent treaty with France. What an instructive lesson is thus taught to the citizens of our country, where everji^hing com- bines to render the prosecution of this industry preeminently successful. OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRIES. Italy was early famous for its silk-culture and manufactures. In Milan and vicinity, in the year 18U(>, about 2,000,0()() lbs. of raw silk were said to have been collected. In 1825, the quantity was estimated at 2,7< »(>,()( mi lbs., valued at $lo,0( )(),()()( I. In 1858, at 5,4on,(MM) ir)s., worth $3(>,000,()00. In 1825, Piedmont produced about 1,500,000 lbs. of raw silk, of the very highest quality. In the same year Tuscany, Naples, the Romagna, and Calalu-ia produced 1,500,000 lbs., also of excellent quality. 34 In ls51. an Austrian official document stated tlie production in tlie Austrian dominions of Italy at s21,70o,0U() in raw silk, and sl4,2n(i,rHiO in manufactured silks. In 1855, tlie total of l)otli kinds of silk in tlie whole Italian peninsula was stated at upwards of $60,00o,n( M I. A considerable portion is consumed at home, and tlie remainder exported, chiefly to Germany, France, and England. Spain produced, in 1842, about 2,000,000 lbs. of raAv silk, three-fifths of which was raised in Valencia. About 4(»<\(i(h» lbs. were manufactui'ed at home, and the rest exported. The Spanish cocoons are excellent, but much of the reelins: is defective. Valencia silks, where o-reat care has been taken in the manipulation, are famous for their magnificence. In Prussia, silk manufacture is rapidly increas- ing. The number of looms, in 1831, ^vas 9,UUl» ; in 1887, 14,t>(i(i : in 1855 25,000; and in 1865, not less than 4tvi(»(). In the Exhibition were superb silks, velvets, velvet ril)bons, Idack silk- ribbons, mixed and unmixed silk fabrics of various descriptions, fi'om Crefeld, Elberfeld, Viersen, and vicinity. The waters in that locality, especially those of the Wupper, hold in 35 solution salts, specially adapted to secure per- manence and brilliancy to the colors employed in manufacture. Austria is engaged somewhat extensively in silk manufacture ; but since she relinquished her Italian dominions, her total production will naturally be greatly diminished. The product of Switzerland, in 1858, was placed at $20,000,000. The " Collective JiJxliihition of the Zurich Manu- f act u revs''' of black and colored silks — ^plain and figured, and the ^^ Collective ■ Exhibition of the Basle silk rihhoii maniifacttirers^'' as shown in the Exposition, evince the progress and perfection to which Swiss skill in silk industry has now attained. Russia has already been alluded to. After France and England, the nations that come in the order of their importance, in respect to silk manufactures, are Switzerland, Prussia, Austria, Italy, and Spain. France maintains a great superiority over all in her rich and artistic productions. But, in plain goods, and those of a secondary quality, she finds serious rivalry in British, Swiss, and German industry. Switzerland is becoming re- 86 markahle for her activity, her constant progress, and her improvements in material interests. In a suljsequent part of this report, the occasion will l)e emliraced to examine the improvements she brought to the Exposition, since there is a great analogy Ijetween the situation of the indus- trial genius of that republic, and the social and manufacturing condition of the United States. ASIATIC COUNTRIES AND AFRICA. China raises, manufactures, consumes, and ex- ports a vast amount of silk. It is impossiV>le to estimate the quantity con- sumed at home. A high authority declares, that of her four hundred millions of people, a large proportion, excepting the lowest classes, are clad, more or less, in silk fabrics. She exported to England al<«ie, in 10 fi-ancs the kilo, according to their fineness and (piality. These branches of industry are now carried on, to some extent, by American manufacturers. 42 EXAMIXATIOX OF THE POSITION OF EACH OF THESE IXDUSTRIES, AND THEIR PROGRESS AS MANI- FESTED IX THE EXPOSITION. In tlie art of silk-worm breeding, tlie (|nestion of first importance consists in the means of obtainino; tlie amines or eo-o-s. Good e2:o:s bear an exorbitant price. They are worth at the rate of 300 francs the kilo. ; and still they cannot always be produced, guaranteed against the pre- vailing malady, except fi*om Japan. The States of South America apj)ear to enjoy the same immunity. At the commencement of the prevailing epi- demic (about the year 1846), other countries furnished healthy eggs, but their exemption did not continue after the second or third generation. Thus it is, that the United States have been led to put all silk producing countries under contribution. "Will the eggs of Japan and of South America, at the present time so much sought after, escape this degeneracy, of which, despite the numerous investisrations, Ave as \et do not kno^v the cause ? But if the cause remains concealed, the pre- ventive means beo:in to be more clearlv es- tablished. 43 The following method is generally admitted and recommended by men recognized as the most competent judges, and since it is the combined result of great experience and observation, it will be read with interest in all countries which desire to encourage the culture of the silk-worm : 1st. It is of the greatest importance to choose for re-production cocoons of the largest size, and those the most successfully reared and least affected with the malady during the course of their development. These cocoons are recognized by the regularity of their form, the roundness of their extremities, the fineness of grain on the surface, and the solidity and thickness of the layers or silky envelopes. The male cocoons differ from the females l)y their shape and size : the former are smaller than the latter, and present a cavity upon their back. The latter are larger, presenting the figure of an olive, or the agg of a small Ijird. The color of these cocoons ought to be of a golden yellow, after collecting, and should exhibit no spot or stain <>f any kind. In the same breed, tlie heaviest cocoons are, in general, those ^vhich offer the greatest chance of affording the best reproductions. 44 Theu, after having put a certain numljer of male c<>c<)"ns on one side, and of female on the other, weigh Itoth parts to find the average weiofht of each, and everv time that this averaore weight is exceeded, there is a presumption that excellent cocoons are obtained for reproduction, all other things being equal. It is, however, necessary to remark that, as one part of the cocoons contains sometimes the same gross measiu'ement, it should not be confounded with the normal cocoons. Cocoons of an excep- tional bulk are, in general, the result of two UTul>s united under the same envelope. Their product is known under the name of "doubles," or rknqypions or t^x\\\ threads. This sort of product is always inferior, as much because the beds or envelopes are almost indi- visible, as because the associati()n in the work indicates a weakness in the subject. NotAvith- standing all the attention and care given by the breeder to prevent the production of doubles, and sometimes even of triples, he must, inevitably, expect to find a certain proportion of those, the value of \\ hich is hardly one-third the price of the normal pr(.)duct. There was exhil)ited in the Exposition an 45 apparatus, contrived by an Italian silk-hus])an(l- nian, designed to prevent these ''^ doitppioiis^'' in the breeding of worms. The apparatus consists in an arrangement of cells, made of very light wood, each one of which has only the^bulk necessary for a single grul). When these come to their full development, ready to spin their cocoon or })all, instead of preparing heath, shrubs, or other kinds of shelter or supports, against which the worms are to spin, this kind of cell is suj^plied where each insect has its own separate case, which prevents two or any greater number from uniting to make a defective product. The Italian exhibitor is endeavoring: to brinji; into general use this system of isolation, or cellular breeding. The system presents, according to the inventor, other advantages, by the facility ^vhicll it offers in the choice of the best reproducers, and by preventing the coupling between gru])s of the same family, consanguinity having been considered as one cause of the rapid deterioration of the breed. When the coupling has been accomplished, the females are removed, and made to lay, each in the cell reserved for her, in sucli a w av as to be able 46 to weigli separately the eggri of each laving. This weight is not to l;>e inferior to a certain ascertained proportion, for the eggs would then l)e e\4dentlY bad. In order that tliey may oiJ'er good chances of success, each la^^^ng should weigh at least sixty or seventy grammes (per kilo, of cocoons), each gramme to contain 1,350 to 1,500 eggs on an average. THE COM^rOX SILK-WOR:Nr. (OB BOMBTx MORI.) The common silk-worm and the species mostly in use, and which produces by far the liest silk, is born in the sj)ring, ordinarily about the middle of May. It feeds on the leaves of the Mulberry tree, and attains its full gro^vth in about six weeks. During that period it changes its skin four times, and, according to M. de Quatrefages, of the French Institute, increases its weight 72,000 times. Early in July, having reached its full develop- ment, it establishes the work-shop of its wondei-fiil manufacture. Placed in a comfortaljle and secure position, it proceeds to envelope itself in a cocoon, formed 47 by a filament of exceedingly fine silk, emitted from the stomach of the insect. It soon disappears in the center of the cocoon, or silken envelope, and, after about seventy-two hours of unremitting labor, produces a thread ordinarily not less than 1600 yards in length. In that chosen retreat, the silk-worm again sheds its skin for the fifth time; but the insect, which comes out is no longer a silk-worm, but a chrysalis, bearing but slight resemblance to the worm. After two weeks or more, according to the temperature, the skin of the chrysalis, in its turn, opens, and, changing for the last time, it becomes a butterfly, lays some hundreds of eggs, and dies. Besides the Bomhijx Moi% there are other species of silk-worms that merit a brief notice, and particularly the following : CASTOR-OIL PLANT SILK-WORM, (bombtx arrindia.) This species of silk- worm is a native of Bengal and of British India. It lives, Ijoth in its wikl and in its domesticated condition, \\\w\\ common castor-oil plants and other vegetation. It was but recently introduced into Europe l)y means of a 48 few living cocoons, imported into Malta. Their propagation was not only successful, but it was continued in Italy ; whence many were sent to France and to the Canary Islands. Wherever the castor-oil plant grows sponta- neously, as in Algiers, Brazil, and Kio de la Plata, the efforts to rear this species of silk-worm have 1)een crowned with success. Its cocoons cannot l)e reeled in the ordinaiy way, T>ut they furnish a staple, which, when spun into threads, produces fabrics of great suppleness and dura- bility, though almost destitute of luster. AILANTHUS SILK-WOKM. (bombtx ct>-thia ysra..) This kind of worm is indigenous to the temperate regions of China, Avhere it lives mainly on the Ailauthus. It has long l)een cultivated by the Chinese in the open aii-, and produces an elongated cocoon of a reddish shade, fiu-nishing a kind of Bourre de Soie^ from which is made a very strong and durable tissue. This silk- worm was introduced into Europe for the first time in 1857, and into France in 1858, 49 where the first successful rearing of it is chiefly due to Madame Drouyu de L'huys. But it is to M. Guerin-Meneville, who, under the patronage of the Emperor, experimented extensively and with success, that belongs the credit of having given to this silk its growing importance and industrial value. THE TUSSEII SILK-WOKM. (bombtx mhita.) This notable insect lives in a wild state in Bengal, and in the hot regions of India, in the woods where the inhabitants go to gather the cocoons, which are remarkable for their size and form. Its favorite food is the leaves of the Jujube tree. Efforts have been repeatedly made to reproduce it in France, but in vain. The cocoons of this insect produce a fine and l)rilliant silk, and very strong, known in India as Tusseh, of which large quantities are exported to Europe. THE WILD SILK-WOKM OF JAPAN, (bombtx Yama-Mat.) This worm, raised from eggs, sent from Japan by the Consul-General of France, at Yedo, has been successfully reared. 50 The oak-leaf and trees of the same kind are its only nriurislnnenT. It '1' I*:-- n< iT ivriuire oTeat heat, and is easy to raise. Its l-ocooh is of a greenish yellow ; is tV.iined like that of the ordinary silk-wonn. and can Ije reeled into a lieautifiil silk. BOiEBYX CECROPIA. This ilescripti'U of worms, indigenous to the temperate regir>ns r.f Xorth America, is found principally in the Carolinas, Louisiana, and Vu-cfinia, In its uncultivated state it lives upon the elm, the willow, and other trees. It produces a larsre cocoon of a loose textui*e and coarse silk. At the Exhihition there was a collection of silk-wonns in their rjitferent stages. A quantity of ecrars, of niiill t-ny It-aves, and all that relates t' > the rearing" '-'t the silk-wonn, were also displayed there. The silk-woiTu is tender aE 1 delicate. The experiences of the last twenty years ha^-e proven that it is liahle to epidemics that rage with peculiar vir.lence and fatality. 51 STATE OF THE SILK-WORM IMALADY AND THE REM- EDIES PROPOSED. During the period in which the disease in question has attacked the silk-worm, great re- search and the most minute study have been made to ascertain the cause. Some have ascril)ed this calamity to the mul- berry ; others have compared it to a species of x\siatic cholera, or an epidemic analogous to the cattle distemper, from which England and Ger- many have suffered so much within the last few years. Others have asserted that the Ijreeder had gradually departed from, and neglected those healthful traditions and maxims so essential to be observed in the l)reedino; and rearins; of such delicate creatures. The breeder, perceiving that he could abridge the period of rearing by raising the temperature of the nursery, prematurely matured unhealthy broods, and thence there arose numerous acci- dents, because, l)y raising the temperature, the appetite was forced, which caused derangements in the animal economy. These different causes, more or less vague and 52 indeterminate, may have contributed t<» the de- velopment of the epidemic. However, the theoiy of disease in the mulbeny is hardly admissible, considering that it has been demonstrated that Tvonns of different l»reeds or races, nourished by the leaves of the same tree, have ex]>erienced dif- teif nt fates. Some succeeded ; the others were attacked 1 >y the disease and perished. Therefore, the fooe sufficient to obtain 32 kilo.'s for every 1,000 kilo.'s of leaves to pay the disbursements, and if the gatherings yield, as is usual in normal conditions, 50 kilo.'s only, this would be a gain of, 50 by 8, 400 francs ($80) ; and if one worked on a basis of one hectare of land only, this would be a gaining of, 400 by 5, 2,000 francs ($400) in six weeks. There were breeders in France, who, before the epidemic, produced as many as 1,000 kilo.'s of cocoons in a single season. TOOLS OR STOCK NECESSARY TO TRANSFER THE COCOONS INTO RAW SILK. France and Italy are the only countries which have exhibited the apparatus necessary to trans- form the cocoons into threads of silk. These are the most advanced, in the whole of Europe, in this speciality. The industry of Spain, of Greece, of the Levant, and of Russia, has imitated, as much as ])ossible, the means used in France and Italy. Those countries have not, however, been able to arrive at the perfection of their neighbors. As to the Orientals, tliev lose a pait <:>f tlie advantacres wliicli their privileo-ed climate gives thein, in regard to tlit- }»r«:Mlucti< -n of silk, by insnifieiency of eaif and skill in details. Thf implements, properlv so eallei for eon- vciting the cocoons, are most simple in all coun- tries of the worhl. They consist principally of a basin and a reek The basin is used to receive the cocoons, and some waiin water to soften the gum < 'f the silken-envelope, so as to set fi'ee the threads forming the external silky layers. The union of a certain number of these threads, forms the thread of commerce, known under the name of grege^ c»r raw silk. The reel. 1 y its r< :>taiy motion, winds off the cocoons. lu the factories certain number (A these wind- ing machines are piac>-il side by side, the inipul. siou lieing given tr» them V)y a single motive power. Of coirrse. the aiTangement is such that the operator can. at ^vill, stop any one of these little C(:)ntrivances, while the others continue at work. The entirety of the operation is auto- matic, except that, in regaril to each reel, we lind a basin, and a woman to superintenc^ the work. The labore of the superintendent consist : 59 1st. In the immersioji of the cocoons in the warm water, until the silky layers are sufficiently softened. 2d. In the cleansing, with a species of brush or broom, of the first layers until they become a pure and clean thread. 8d. In the uniting, l)y pressure, and twisting a certain number of threads of the cocoons in proportion to the standard of raw silk intended to be produced. The grege thus formed by the union of a greater or less numl)er of cocoons, is passed through an orifice, or drawing frame, which acts on the winder, whose rotation determines the development of the threads of the cocoons which remain immersed on the surface of the water in the basin, so that, in proportion as the cocoons are wound off, the attendant is careful to add a new one, as nmcli to keep uj) the suj^ply of thread as to maintain the regularity of the stan- dard. The cocoons being conical from the commence- ment to the end of the winding, the grege would have the greatest irregularities if the workman did not conduct his work so as to connect the strongest; that is to say, the commencement of 00 tlie thread of tlie new cpcoon with those which are just being exhausted. The threads, issuing wet and gummy from the basin, would adhere and stick together in the skein, if careful means were not taken to prevent it. The jjreventive consists, first, in preserving a sufficient distance between the basin and the reel to permit a partial drying ; and, second, in a "guide thread," so arranged that the transport takes place by a slow zig-zag movement, which prevents the threads from crossing each other at the same point at each turn, which latter causes the adhesion. Some suggestions will assist us to understand and to obviate the difficulties in this branch of the work. The degree of previous preparation should vary with the duraljility of the silky couches, having regard to the age, breed, and origin of the co- coons. If prepared too much, the result would be that more silky matter would be yielded by the first layers than there should be. This supei-fluous matter would be only waste, and would possess a value much inferior to that of fine silk. 61 If the cocoons are, on the contrary, in>juffic-iently prepared, they present a resistance to the winding off, which causes the breaking of the thread, and leads to a new source of waste. The workman ought to possess great skill in joining a new thread to a thread in work. He should he competent to select the most opportune moment to assure the regularity of the product, so that the trace of these successive connections may be imperceptible to the eye, and thus avoid knots, coarseness, curls, or dots. Nor will rare skill in these particulars produce the effect desired unless the wheel revolves with a fixed and steady velocity of at least five hun- dred metres per minute. Without this, the thread instead of being smooth and brilliant, would l)e rough and dull. A too slow movement would not dress the thread sufiiciently— clasped, as it is, very tightly by its peculiar position, and fixed under the form of the figure 8 in the layers of the cocoons. A movement too slow causes those undulations which give the dull ai)pearance; while the development of the thread in the straight line by the more rapid movement permits the reflec- tion of the light in those perfect and determined 62 conditions, wliicli give l)nniancy to the finest silk. We have entered somewhat at length into these details, because they will assist us to discover the many different sides of a question of apparent simplicity, and will enable us the better to understand why the more perfect de- velopment of this industry remains concentrated in the hands of some populations — and why automatic labor has not been able till now to bring about those elaborate and exquisite modifi- cations in silk which have been produced in other textile fabrics. But if convertino; the cocoons into raw silk in a successful manner be due to local circumstances, such is not the case with the industrial specialties which follow it, commencing with the " throwing" or spinning of the silk. Almost all European nations were represent^ ed at the Exhibition by the different mechanisms employed in the silk manufacture. Let us take a glance at the machines of this character. We will first speak of the machinery used to sort and dress silk badly reeled ; and it may be well to enter into some details on this ()8 subject, as it is one tliat ])articnlai'ly interests the American manufacturers. Silk of the first quality being actually as dear as silver * ought to be employed only in the best and most perfect conditions, especially when it is intended to produce fa])rics like those so much admired at the Exhibition, and among others the truly artistic silks of Lyons. Different means have been devised to determine the standard of the silk thread. If it be pure, it will have the degree of solidity and tenacity desired. The manufacturer is particularly in- genious in constructing apparatus to rectify, sort, and dress silks of irreo-ular standards. APPARATUS TO SORT, TO PROVE AND TEST THE QUALITIES AND PROPERTIES OF SILK. Silk thread has more need to be sorted, or numbered, than the threads of other substances. The sorting or numbering is to determine the relation of the unity of weight to the unity of * In spite of the hifjli price, and the crisis in silk husbandry, silk costs much less than in the time of the Romans. The Emjieror Aurelian refused a silk dress to his wife, assigning as a reason that it was too expensive a luxury even for a Roman Empress, silk then being sold at the price of gold, pound for pound. 64 length. For silk, the unity < if weight i.s generally the denier or fi-action of the ancient line of Montpellier. and the denier is equivalent to grs. 0.5a. The unit oi length is 4< " i auntSy representing 475 metres, or 515 yards. Thus, when we say a silk of 8-9 deniers, we mean that a thread of it, of 475 metises of length, weighs fi'om S to 9 deniers.* Efforts are beino; ma«le to modify this standard, an<;l t«:> substitutt- the unit of 500 metres for the 475 metres, and the milligramme for the denier, in order to make the system conform to the metrical system. The rectification of the standard of silk seems to lie mov^ necessary than that of other materials, because, tiom the manner silk is produced, we are far less sure to arrive at regularity tlian l>y the automatic process practiced for tlie conversion of cotton, wool, tkrc. Besides, as silk. h^Dm its natm't- and price, is intended tVtr the dearest kind of products, the material employed in its manufactui*e ought to be so niucli tlie more perfect. * Condition Pablique des Soles et des Laines. Bureau de titrate. Decret du 3 Mai, 1853. 65 The mode of titrage^ generally used in all periods, consists in winding off a certain length, and the determination of the weisfht of this length. The less it weighs the finer of course will the silk be. It is evident, for example, that, if 500 metres weigh one milligramme, it will he one-half more fine than if it weighed two milli- grammes, supposing, always, that its hygrometric and thermometric condition does not chancre during the operations. The same unit of length will weigh more if it contains humidity than if perfectly dry. The public establishments of Europe, to ascer- tain the condition of silk, have for their specific object to determine, in an exact manner, the real state of the silk, its degree of humidity, and the absolute weight of this same foreign matter, as if the silk were perfectly dry. Establishments of this kind, it is well known exist in the principal manufacturing centers of the trade in silk and wool. They generally operate under the direction of the various Chambers of Commerce. These means of control offer a great security to business, but unhappily they can do nothing to vei'ify or establish the regularity of the threads. 66 Tlie titrage gives, in effect, only the relation between tlie weight and the length, but indicates nothing as to the homogenity of the thread. Each determinate length of a skein may have identical weight without the thread being regular. For example, if a skein of 10,000 metres presents an equal titre or standard, for each 1,000 metres, that would not demonstrate that upon this length there may not be parts alternately coarse and fine. This effect happens much more frequently with the silks that are poorly worked on account of their low relative price. Some sellers in China, Jaj^an, and the Levant, strive, with great persistency, to ascertain and rectify these irregularities of thread by the windings off. During this process, when the eye discovers the defects, they are removed by the hand; but this is a slow, expensive operation, and anything but sure. The Swiss Exhibition contained an automatic apparatus which arrives much more efficiently and economically at the result sought for. 67 THE SILK SORTING APPARATUS OF G. HONNEGER, SWITZERLAND. This maeliine receives, ou tlie one part, a series of skeins of silk. To each skein, correspond a niiml)er of l^ol)l)ins or reels, equal to that of the varied l)iilk supposed to l)e contained in the skein. The solution of the problem consists in col- lecting on each ho1)bin, thread of the same fine- ness. Let us suppose five bobbins, from No, 1 to No. 5. Each will receive the portion of thread of the litre for which it shall have been desig- nated. For this purpose, the thread which is rendered from the skein to the bol)1jins, is guided automatically by a mechanism for gauging, ex- tremely sensitive, and so arranged that the grege, or raw silk in passing, acts upon a lever which directs the silk upon the proper bobl)in. The variation in the Inilk of the product is the point of departure in the variation of the guide-lever, which directs the thread to the reel proper to receive it. A glance at the working of tliis ap}):iiatus, enables us to understand it better than would the most elaborate description. 68 By tlie emplo}Tuent of this machine, the cheap silk of the East can hereafter find still more, extensive applications, and contribute to a new development in silk industry. AJS^ APPARATUS TO TEY THREADS, BY PROF. ALCAN. Another apparatus of gi'eat utility was exhib- ited by Professor Alcan,.in the French section. It is an instrument of rare precision, very simple, not expensive, and works with great facility. Its object is to test the tenacity and elasticity of filaments and threads, and to determine the degree of tension most suitable to be employed on any given thread. The mechanism of this instrument, though not at all complicated, has been explained in detail, with its applications, by the inventor, in several works very popular in France, particularly in his treatise upon the textile arts, one of which is entitled a treatise " On Cotton Labor," and the other on the " Manufactui*e of Wool." These works of M. Michel Alcan, Professor of the Conservatoire Imperiale des Arts et Metiers^ de Pari.% are to be obtained V)y the publisher, J. Baudry, Paris. (59 We name these works, l)ecause they give a greater amount of information upon the produc- tion of the raw material, and upon the progress of this industry, than any other works within our knowledge. Near this machine, at the Exhil^ition, is another apparatus, called Experimentateur-Phwsodyna- mique^ to prove threads ; and also a new machine to prepare and open cotton before the ginning; both the production of Professor Alcan. This eminent engineer has made, as we have seen, a special study of the industrial questions, which are of such vast importance to the American people. IMPLEMENTS AND APPARATUS USED IN SILK THROWING. The machines for Silk Throioing^ seen at the Exhibition, have remained, as far as fundamental principles are concerned, in the same general con- dition wherein they were at the origin of auto- matic industry ; but they have been improved in their details, and in the harmony of their ex- ecution. The Swiss manufacturers, especially, have ex- 70 hiliited a remarkal:>le collection of implement> in this department. The assoitment. as thus exposed, and which are employed in the l>est factories, consists: 1st. Of a series of " tavdh^r to wind, clean, and equalize the threads during" tht-ir automatic windincf otf. 2d. Of an ap]iaratus to unite and doul:>le the thi'eads, with a mechanism fjr instantly stop- ping the machine whenever a tlireat twist to the doubled threads in the direction determined, for the production of the tram or wiiof 4th. Of a second machine to retwist together, two threads already twisted separately, thus pro- ducing' the organzine. Tlie r.l>ject of these machines, so simple in their constructiijn. i- to oVitain. crm^-tantly. an evenly twister! product : that is t' > say. worked in -uch a manner, that each imit of lenu'th receive- exactly the same numl ler of turns. Xow. the realization of this ol>iect was n-it effected without encountering" difficulties, which have l>een completely -urmountey the Swiss and French mechanicians, judging as well fi-'.m the machines, a^ fi-om the magnificent threads ex- hiljited. 71 This class of iiuicliineiy is the more advuiR-ed, because the machines to convert silk, are, of all others, the cheapest; and this results directly from their greater simplification. The " throwing" the threads of silk, has seve- ral objects in view. 1st. It gives them a sufficient resistance to admit of their being boiled in soapy water to remove the gummy matter, so that they ma}- receive the dye better, and give greater brilliancy than if they had remained in the raw state. 2d. By the ^^wgumming, the silk acquires the desired suppleness of silks called " holledj'' whilst, if it retained its gum, it would be stiff, and rough — like the silks employed in " bareges," for example. 3d. The "throwing" the silk is intended to give a certain peculiar appearance to the threads, which partly determines what is called the grain of the stuff. Moreover, when these threads are intended for brilliant tissues, such as satins, the two succes- sive torsions which constitute the organzine, are combined in such a manner that the Imt^ ^vhicli will be the most apparent, should have the least twist, in order to preserve the l)rillancy of the stuff. 72 The ooml »mation is invert eel if tlie ol)ject be to make threads for tajf'etas, Gros-grain, Gros de Juijjle-s, etc. The work of silk-throwiug, 1 >y the combinatiou of the varied conditions it requires, necessitates the possession of such accurate knowledge, and the use of such rare skill as to constitute it a special ait sorrLTAXEors eeelixg aintd theowestg. It has been fi'equently attempted, and is some- times still sought, to unite in one single opera- tion the winding off the cocoons and the throwing * of the silk. Notwithstanding that, for a long time the solution of this prol»lem, which appa- rentlv presents no serious difficulty, has been considered the Philosopher's stone of silk indus- trv, the effort has not l)een abandoned. Still, in this department, as certain mechanism exhibited by the Italians and French, attest, the problem offers i»ut little interest or encouragement, as for example : To wind olf the cocoons, and twist the thread at the same time, the raw silk or grege, in issuing fi-om the basins, instead of being passed on to 73 the reels by one simple inoveiiieiit, is rolled around bobbins, having a rotaiy motion, in order to give torsion to the threads. It is necessary to direct two of them together upon one bobbin to produce the tram; conse- quently, the intermediate operations are all sup- pressed and condensed into one single process ; and hence an apparent economy; but, in fact, this economy disappears, and the new mode be- comes comparatively expensive, because the pro- duction is considerably reduced, and because it requires a much larger personal attendance. A few figures will suffice to demonstrate this. To produce the grege^ the velocity most suitable is such, that one workwoman throws out, at least, a length of 500 metres of thread a minute. When the thread is twisted at the same time, only. 500 revolutions are given per metre to it in the majority of cases. Suppose a velocity of 8000 revolutions to the spindles, only 6 metres will be produced instead of 500 a minute. It is true a workwoman can superintend four threads instead of one, but it will still be neces- sary to employ twenty times as many spinners in this case as when the production of grege was in question. 74 Xow tlii- augineutatiou of expense is much more considerable, than the economy realized by the >in n iT'ession of the intermediate operations. But ::-- i_jst serious difficulty consists in the im- perfection of the results. The slowness of motion in the simultaneous twisting and throwing, does not permit a suitable development to be given to the thread, nor a sufficient tension for the entire unwinding, which causes the dark aspect of the product already spoken of In a word, l:»y the combination of dilt'erent o]>erations, the workman is not able to bestow upon his task that care in cleansing and purifying which is j>erfoi'med by the automatic system and by hand, as it exists in careful silk throwing. Thus, the apparent progress, so enticing in appearance, demands an expense much more con- siderable than that of the separate operations mentioned, and can only give inferior products of inconsiderable value. In order that they may be forewarned, these facts are worthy of special notice by the American people, who are only Ijeginning to turn theii" attention to this branch of industry. However, all new attempts may reach ultimate succe^ : and it' it be true, that for beautiful nor- 75 mal products, the simultaneous twistiug aiul throwing must be rejected, there are cases where they may be employed, and indeed where they begin to be employed, with a certain success, as for example, when the cocoons are of an inferior quality, and difficult to wind off, such as double cocoons, so that the operator in twisting them directly, can at the best, obtain silk of only an in- ferior grade, fit only for working common " cordonnet," (braid, binding, twist, lace, f a siiifieiently l'*:":'!! quality, and 'at a price Fflatively liigli. And. -d. In ea>«es where the expense of handdabor is considfiably reducti-d in consequence of the character and de-tiny of the special pr':iduct. one person under >uch circumstances, beino- able to produce veiy much m-^re than he otherwise would bv the ordinaiw process. PEODUCTIO^- AXD UTILITY OF SILK WA>TE. The different transfonnations underkfone by silk, up to this point, and tho>e it has still to im- dergo, until it anives at the state of " stuff." occa- sions " wa-te." This waste presents itself in different states. Tliose resulting- fi'oin the operations which precede the torsii;»n. offer parcels nf raw lilament> {a/irege) not t^^dsteil. known by the name of " fiisons,'' or waste fi'om reelin^r cocoon-. There are frison^ of different qualities, ac- cording" to the period of jireparation given to them, or acconlinLf as they proceed fi^:»m r-nrooris d'- oraiK*"^. <">r /'^'/vv.s-. In thi- case the wa»te is more particularly desi^mated by the name G-nl^tU. fi'om which are made coarse silks, called fantaU-it, chapp&<, tire. 77 The waste proceeding from the different mani- pulations, commencing with the winding off of the grege in the throwing, and the operations of weaving, is generally composed of twisted ends, and is known by the name of hourre. These two sorts of (Uhris have been Ions utilized. They are divided, cleansed, /mgummed, and then equalized by cutting, to prepare them for twisting, as we have already said. But there is another kind of waste, long neglected, and which has commenced to be utilized only since the very high price of silk, namely the chiffons^ or rags of this material. Establishments of this kind are very rare. One exists in England, one in France, and a third in the United States. We have no knowledge of any other. As to the winding of waste, we must limit our- selves to pointing out a certain progress, of which threads of this kind have been the object, as well in France as in Switzerland. NEW THREADS OF SILK BOURRE. We have seen in the show cases of the Exhibi- tion of these two countries, threads from hourre (a sort of "shoddy"), which rival, in thc^ beauty 78 of their appearance, the most lustrous silks, and at one half the price. These results are obtained by attention to de- tails in the manufacture. All these operations have attained remarkable precision, and have been executed conformably to the indications of sci- ence, and by the application of certain prepara- tions under special conditions. When the threads have been produced with the greatest care, from waste well purified, well combed, per fectly prepared and spun, the workman then pro- ceeds to apply a thin layer, or coating of warm gelatine, or isinglass, to the thread when stretched and in motion. The drying and ulterior clievillage completes the work, and imparts to the products that peculiar brilliancy so much esteemed, and that elasticity so indispensable to manufactures of this kind. The unusual care and attention brought to the working up of " waste " have ])een necessitated, as we have said, Ijy the rise in the price of this material. It is not many years since the waste, which at present sells from 12 to 15 francs, was worth only 4 or 5 fi'ancs the kilo. 79 This fact alone is sufficient to justify the efforts made to utilize waste of e\'er)' description. Formerly certain sweepings of threads were thrown on the waste heap, ^\'hicll the workmen knew not how to unravel. But, for the disinte_ gration of these, the most ingenious and effecti\'e machines have been devised. These machines take the rag, or piece of silk at its entrance, and restore it at its exit, in the form of filaments carefully classed, in lengths and fineness proper to be submitted to the machines for decomposing the ehiffon^ or rag. The inventors have not exhibited these machines from fear of imitation by countries where inven- tions are not protected by patents. Prussia and Switzerland are in this condition, and they are precisely the countries which would derive the greatest advantage from their use. DYEING AND SURCHARGE OF THREADS. We have but little to say on the dyeing of silk so brilliant in itself, and advanced to such an extraordinary degree of perfection. No kind of material offers more splendor in this respect. The invention of those colors derived from coal, 80 lias principally contributed to, or caused tliis revo- lution in tlie art of dyeing. The new materials have permitted dyers to obtain colors of unpre- cedented splendor, combining sliades of marvellous variety, witli extreme delicacy. Looking througli the Exposition, we might almost say, in the presence of the results obtained in this direction, there is now nothing impossible. Still, close by the side of products so admirable in respect to dyeing, we saw, on the contrary, much still left to be accomplished. We refer to the attempts made for some time to gild and silver threads of silh. Some specimens of silk of this kind exhibited, denote processes still in a crude state, which do not yet supply any product capable of being used advantageously. Another branch of dyeing, is, on the contrary, in a very advanced state — sometimes too advanced. Reference is here made to the means used to surcharge silks, so as to make them gain, if one wished it, as much as one hundred per cent, upon their normal weight. This process has an honest origin, and some- times its applications are honest; but it is not infrequently used for purposes of gross decep- tion. For example, when the threads and tissues 81 are sold by len^jtli or l)y mirface^ these surcharyeH have no other result than to ij^ive a certain appearance to the article, while the thickness of the tissue plays no other part here than that which frequently results from the stiffness of stuffs of this soi't, without any detriment to the huyer. But, on the other hand, Avhen the threads, and even the tissues, are sold by weighty it makes the purchaser pay the price of silk for a con- siderable quantity of foreign matter, which some- times has not a fiftieth part the value of silk. Nevertheless, the authors of these operations, whose main object is to give increased weight to silk, are tolerated, and even rewarded, at the Exhibition, under the pretext that they therel)y aid in meeting foreign competition. These are specious pretexts which ought to Ije made known. As those efforts for facilitating the best em- plo}Tnent of waste, are worthy to be pointed out and recommended, so, on the contrary, these reprehensible i)ractices are to be deplored and condemned. 6 82 THE WEAYI>'a OF STUFFS OF 0^'E COLOE, VELVETY, OR PILED FABRICS. We observed at tlie exliibition some plain silks made in France, Switzerland, and Xortliem Ger- manv, leaving nothing in tins department to desire. The result proves, tliat if the automatic work- ing of plain silk goods be not yet general, it results fi-om special causes in the organization of the fabrics, rather than fi'om difficulties in the execution of the work : for the perfect specimens herein before mentioned, were exhibited -^vith the special notice that the weaving was done by motive power. AVe examined with care the looms l)y which this result has been attained. Looms of this kind were exhibited in the English, French, and Swiss sections of the Expositioru The two latter nations have more especially applied themselves to the constiTiction of looms intended for silk weavinor, whilst the English looms, being adapted to more general use in the weaving of almost eveiw kind of fabrics, are not as well litted to the weavingf of silk, which demands particular care and special adaptation. 83 The Swiss uud Fieiicli also makt' the vantttes for the tram, the oardmoirs destined to dis])ose the ckuine, and the arrangements for raisino- and advancing it on the loom. They thus have an appearance peculiarly their own. Competent men quickly observe, that, cei-tain alterations, which influence only the proportions and rela. tions between the different means generally used in all looms of this kind, are in this case important modifications. These changes are especially employed in utilizing the peculiar elasticity of silk, so as to obtain fi*om it the regularity which the inter- lacing of threads in silk goods demands, and also to be better able to secure cleanness, purity, and brilliancy. By the side of the machines and aj)j)aratus of which we have just spoken, was exhibited a French machine to polish automatically these same stuffs. This machine, alike ingenious and eflic-acious, possesses all the advantages of hand ])olishing, acting with only a little polish and in })ai'ts. All these machines have great value and interest for American industry ; and it is the same with the automatic looms for the 84 mauiilactiire of velvets, stuifs, such as plush for hats, «fec. These automatic looms may l>e arrauofed in two classes. The one class works two pieces at one time ; the other only one. Both have their special object and employment. The loom which makes two pieces at the same time is furnished ^vith three ehaines superposed, the one al)Ove the other, at suitalJe distances. The middle chaine is intended to supplv the thread, which l»y the coupe ^ or cutting, forms the velvet surface. This middle chaine^ or chaine de poil„ has a much greater length than that of the other two. It is proportional to the length of the piece multiplied l>y the height of the duvet, and by the number of houcJes or loops necessary to each of them. The interlacements in the weaving of these three cJiaines are such that they form two toiles, or fabrics, between which is interlaced a certain IteigJd of the thread of the chaine. This height is exactly and automatically sep- arated in two by the middle one, in order to supply the velvet siuiace to each piece, which, thus separated, is then rolled upon a roller as fast as this section is worked. Various articles in silk, and especially the most beautiful plushes for hats, are executed in this manner. This system is more particularly suited to plain articles wherein the duvet, without the intervention of the haguettes, or small rings, em- ployed in hand-Aveaving, necessitates a certain height, and can be employed to manufacture faconnees, or figured stuifs, and very smooth velvets. The automatic work in smooth and fine velvets has yet only reached the extent of weaving one piece at a time. The operation is eftected by the insertion of irons to determine the houcles or loops, which remain closed in the work of velvet frise. The iron is withdrawn when a certain number of houcles or loops are fixed by interlacements. If, on the contrary, the object is to make vel- vet coupe, it is effected by cutting at the to]) each of these loops or houcles. Thus, to the ordinary functions of weaving- machines, it is necessary in the weaving of vel- vets to add combinations which place and witli draw hagnettes to form the fris/ne on a\ liidi these })(i(l>i('1feen tasked in a thousand ditlrr- 88 f ut ways to simplify tlie elements of the Jacquard loom, and render it capaltle of jM-rulucmg still more extensive results. It secures economy in tlif use of tlif cards, necessitated by tliis manufactuie. 1 'y diminisMng the sui-faoe of holes, or froiis, and <:»t the folds whicli sepanue them, in such a manner as to make them contain m« at- in a givt-n siu'facf. Besides the cards t-ntirely dispeu>eii with, and replaced by a simple sheet of paper, fiuthfr on tht-re is an ingenious combination which permits the same card to serve twice successively, and to produce two different effects, and enables it also to economise at least 50 per cent, of cards. Thfie are savings of another kind in the auto- matic fxecution of stitching, due t' ■ tht- intr-'due- tiou of an additional organ inTIANUFACTURERS UPON THE EAST, AND ITS RECIPROCAL ADVANTAGES. In view of the vast capital invested in silk industry, and especially in silk manufactures, l)y 92 leading European nations, and tlie gi^eat niiml>ers of their people employed in its prt;>secution, we niav, in the presence of the crises which has overtaken their silk husbandmen on account of the prevailing malady, pertinently ask, what would have been the fate of the indtistry, and the condition of its employes, had not the ex- treme East been able to supply them with raw material in quantities sufficient to meet the exigency i And what advantages have nut the nations "t A-ia derived jfrom l>eing thus brought into Ci..>er relations with the more elevated and ad- vanced nations of Western Europe ? liotwithstanding the relatively low price at which they can supply their silks, they could not^ a quarter of a century since, have anticipated so high a price as they are now receiving. Nor is this the only advantage resulting to these Oriental nations from this species of traffic with the silk manufacturers of Europe. It will teach them how to bring their products to greater perfection at home, and will stimulate them to prepare them with such care, and l>estow upon them such an amount of skilled labor as to draw from them all the value and profit that comport with the excellence of their nature. 08 RESUME AND CONCLUSION. The inauutacture of silk, as already analyzed, and as it exists in countries the most advanced in the art, embraces seven special branches of indus- try, viz: 1st. The rearing of the silk-worms. 2d. The jUaPwre, or reeling of the silk from the cocoons. 3d. The throwing, or spinning of the silk thread. 4th. The dyeing of the silk. 5th. The preparation of the silk threads for the looms. 6th. The weaving of silk goods. 7th. The spinning of waste silk. These specialties, although consequent and dependent each upon the others, like links in a chain, can, nevertheless, be practiced separately, as is the case now in some countries. We have demonstrated that some of these employments present more difficulties than others, to countries, which, like the United States, have not yet had sufficient experience therein. America can, however, ho])e henceforth to excel in these industries whenever she resolutely wills it, and devotes to them that energy and 94 skill which have placed her in the first rank amono; nations for certain of her inventions and manufactures. Let her not be disheartened at her efforts in this branch of industry, already most prais- worthy; and especially so in New Jersey, Con- necticut, New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and California, But let her press on, and bring to this new enterprise, that genius of investiga- tion and energy in execution, which have at- tracted to her so much attention, and attained for her such honorable distinction, in the Universal Exhibition of 1867. Concernino; the seven industrial branches em- ployed in the transformations of silk, four can, from this period, develope themselves without any difficulty, and soon take in America, the high position already attained by cotton indus- try, namely : 1st. The throwing of the silk; consisting in the emploj-ment of apparatus more simple, and less difficult to direct than the greater part of the machines in the factories of the United States. As to the raw material, it is as easy for the United States as for England to immediately supply herself with raw silk in China, Japan, and even in the Levant, and Lidia. 95 It is by no iiiCciiis iiiiprohal)!!' that, at no dist- ant day, New York will become as inii)()itant a d^p6t of Asiatic silks as London now is. Tliis may be accomplished, via San Francisco, tliroiira-',< x in hands, and the entire annual production exceeds s2<>.000,0(K». It is one of the occupations, like ribl)ons and laces, that employs the largest number of women and children, who earn from twenty to sixty cents per day. Tlie wages depend l)oth upon the skill of the laborer, and the nature of the work. Men earn from sixty cents to si. 50 per day. 97 St. Etienne is noted for its t'asliionable dress trimmings ; St. Cliamoud for its excellent cords, braids, and stay-laces — employing about 2,()(M) fi-ames, or metiers a la poupee^ in weaving stay- laces alone. Most of tliese articles are extensively copied by foreign manufacturers from samples obtained in Paris. A system lias been inaugurated there for promptly supplying samples of all novelties in silk fabrics b}' the pajTnent of a yearly sub- scription. 4tli. With regard to the automatic weav- ing of plain stuffs, the United States already compete successfully with the more experienced nations of Europe. It is gratifying to know that the looms exhib- ited by American constructors, have been highly appreciated for their ingenious contrivances and remarkable improvements.* There remain, then, three specialties, to excel in wdiich, time will be necessary to obtain the experience requisite to complete success. This, * Tlie Looms exliibited by Mr. M. 0i)i)er, of New York ; Mr. (It'orjft- Croinpton, of Worct'Htcr, Mass., uiid tin- Knittiny: Miicliiiic nf Mr. J. W. Lamb, of Rochester, attractt-d spcrial iittcDtinii. and a Silv.r Medal was awarded for each. 98 our coiintrjTnen will indubitably acquire in due season, if tliey will only bring to the task tlieir usual sagacity and proverbial perseverance. These specialties are — 1st. The rearinor of silk-worms. 2d. The reeling of the cocoons into raw silk. 8d. The weaving of figured goods, more or less rich. We ^^'ill speak of these in their order. 1st. As to the rearing of the silk- worm. The most important element in this matter seems to be solved, namely, the culture of the mulberry. The various previous trials in the United States, already mentioned, have proved that large sections of the country are admirably suited to the a:rowth of this tree, so indispensable to the rearing of the worm. And, from what has ali'eady been shown, it may be inferred, that if the breeding of silk- worms has not been hitherto entii'ely successful, it is probably because, that, at the periods of these early attempts, the agricultural population was not sufficiently instructed in details, and therefore failed in some essential j)articulars, or lacked somewhat of that patience which the French and Italian cultivators bring to this par- ticular pursuit. 99 But, with an increase of exj)ei'iente, daily aug- mented l)y recruits to our population from the skilled labor of Europe and China, with individ- ualities and talents the most diverse and elastic ; with abundance of capital seeking investment; and above all, with our fertile and remunerative soils, and the superior climatic conditions of large sections of our country, it is not possiljle that new trials judiciously conducted, should fail of success.* 2d The reeling or filature of the cocoons into raw silk, which comes next in order, constitutes, perhaps, one of the processes the most diffi- cult to teach, and especially in localities want- * As a proof how tlie introduction of this industry into a locality will enhance the prosi)erity of a whole i)e()i)le, an interesting: tact may be cited from a recent French publication. An officer in the French army, havinjj seen duiinn that a quintal (100 lbs.) of cocoons be n^turned for every ounce of eggs ; also giving them a s\if- ficient quantity of mulberry leaves to feed the worms hatched from the eggs, and a certain (juantity more. The cocoons i)roduced from this surplus, constituted the profit of the silk-worm cultivators. 100 ing in experience in this particular l^rauch of silk industry. The superiority of the French and Italian silks over Asiatic silks is greatly owing to the perfec- tion of reeling. The success of this process de- pends in a large measure upon the care and watchfulness of the attendant, especially so far as the perfection of the product is concerned. The rapid analysis above made of this kind of lal)or, may assist us to understand the difficulty that besets this branch of the work ; but we shall render it still more palpable by saying, that the most experienced workwoman can hardly pro- duce more than 300 grammes, or 12 ounces of good silk in the ordinary qualities; obtained from 5 or 6 cocoons per thread, of which the quality or fineness is from 10 to 12 deniers, being 24,000 yards per ounce. Nevertheless, the country which produces the most skillful and careful spinners of wool and cotton manufactures, will not despair of arriving eventually at the successful production of the many kinds of silk goods so clearly within its province. 3d. Thou2:h we feel assured that the in- dustry of the United States will soon largely develope itself in the weaving <>f plain, stii|n'(l, and plaid silks ; of velvets, of plain ii])l)ons, and other silk fabrics, simple in their character ; yet, we cannot conceal the fact, that long and patient study is necessary to produce articles of sufficient novelty and artistic skill to compete with Euro- pean industry, and more particularly with that of Lyons, which shines with a brilliancy pecu- liarly its own. The great experience, cultivated taste, and ex- tensive knowledge of the French, have made this specialty with them a veritable art. The employment of Jacquard looms forms the basis of success in the textile fabrics. But, al- though this loom is universally in use, the effects it can produce have been no where pushed to so great an extent as in France, and particularly in Lyons. The same may be said of Calais in its applica- tion of the Jacquard to blondes^ or figured silk laces. The Exhibition proves, by products of this kind, that henceforth, to automatic labor, almost nothing is impossible. The magnificent specimens of lace there dis- played, which imitate and well-nigh rival the most exquisite and elaborate efforts obtained by 102 the slow and tedious process of liaiid-lalxn-, are now tlie results of the motive power of steam, while the functions of the workmen are limited to a superintendence, which l)ecomes almost a sinecure, on account of the admirahle precision and perfect execution of these machines. It is thus that fabrics, alike l»eautifiil and use- ful, once ranked amongst articles of luxury, and accessi])le only to the wealthy, are each day ren- dered more available to the masses: contributing both to the prosperity of the ]>roducer, and the gratification of the consumer. So far ti'om despairing of ultimate success in rivaling the most elal)orate and l)rilliant produc- tions of Europe in this department of industiy, the people of the United States may take cour- age by the fact that already a iiKxt successful beginning has l;)een made in silk weaving. Paterson, X. J., and Hartford. Manchester, and Mansfield, Conn., are already noted for their ex- tensive silk manufactures. For many years past all the sewing silk anject, expresses the opinion that, contrary to the gene- ral course of epidemics, this travels Eastward rather than Westward. This mysterious malady, which seems destined to destroy silk husbandry in the whole Eastern hemisphere, has not appeared in the Western. In view^ of its easterly course, and with the Pacific Ocean between it and the American Con- tinent, and w^ith our superior climatic condi- tions, it is hoped, and l>elieved, that with jnecau- tion and care it w^ll never reach oui- shoies. The soils, and es])ecially the climate, of those 8 106 states of our Union, where the cotton plant and the sugar-cane have been wont to flourish, are peculiarly adapted to the raising of the mul- beny and rearing of the silk-woiTas. From obvious causes, some of the long-existing industries of portions of those States, will here- after be necessarily modified to a noticeable extent. The culture of cotton, and the produc- tion of sugar, will not so exclusively engross the attention of their populations as fonnerly. A portion of their capital and labor will doubtless seek new fields for the exercise of their energies. Are not these facts an exhortation, an admoni- tion even, to the people of the United States, to promptly avail themselves of their Providential advantages, and, by devoting a liberal share of their resources to the production and manufac- ture of silk, save this imj^ortant and beautiful industry from ruin, while at the same time, they advance the prosperity of their own country and confer incalculable blessings upon the world ? In conclusion, the undersigned cannot refi'ain fi*om expressing here publicly, his thanks to Messieurs Arles-Dufour and Duseigneur, of Lyons, and M. Alcau, of Paris, as well as to the many prominent manufacturers and merchants in 107 the clitfereut centers of industry, in Europe, whom he has visited, for their kindness in assist- ing to make the numerous researches which he- came necessary in the examination of this im- portant and diversified subject. The works of M. Louis Reybaud, M. Pasteur, M. de Quatrefages ; the archives of the Chambers of Commerce of the various cities of France, Switzerland and Germany, and especially that of Lyons, have been valuable sources of information. The report now submitted has swelled far be- yond the limits anticipated at its commencement. But, silk industry in all its branches, now grown to such importance throughout Europe ; the con- spicuous place it occupied in the Exhibition ; its comparative novelty in the Ignited States; and the prospect that ere long it will l)e firmly estab- lished and diligently prosecuted in many sections of our country, seemed to call for a careful and thorough investigation, and a full and detailed statement of facts and conclusions. I have the honor to be, Sir, very respectfully, Your obedient servant, ELLIOT C. COWDIN. To the IIox. Wii.i.iAM H. Sewaho, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. I ^ D E X PAGE Africa. — State of Silk ludustry in, .... 36-37 Alcan. — Professor, Silk Tliread Tostiii- Silk-Worms, 54 Blonde Lace. — Manufacture and Beauty of, . . 88-8!) California. — Its Cocoons at the Exposition, 14 Excellency of its Ejgrfrs, . . .15 Its Flourishing Silk Industry, . . 15-16 Admirably Adapted to Silk Husbandry, 16 Caroline, Queen. — Her Hobe of (Georgia Silk, . . 9 Charles II. — His Coronation Kobe of Virginia Silk, . 8 ChE8TERFIEI,d. — Earl of. His Hobe of Stnith Carolina Silk, 10 China. — Silk Originated in, ..... 1-2 Early Exportation of Kggs, ... 4 Ciirious Custom of the Phnjjrt'ss of, . . 4 State of Silk Industry in. ... 36 Cocoons. — How to Select (lood. .... 43 Treatment of in Heeling an-ce.— ^Progressive Development of Silk Industry in, . 26 Value of in 1789, .... 26 " " 1812, 36 " " 1820, .... 27 " " 1850, 27 " " 1855, .... 28 " " 1860, and subsequently, . . 29 Superior State of Silk Industry in, . . 35 Persons Employed in Paris on Silk Waste, . 96 Value of this Product there and in the Whole Country, ...... 96 Franklin, Benjamin. — Encourages Silk Industry in the United States, ... 10 George III. — His Mother's Robe of South Carolina Silk, 10 Gold. — Silk Once as Costly, Pound for Pound, as . . 63 Great Britain. — Rise and Progress of Silk Industry in, 29-33 Amount of in 1825, ... 31 " " 1855, ... 31 " " 1856, ... 32 " " 1858, ... 32 , " " from 1860 to 1866, . 32 Superior Condition of in, ." . .33 Number of Looms and Persons Emploj'ed in, 95 GuERiN, Meneville. — Introduces a New Silk- Worm into France, ... 70 Honegger, G. — Silk Thread Sorting Apparatus ot, . . 67 INDEX. Ill Industry, Silk. — The Seven Branches of, Breeding of Silk-Worms, . Heelinof from Cocoons, . . Throwing of the Silk, Dyeing, ..... Preparation of Threads for the Loom, Weaving, .... Working of Waste, . International Conference at Paris, Iron. — Silk Thread as Strong as, . Italy. — State of Silk Industry in. Jacquard, M. — Looms of, . JOYOT, Jr. — Looms of, for Weaving Ribbons, Laces. — Manufacture of, . Lamb, J. W. — Knitting Machine of, . Law, Gov. — His Silk Coat and Stockings, Lyons. — The Great Center of Silk Manufacture, Looms in, ...... Brilliant Character of Products of, . Exports of the United States in 1865 and 1866, Author's Thanks to Chamber of Commerce of. Machines, Implements, Tools and Apparatus, ^iz : For Preventing Double Cocoons, For Reeling Cocoons, .... For Sorting and Testing Threads, For Throwing, ..... For Simultaneous Reeling and Throwing. For Disintegrating Waste, For Weaving Stuffs, .... For Weaving Ribbons. .... The .Jacciuard Looms, Malady. — Among Silk-Worms, and Remedies jjroiioscd . Great Ravages of, .... Theories as to Its Cause, Proposed Remedies, Theories of, M. Pasteur's Theory of, .... M. Becamjj's " " . Facts Ascertained Concerning, . M. de Quatrefage's Opinions ii])on. Andrew Murray upon, .... Exemption of United States from, . MORUS Multicaulis. — Furor About in tin- fnitrd States. PAGE 37-96 42-46 43-67 39-41 44-80 42 41 41 21 1 33-34 88-101 90 88-89 97 11 27-28 28 63 29 107 45 57-60 63-67 69-76 72-76 75 87-90 '91 88-101 •51-55 52-103 52 .53 53 54 54 105 10:3-104 105 14 112 rsDEX. PAGE Mrr.BERRY-TREE.— Condition of it* Cultivation, . . 16 Cliuiate.s and SoUs Suited to, . 18 Portions of United States Adapted to. IT. 18. 106 California Especially Adajrted to. . 14-1.5 Murray, Andrew. — On Silk-Worm Malady, . 103 Nurseries. — For Silk Worm-Rearinor, . . . 37-38 Opper, M. — Loom of. ...... 97 Paris. — Persons Employed on Silk Wa.paratus to Sort and Prove Threads of. . 67 (t. Honeorgers Apparatus. ... 67 Prof. Alcan's Apparatus, ... 68 Reeling and Throwing. — Simultaneously, . . .72 Revolutionary War. — Destructive Effect of, on Silk Hus- bandry in the United States. . 12 Reybaud. Louis. — The Works of . . . . 107 Ribbons. — The Weavino^ of, . .90 Joyot's Loom for. .... 90 Chief Localities for the Manufacture of. . 90 \Miere Chiefly Sold, .... 90-91 Purchases of by the United States. . 91 Manufacture of in the United States. . 95 Russia. — State of Silk Industry in. . . .20 Sewing Silk. — Large Production of in the United States, 102 Sn.K. — Leading Characteristics of, . . . 1 Name of in Various Languages. ... 2 Origin of in China, ..... 2 Introduction into Persia, Greece and Italy, 5 Introduction of into Constantinople, ... 5 Introduction of Manufacture of into Euroi)e. 6 INDEX. 113 PAGE SiT.K. — Rise ami Profrross of Silk Industry in the United States, . . 7-16 Virtriuia, .... 7 Georgia, ... 8 South Carolina, ... 10 Pennsylvania and New Jersey, 10 Massachusetts and Conneeticut, 11 California, ... 14 South America, . . 16 Ecuador. ... 16 Sn-K-WoTOis. — Breeding of, . . 17,19,42,43,55,98 Habits of, .... . 44 Necessity of Good Eggs for, ... 42 Nurseries for, .... 43 Mode of Selecting Eggs for, . . . 43-45 Male and Female Cocoons, . . 43 Double Cocoons, .... 45 Apparatus to Prevent Doubles, . . 45 Cost of Breeding, in Detail, . . . 55-57 Malady Among, .... 52 Different Species of Worms, . . . 46-50 The Common Species Most in Tse. . 46 Its Characteristics and Habits, . . 47 The Castor Oil Species, ... 47 The Ailanthus " ... 48 The Tusseh "... 49 The Japan " . . . 49 The Bombyx Curojjia Species, . . 50 Mode in which the Worm Produces Silk, . 47 Sir.VRi?. — Silk as Dear as by Weight. ... 63 Sp.mn. — State of Silk Industry in. . 34 Spinning of Wastp:, 41 Spittalfield. — The Silk Weavers of, ... 30 Stk.xm Looms, ...... 91 Stii.ks, Rev. Dr. — His Commenci-ment Silk (Jown. . . 11 SwiT7,KHi,.\ND.— State of Silk Industry in, H5 Its Importance Next to that of France and England, .... 35 Large Manufacture of Ribbons in. . 91 Variety of its Apparatus for Throwing, 69-70 " " " Looms, .... 82 114 tffDEX. PAGE Syria.— Product of Silk in. ... . 36 Thiers, M.— Silk -^^'o^m Malady. . . . .103 Threads. — Of Silk, Various Kind of, . - . .39 Throwx Silk. — Various Kinds of Threads of, . . 37—10 Throwing of Silk. — Methods of, . . . . 7"2 Apparatus for, ... T"2 Simultaneous Reeling and Throwing. 12 Trimmings. — Silk, Large Production of in the United States. 13 Torus. — Perfection of its Products, .... 87 United States. — Adaption of to this Industry. . 14-100 Production of Sewing Silk and Twist in, 12, 13, 102 " " Pongee Handkerchiefs in, 103 " " Ribbons, Braids. Trimmings, &c., .... 103 Chief Seats of this Industry in, . . 94-102 Products of in 1840, 1844, 1850, 1860 and since, ..... 13 Morus Multicaulis Furor in, . . 12 Species of Silk- Worm Indigenous in, . 50 Exem]ition of the Country from the Malady. ..... 103 Encouragement on that Account. 105 The Four Branches in which they May Now Excel, ... 94 The Three Branches in which they May Ultimately Excel. . . . 94 Waste. — Utility. Variety and Production of, . . 76 Methods of UtOizing, .... 77 Manufacture of in Paris, .... 77 " " France, ... 77 Weaving.— Of Silk Stuffs, .... 82, 87, 88 French and Swiss Looms. ... 82 English Looms, ..... 82 Two Classes of Automatic Looms, . . 84 Of Ribbons, ...... 91 i^^vl m^ mwmx^ixl (Exltilntiou ot 1867. -A.1^ A.DDRESS DELIVERED BEFORE THE N. I mn AGRICLILTliRAIi SOCIIITF AT THEIR ANNUAL MEETING IN THE CAPITOL AT ALBANY, FEB'T 12, 18G8, By ELLIOT C. COWDIN. PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY. ALBANY : PRINTING HOUSE OF CIIAS. VAN BENTIIUYSEN AND SONS. 1808. ADDEESS. M?'. President and Gentlemen : The opening of the past year found the attention of the world irresistibly attracted to one of its most brilliant and renowned cities, Paris, the capital of France and center of civi- lization in Europe. For centuries Paris has been watched by Europe, as often in fear as in admiration. Now the entire world was led to think of it, for its gates were flung wide open, not for the exit of armed hosts pouring forth to battle and to con- quest as in former days, but to welcome, with a boundless hospitality, the representatives of all nations, inviting them to bring thither and combine the products of their soil, their labor, and their art, in peaceful competition and in generous rivalry. To the Universal Exposition of 18G7 all were welcopie guests, irrespective of nationality or of creed. It is of this great exhibition, which it was my privilege to attend as one of the Commissioners from the United States, that I purpose to speak this evening in compliance with your special request. Paris itself is a perpetual Universal Exhibi- tion. It epitomizes not onlj' France, for which it is only but another name, but civilization itself. It is a manj-sided city, and each of its angles exhibits its own peculiar aspect. Hence, adapt- ing itself to every variety of taste, it has been depicted in almost as many dififerent colors as the chameleon. Yet everj' description is true, for it wears a rainbow garment. One tells you it is a city of fashion and frivolitj-; another that it is a city of learning, science, law, reli- gion ; a third, the focus of turmoil and insur- rection. It all depends upon the standpoint of the observer, the color of the medium through which he looks, and the time of his visit. Look at Paris on a festive day, its streets and squares filled with radiant faces, and you would think that the Golden Age had been restored, and here was another Arcadia. Look at Paris on a day of revolution, the cannon roaring in its streets, its barricades emitting death ; even women and children fight- ing in the ranks of battle ; and you would say that one spirit of the first-born Cain reigned in those hearts. Such extreme contrasts does this wonderful city present in its history, because here all the phases of human passion and char- acter have been exhibited as on the broader stage of the world. Here, especially, there has been a concentration of conflicting elements. But we have now to do with happier days — with the pacific aspect of Paris under a strong and intelligent municipal administration. It is a beautiful city, and every day growing more beautiful, for wonderful improvements are in progress, conceived in the most liberal spirit and conducted at a vast expenditure of wealth and labor. The spectator, looking down for the first time on the immense area of the city from the summit of the Triumphal Arch, or the Col- umn of July, and contemplating the sweej) of the Boulevards and Avenues, the sidewalks of which are as wide as many of our streets, the solidity and elegance of the buildings, all (with- out exception) of light colored stone, the lines G of trees running in everv direction, the numer- ous squares with their foliage and fountains, the splendid cathedrals and churches that lift their spires and domes to Heaven, the noble bridges that span the Seine, the stately columns that record the victories and glories of the past, the palaces and public edifices with their almost interminable facades, the wooded environs, dot- ted with villas and villages, and insulating the capital in an ocean of verdure: the spectator, I say, is lost in admiration of the scene before him, and admits that Paris is indeed the most attractive city of the world. Descending from his airy eminence and plung- ing into the busy world of Paris, a unit in the sum of its life, the visitor is yet more astonished at the vitality and variety of its existence. How ceaseless the tide that ebbs and flows through its mighty arteries from sunrise till midnight! What wealth and taste in the stores that line the Boulevards and crowd the passages and arcades ! Above all what order and neatness everywhere; what courtesy and civility! The workman in his blouse manifests as much self-respect as a counselor of state or a marshal of the empire. The dignitv of manhood now asserts itself in every individual, whatever maj' be his rank and calling. Parisian citizenship is regarded as much a title to honor as was Roman citizenship in the days of the great Republic. Yet there is no offensive self-assertion. The citizen claims for himself no more respect than he accords to others. ' Cleanliness is another distinctive feature of the French Capital. An army of street sweep- ers, working at hours when their labor is invisi- ble, remove every particle of dirt from the thoroughfares. Those who visited Paris for the first time during the Exposition may have thought that this universal neatness was an exceptional fea- ture, but it is not so ; it is the normal condition of the city. Of course busy preparations were made by a capital which had issued cards of invitation to the world. Buildings in process of construction were rapidly finished, and the wrecks of recent demolitions removed, that no unsightly object might offend a stranger's eye ; and then, when all was ready, Paris welcomed her guests with a bright and radiant smile, giving cordial recep- tion to emperor and peasant, citizen and king. 8 Let us hasten to the great center of attrac- tion, the Champ de Mars, the site of the Expo- sition, which merits a brief notice. It is a level area of about one hundred acres, in front of the Militarv School, and was used prior to the Exposition as a parade and drill gromid, and for reviews and public celebrations. The Champ de Mars occupies a memorable place in the history of France. On the 14th of July, 1790, it was the scene of the great Festi- val of the Federation designed to recall the taking of the Bastille and to inaugurate the new constitution of the kingdom. In the center of the space rose the altar of the country where Talleyeand, then Bishop of Autun (who successively supjDorted the Revolu- tion, the Empire and Bestored Boyalty), cele- brated mass. Four hundred thousand men, women and children, occupied the terraces of green turf surrounding the amj)itheatre built expressly for their accommodation. The altar and the throne were placed side by side. The white flag of the royal troops and the tri-color of the armed populace were blended fraternally, like the masses that upheld them ; and the roll of hun- drcds of drums and the peal of Imndreds of trumpets mingled with the thunder tones of popular acclamation. Louis XVI did not ascend the altar and swear fidelity to the constitution. He uttered the oath, and a young officer, nominated that day commandant general of all the national guards in the realm, mounted on a white horse, caught the words from his lips, rode round the immense circle, repeating them to the multitude, and then, on behalf of the king, solemnly pronounced them at the altar. This young officer, then in the flower of man- hood, the observed of all observers as the royal deputy, the central figure in the celebration, wearing a three-cornered American cocked hat, as worn by the generals of the Continental army, was none other than the friend of Washington and of Franklin, the hero of two hemispheres, the illustrious La Fayette. He had left a brilliant court, a happy home and an adored bride, to ofier his sword, his fortune and his life to the cause of American Indepen- dence. He returned with honorable wounds, inspired with American ideas, to participate in 2 10 the disenthralment of his country, but not in the excesses of its revolution. In speaking of the Act of Federation on the Champ de Mars, Everett says of La Fayette : " Of all the oaths that day taken by the master spirits of the time, his was perhaps the only one kept inviolate." Dearly did he pay for his fidelity by years of sufferino;, but he lived to return to our own shores the honored, almost idolized guest of the nation, lived to be the controlling spirit of a second revolution in his native land, and died revered and lamented, crowned with a spotless fame. The very year after the feast of the Federa- tion, the Champ de Mars was desecrated by a bloody combat between the national guards and the insurgent populace, who had there planted the red flag of revolt and murder. Well might Lamartine, in 1848, refuse, at the peril of his life, with hundreds of muskets leveled at his head in the Square of the Hotel de Ville, to accord to the maddened rioters the red flag which they then demanded, an heroic refusal, couched in words of undying eloquence. " I will refuse, even to death, this flag of blood ; for the red flag which you ofl'er us has only 11 made the tour of the Champ de Mars trailed through the blood of the people in '91 and '93, while the tri-color has made the circuit of the world with the name, the glory and the liberty of the country. ^^ On the 1st of June, 1815, the Champ de Mars again witnessed an imposing demonstration, the celebration of Napoleon's resumption of the throne, and the consecration of the Eagles he had so often led to victory, but which he was doomed in a few days to behold stricken down at Waterloo, his last and fatal field of battle. But the souvenirs of the scene are not all warlike. In the month of September, 1798, Francis DE NeufchAteau, Minister of the Interior of the French Republic, inaugurated the first known exhibition, which was opened on the same site as that of this year, in a row of barracks con- taining the products of 110 exhibitors. This was modest, but in the words of the minister, "the torch of liberty was kindled," and the result has been that in the place of the humble stalls, inaugurated by Francis de NeufchAteau and his 110 exhibitors, 42,237 citizens, gathered from all the countries of the globe, displayed 12 in the past year tliL^ marvels of human indus- try, taste and skilL The Exposition of 170S covered a space of twenty-sev-en square yards; that of 1^07 occu- pies nearly 500.000 square yards without reck- oning the Island of the Seine devoted to the display of agricultural implements. The first Exposition vras exclusivelv French. It was only in 1S-4S that M. TROUVE-CnArvzL. one of the Ministers of General Cavaig>'ac, Chief of the Executive power of the French riepublic. con- ceived the idea of opening these meetings to the people of the entire world. Political troubles prevented the realization of this project, but Great Britain adopted the plan which resulted in the erection of the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park in 1^51. There in the presence of 25,000 spectators, Queen Victoria.. wearing; her crown and decked in her roval robes, turned to the North. West. East and South, successivelv, and four times proclaimed, in a loud voice, the opening of the Wurld's Fair. The first French Universal Exposition was held in 1S55 in the Palace of Industry erected on the Champs Ely sees, a spacious structure still standina". and used this A-ear for the distribution 13 of the prizes, a ceremony of extraordinary interest, to which I shall allude hereafter. The English Fair was supposed to be a prelude to universal peace. The Paris Exhibition, on the contrary was held in the midst of the Crimean war. " It stood on its own merits, as a display of industry and of art, a temple of peace amid the clash of arms; but a temple in which it was impossible for any to worship without the intrusion of thoughts which took their color from the world without, confused as it was with mortal conflicts and teeming with political convulsion." It is a curious fact, illustrative of the rapid changes of European affairs, that during the Exhibition of 1855 France was fighting Russia, while during that of 1867 the Emperor of Rus- sia was her honored guest. Although the first Universal Exhibition of England preceded a period of strife, and the first French Universal Exhibition was opened in a time of war, let us indulge the hope that this second French Universal Exhibition may be a prelude to a period of lasting peace. The erection of the Temple of Concord on the Champ dc Mars is at least a fact of happy augury. 14 Seen from the neighboring heights the Expo- sition of 1867 presented as a whole the aspect of a vast camp occupied by the representatives of all the nations of the globe. Specimens of every known architecture were crowded to- gether in strange association ; Moslem domes and minarets, Japanese huts, Swiss chalets, Egyptian temples, Turkish kiosks, and Gothic chapels. Here were broad belts of water gliding on their way, and glittering over artificial rocks in bright cascades; there a light-house and a lantern; yonder, tall chimneys and pipes, throw- ing out columns of smoke and steam, and in the midst of all, the colossal mass of the main palace, built of cast iron, pierced with arched windows, and in which some visitors thought they detected a likeness to a Roman ampitheatre. But the building had really no resemblance to coloseum or palace, no pretence to architectural beauty, and only fitness to commend it. The park which occupied nearly double the area of the palace, presented the strangest possible mixture of buildings, but in that very circumstance lay its attraction, since to afford scope for contrast and comparison, was one of the leading objects of the enterprise. 15 Here you saw a massive Egyptian temple — no piece of fancy-work, but an exact reproduc- tion. There were the vast pillars, the huge seated statues, the colossal sphynxes. Not far off was a copy of the temple of Xocchicalco, and in comparing both, you Avere struck by the wonder- ful similarity between the ancient Egyptian and the ancient Mexican ecclesiastical architecture. Farther on was a representation of the palace of the Bey of Tunis, its fanciful and graceful forms and brilliant and florid ornamentation reminding you of those glories of the Moorish Alhambra, so gracefully described by Irving. Here again you came to an Eastern caravansary, where oriental workmen were busy plaiting mats, and it required no great stretch of the imagina- tion to fancy yourself in Cairo or Damascus. A few more steps brought you to a cavern filled with water, in which divers clothed in sub- marine armor, and breathing through tubes, showed how the inventive genius of man has enabled him to mingle with fishes in their native element. Then there were pavillions splendidly decorated, constructed for the special use of the Emperor and Empress, the Viceroy of Egypt and the sovereigns. 10 There were churches of different Christian creeds, and buildings where Bibles and religi- ous publications in different languages were distributed. In the park also were buildings devoted to the display of objects crowded out of the palace or too cumbrous to be exhibited there, such as colossal statues, monster guns, fountains, pagodas. Here the Dutch had a huge structure filled with railroad material. Belgium had a gallery of Fine Arts and an equestrian statue of King Leopold. In the reserved park were foliage and flowers, and cages filled with bright plumed or sweet voiced birds, and sheets of water where gold and silver fishes sported. Here were acquariums displaying their living marvels, strange shell fish and the wonders of the sea. In the English and American Parks, separated by an alley, there were vast collec- tions of railroad material. In the former there were monster guns, in the latter not a single cannon, but a better representative — the model of an American school-house. In the Egyptian department were relics that carried the mind back in a breathless flight 17 through centuries; jewels buried with the mummy of a queen of Thebes, who lived when Joseph was prime minister of Pharaoh. The supply of water from the Seine for the use of the engines in the Park, was effected by five enormous pumps, in company with the steam engiue of the French frigate Friedland, which alone drew up 1,100,000 gallons per hour. This water was received into a basin made to resemble a ruined castle, flowed into the garden, supplied all the wants of the Exhibition, formed a lake at the foot of the light-house and was finally restored to the Seine. An international theatre, and a large hall for scientific and social meetings, were outside of the palace, together with a belt of restaurants and refreshment saloons, some of vast capacity. The palace of the Exposition was in the form of an elongated oval. The outer circumference was devoted to machinery and was 3,936 feet in length. Then came the gallery of raw products ; being nearer to the centre of the ellipse, it was necessarily shorter, and so with the succeeding zones, which diminished as they approached the inner circumference of the ellipse. In the centre of all was an open garden surrounded by statues. 18 Each class of manufactures or works of art made the entire circuit of the building. The concentric rings were termed galleries. The inner circle of all, or Gallery No. 1, was devoted to works of art. No. 2, to materials for and application of the liberal arts, such as printing, books, stationery, scientific apparatus, surgical, mathematical and musical instruments, &c. No. 3, to furniture and other articles for dwellings. No. 4, to clothing, comprising stuffs and other fabrics worn as dress. No. 5, to raw materials, the products of mines, collieries, forests, &c. No. 6, to machines and apparatus and tools in general. No. 7, to cereals, vegetables and other articles of food, fresh and preserved, in different states of preparation; another gallery under the name of Museum, was devoted tQ the history of labor. In the central pavillion of all, was a collection of coins, weights and measures of all countries. The concentric rings referred to, were traversed by avenues or streets, radiating from the centre like the spokes of a wheel. Each of the spaces thus bounded from the centre to the circumference was devoted to the products of a nation. So, that, if you wished to compare the achievements of all the nations in one class 19 of productions, you followed the course of the gallery or zone round the building. If to acquaint yourself with the products of any one nation in all the branches of industry, you confined your- self to the space allotted to it, going from the centre to the circumference or vice versa. An arrangement so simple, by which order was brought out of apparent chaos, must inevitably be followed in all future exhibitions of this kind. In all former exhibitions the visitor, overwhelmed and confused by the mass of objects presented to his view, without a clue to the labyrinth, went away day after day with his head as full of incongruous articles as an old curiosity shop. Our own country, though far from presenting its claims as forcibly as it might have done, yet made an honorable figure in the Exposition, and in some respects agreeably surprised the European visitors. That we excelled in labor- saving machinery and in useful inventions was a fact of universal notoriety; that our destructive arms and our ambulances were almost unrivaled, was also conceded ; but that in the manufacture of musical instruments we challenged competition with European skill. 20 and that our artists have produced works that invited European admiration, were facts known but to the select few. American art was there- fore a revelation to the many, and the wonder- ful landscapes of Church, his "Rainy Season in the Tropics," and "The Falls of Niagara;" Bieestadt's "Rocky Mountains," and Hunting- ton's "Republican Court in the Time of Wash- ington," always attracted throngs of spectators. The exquisite humor and truth of Eastman Johnson's "Old Kentucky Home" was keenly relished, and the spirit of TTinslow Homer's reminiscence of the war, " Confederate Prison- ers at the Front," was appreciated. No foreigners, however, knew the story of the young Federal officer who figures in that picture and gives it its interest to American eyes. They knew not that the original of that spirited figure left his bride at the altar to march to the front as a private soldier, and that he fought his way to distinction, rising from the ranks to the command of a corj)s. » Among the many pieces of marble statuary of modern artists, none was more admired than the " Sleeping Faun," a figure of antique grace, finely conceived and admirably executed, the 21 whole wrought by the fair hand of an American girl, Miss Harriet Hosmer, of Watertown,Mass. The magnificent American locomotive and tender, the steam engines, and machines of va- rious kinds — some of vast capacity — attracted much attention. "What do you deal in?" asked George the Third of the partner of James Watt in the busi- ness of making steam engines. "What kings delight in — power," was the prompt reply. But happily that was a power which makes the people great — not their kings. Contrast for a moment the power which the immortal Watt produced by steam, astonishing as it then was, with that of the wonderful ma- chinery displayed at the Exposition, and how immense the progress ! If the stupendous motive power of America excited surprise and admiration, so did that wonderful planetarium which exhibited the movements of the heavenly bodies, while phi- lanthropists experienced the purest pleasure in contemplating the Bible engraved in relief for the use of the blind, giving light to those who sit in darkness. 22 A distinguished Frenchmau, a great admirer of our country, who visited the Exhibition with me, expressed his views of the industrial future of the United States in nearly the following terms : " The gallery of raw material exhibited by the great Republic must attract attention even more than her machinery, her arms and her musical instruments. Nature, in fact, has be- stowed every gift upon this grand country. It reaches the icy North abounding there with furs and woods of the boreal regions. At the South it touches on the inter-tropical countries, where it finds cotton and those cultures which we call in Europe exotic. It does not lack coal. The immense extent of its territory supplies it with metals of all kinds. Its manufactures can there- fore develop themselves independently of all the manufactures of the world. " Its manufacturing libert}^ niaj' equal its po- litical liberty. It only needs," continued my enthusiastic friend, "to borrow from other coun- tries some of their experience and intellectual wealth. Thanks to tlie bounties of nature," said he, "American industry can adopt the proud Ital- ian device, 'Italia fara de se,' and say in the true spirit of independence, '/ icill do it all myself.' " 23 One of the charms of the Exposition was the power of ubiquity conferred upon the visitors. As in the Arabian Tales, a wish wafts a man from one country to another, so here a step took you from East to West, from North to South. One moment you were at home in America, the next you were standing in Japan ; now you were in England, again in India. And it was no illu- sion, for everything that surrounded you was tangible and real. " Harvest tool and husbandry, Loom and wheel and engln'ry, Secrets of the sullen mine, Steel and gold, and corn and wine. Fabric rough, or fairy fine, Sunny tokens of the line. Polar marvels, and a feast Of wonder out of "West and East, And shapes and hues of part divine. All of beauty, all of use, That one fair planet can produce. Brought from under every star, Blown from over every main. And mixt, as life is mixt with pain. The works of peace with works of war." Here were real Egyptian temples, and Turkish mosques, and Christian churches, and Russian houses ; and you were elbowed by Turks, Greeks, Arabs, Chinese and Swedes, wearing their national costumes. " The world was all before you where to choose." 24 The English exhibitors showed great taste in the arrangement of their products. The silk manufacturers of Manchester built up a graceful Gothic structure of bobbins decked with all the colors of the rainbow. There was another delicate edifice made en- tirely of the black lead used in making pencils. This fanciful display, on French ground, was quite a success. There was a fine collection of English decorated china, happily imitating the famous Sc-yres por- celain. The English goldsmiths also had reason to be proud of their achieyements. Some of the Race cups were splendid works of art. But in machinery, cotton goods, and cheap and seryiceable fabrics, the English manufactu- rers showed their preeminence, and yindicated the character of England for solidity and utility. Grace is a superadded quality in their produc- tions, an exotic, while it is the basis of eyery thing produced in France. The most ordinary household article in France must be elegant at least in design, or it is com- paratively valueless. Hence in articles of luxury the French defy and will continue to defy all rivalry. Fashion sits enthroned in Paris and no revolution can unseat her. 25 The Brazilian display was the most remarka- ble of all the consignments from South America. In a vast hall the foliage of a virgin forest, with its trailing vines arching over the spectators' heads, was imitated with success. Here were exhibited specimens of all the val- uable woods, and their number is enormous ; mahogany, rosewood, ebony, &c., furnished by the boundless forests of Brazil. Elsewhere, you might behold how the skilled labor of the French transforms this rich material into splendid fur- niture, adorned with all the graces of art. Let us add that many of these splendid woods imported into France in rude blocks, after being manufactured by French artisans, find their way back to their native country changed into tables, chairs, cabinets, pianos, and what-nots, for the embellishment of the houses of the Brazilian planters or the French colonists of Montevideo. Modern industry thus realizes the ancient fable of King Midas, and turns all it touches into gold. The Spanish- American Republics did not con- tribute largely to the Exposition. A glance at the cases of the Central American Republics showed that the people who hold the keys of the 4 26 passage between the Atlantic and Pacific are not a laborious and productive race. A step carries us to the vast realm of Southern Asia, China, Japan and Siam. In these nations the arts and manufactures exhibit something of the childishness of old age. Brilliant gew-gaws, objects of luxury wrought in a style more eccen- tric and fanciful than artistic or imaginative, contrast most forcibly with the useful products of Anglo-Saxon orenius, and show how the wave of civilization has receded to the West. Still, however, it would be unphilosophical to fail to note how, in obedience to the laws of action and reaction that govern the universe, as the ebb and flow of the tides sway the ocean, the extreme East catches a new impulse from the extreme TTest. Thus the Japanese, an ingenious people, since diplomacy has brought them in communication with the United States, have adopted many of the fruits of our civili- zation. Commodore Perry presented the Japan- ese government, among other articles, with a miniature model of a railway and locomotive and a Dahlgren gun. In a very short time the Japanese, from the study of these alone, had built a railway and locomotive, and fabricated a complete battery of Dahlgrens. 27 Ilindostan, Persia, Egypt, Turkey and Mo- rocco, with their contributions, made up the sum of products that fairly represented the East in the Great Exposition. They were tokens of the arts, indolence, pride, luxury and idolatry of Oriental life. Here were costly pipes, magnificent shawls, cloths of gold, rich carpets, splendid weapons of war, uncouth idols. Half a dozen rajahs sent their most valuable effects to an exhibition to which the King of Sweden contributed pictures, the creation of his own pencil, and the Emperor of France a model of a workingman's house planned by himself. But Peter the Great was in advance of Napoleon III, for he learned the trade of a ship-carpenter ; and Louis XVI was never happier than when he was displaying his skill as a lock-smith. A lock made by this unfortu- nate monarch was shown in the Exposition. In general the Oriental countries exhibited the almost hopeless decadence into which they have fallen. Turkey only displays energy and vitality in those portions of her empire which approximate the Danube, and these signs of life are manifested only in a population of European 28 origin. The influence of the crescent seems almost as baleful as that of the cross is benign. Egypt is also in arrears, though exhibiting more vitality than Turkey. Next -sve come to Italy, whose political status is not vet firmlv defined and whose manufactur- ing development is to be looked for in the future. Fine specimens of the agriculture of Northern Italy were displayed, but nothing remarkable in manufacturing products. Southern Italy sent samples of the sulphurs of the famous volcanoes Etna and Vesuvius. A Roman monk, named Secchi, contributed a self regulating apparatus for recording the range of the thermometer, the quantity of rain fallen, and the changes of wind during a given period. Left out of doors over night the machine operates of itself, and its observations are accurate. In the fine arts, notwithstanding some re- markable productions, the decadence of Italy, from the days of the great masters, is painfully apparent. Even in the realm of music, her sceptre seemed to have passed to other hands. Russia sent her furs, ores, minerals and cereals. Situated between Europe and Asia, 20 Russia is a place of transit, though its chief city, St. Petersburg, is sealed up by ice on the water side during more than six months of the year. Moscow, the Holy City of the Greek religion, half Asiatic and half European in its character, is an immense entrepot of raw ma- terial. Thither caravans, traversing the whole breadth of the continent, bring the costly products of China and the East. No fewer than sixty-six different races of men acknow- ledge the sway of the Czar. ♦ The Russian contributions were very inter- esting. They exhibited a singular mixture of the East and West, of civilization and barbarism ; splendid silken robes, and sheepskin garments, wooden-ware and jewelry, furs and precious stones. Here were the malachite, the onyx and cornelian from the Ural and the Caucasus ; heaps of leather, splendid mosaics; and expo- nents of a high civilization, beautiful paintings and bronzes. The Scandinavian countries, formerly one, but now politically dissevered, were brought together in the Exposition. These three coun- tries, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, have many points of similitude. They are rich in 30 forests, •svliich supply materials to the hand of industry, in rosins and other natural products. Salt and smoked fish are the staple food of the people of these sterile regions, who valiantly strussle against the frowns of Nature, and in their thrift and industry, present a strong contrast to the indolence of the favored East, " "Where all save the spirit of man is divine." These countries also contribute various fish oils used in medicinal preparations. The fishing implements of the Norwegians and Icelanders, as shown in the Exhibition, are very interesting, and show how patience and industry contend against the disadvantages of a harsh and cheer- less climate. Greece, whose glory lies in the past, contri- buted but little. What Edmoxd About said of the Greek department in the Great London World's Fair is applicable to the Exhibition of 1867. "Honey in a pot, Corinth raisins in a jar. a little wine, a little cotton, a little madder, a handful of figs, a cube of marble, and a glass case containing a few Greek dresses." "VTe ought in justice to add. that there were some sponges, coarse carpets, some furniture and verv handsome swords and daeirers. ai But we are led to hope, as a result of the Exposition, that the germs of enterprise which exist in all nations, will be stimulated to develop themselves, in those regions where they lie dormant, by the example of those coun- tries which are marching in the van of progress. Spain and Portugal exhibit little manufac- turing energy. Agriculture is almost their only resource. The wine trade of Spain is one of the chief sources of wealth, and the making of bot- tle corks an important industrial employment. The manufacturing activity of Switzerland is a powerful argument in favor of free insti- tutions. Her valleys and lake shores are inhabited by an intelligent, well educated and industrious population. Silks, ribbons, muslins, embroideries, laces, straw braids, watches, musical boxes, and wood carvings are among the chief products of their skilled labor. Austria is the neighbor of Switzerland at the Exposition as she is on the map of Europe. Composed of different states, having each its peculiar genius, it has no well defined manufac- turing character. Vienna, the capital, is a sort of key-stone, binding the states together, and, as a place of transit, is of some importance. It had 32 in the Exhibition a line collection of articles and in great variety, many of tliem closely resem- bling those of France. Vienna receives from Paris patterns of fa-hi^ns and stuffs, copies and manufactures the:Li. ana literally lioods the valley of the Danube and Southern Russia vriih these products. For some years, however, French rivalry has considerably hampered this wholesale copying business. Among the Austrian contributions to the Ex- position were numerous specimens of that splen- did Bohemian glass-ware which has long defied attempts. at imitation and challenges the admira- tion of the world. Next to Austria comes her rival, Prussia, and the other German States, which are only sattel- lites tjf the nation which Bismakck has raised to such European preeminence. Berlin, the capital of the Prussian states, is one of the principal manufactui'ing cities of Germany, and its leading market in the wool trade, of which article many excellent specimens were displayed at the Exhibition. Upwards of T.O'jOjjLiij lbs. of wool pass through Berlin in a single year. The German manufacturing system embraces almost all branches, and its expansive movement 33 is to the East, where Poland and Russia, jet un- developed countries, present a broad field for exportation. In the Exposition there were also fine specimens of German metallurgy, blocks of salt and coal, showing the extent of its minersal resources; specimens of the color known all over Europe as Prussian Blue ; superb silks and velvets from Crefeld, Elberfeld, Yiersen and vicinity. Elber- feld is a Prussian city situated near Dusseldorff, in the valley of the Wipper. This industrious city owes its prosperity to the French protestants of Touraine, driven from France by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, an act which Benjamin Constant termed "the error of Louis XIV and the crime of his council." Belgium is the workshop of Europe, and its industry comprises almost every branch of manu- facture, from the labors of the unaided hand, as in the fabrication of its exquisite laces at Brussels, to the production of wonderful machinery at Liege. Holland, whose territory is limited, and whose chief activity is directed towards its colonies to -the Southeast of Asia, sent to the Exposition specimens of the products of the Molucca Islands. 5 34 Among the curiosities displayed were some singu- lar Javanese musical instruments and arms. A step further brings us to the French Depart- ment which occupies nearly h^lf of the palace. The industry of France embraces almost every kind of manufactured article. All., however, having the same general character, taste, imagi- nation and elegant luxmy. Every French artisan possesses the artistic sentiment. V\'e may smile at the assumption by a barber of the title of ''Artist in Hair," and yet there is an artistic skill in his manipulations. You remember the story of the French shoe- maker, vrh.0 exhibited a beautiful slipper in his window. A gentleman, who admired it, and wished to purchase the pair, enquired for the mate. '• Alas 1 Monsieur," said the cordonnier, " there is no mate ; I made that one in a moment of inspiration.'^ When Vatel, the great French cook, was concocting a new dish he could not be disturbed by visitors. " Gentlemen," his servant said to callers, ''my master is not visible, he is composing.'" Vaizl styled himself a composer like E-OSSIm. or Mozart. Let us glance at French manufactures and particularly those of Paris. Parisian furniture 35 is certainly preeminently elegant. Here were chairs, tables and bedsteads, not only made of costly woods, but inlaid with ivory, marble, gold, glass and silver. There were canoj^ied bedsteads of wonderful workmanship, the price of which would buy one of our large western farms, house, stock and tools. Sometimes the first artists are employed to paint the panels of these cabinets and bedsteads. When the Parisian workman has exhausted imagination and costliness, he goes back to his- torical models, and gives us mediasval cabinets that look like Gothic churches, or reproduces the delicate columns of the Renaissance, or the Pom- padour arm-chairs of Louis XVth's time. The Parisian bronzes copy the most celebrated statues of antiquity, and a workman named Colas has invented a machine for making perfect fac- similes of these master-pieces of art on a reduced scale. The Parisian jewelers arc unrivaled, and they derive their material from the four quarters of the globe, employing the diamonds of Brazil, the corals of the Mediterranean, the opals of Hon- duras, and the pearls of Ceylon. But French silk fabrics are specially conspicu ous and of sur])assing beauty. 36 Tl:e processes of manufacuuing silk were for more xhan two thousand years mkii>wn in Eu- rope. The article was introduce^ :.: E.ome in the dajs of Pompet and Juiius Cjesar, but being brought bj caravans from China, its price was so high when it reached the banks of the Tiber, that it was often sold for its weight in gold. The Emperor AuBEUAif, on returning jfroni the East in the pride of victory, refused to his wife a silk dress, assigning as a reason that it was too great an extravagance even for a Roman Empress. An imperial edict of China forbade the expor- tation of the eggs of the silk worm under pain of death. About the year 552, however, two Persian monks who had lived a long time in China as missionaries, and were acquainted with the rearing of silk worms, stimulated by the gifts and promises of the Emperor Justdteax, succeeded in conveying a large number of eggs concealed in hollow canes to Constantinople, where they watched their hatching and the de- velopment of the butterflies. The experiment was successful. According to a current legend, however, this was not the first successful attempt to carry silk- worm eggs out of China. A certain Chinese princess, betrothed to a king of Kliotan, brought from her father's court to her new home a num- ber of eggs concealed in her hair. This event is said to have happened about one hundred and forty years before the Christian era. We are not told what style of hair the ladies wore so long ago, but if the chignon or waterfall of the present day was then in vogue, the princess might have smuggled eggs enough to stock a province with silk worms. The silk worm is a Yery modest artisan. Born in the spring, ordinarily, about the middle of May, it feeds on the leaves of the mulberry tree, and attains its full growth (being the size of the little finger of a child of twelve years) in about six weeks. Small as it is, according to M. de QuATREFAGES of the French Institute, it weighs 72,000 times more, at its full development, than when hatched from the egg. Early in July it establishes the workshop of its wonderful manufacture. Placed in a com- fortable position, it proceeds to envelope itself in a cocoon formed by a filament of exceedingly fine silk emitted from the stomach of the insect. It soon disappears in the centre of the cocoon, and after about seventy-two hours of unremitting labor, produces a thread frequently not less than 1,600 yards in length. The silk is obtained by winding off the thread which forms the cocoon. The silk worm undergoes a transformation in the center of his dwelling, into a chrysalis, and then works its way out at one end of the cocoon, be- comes a butterfly, lays some hundreds of eggs and dies. At the Exhibition a collection of silk worms attracted universal attention. A quantity of eggs, of mulberry leaves, and all that relates to the raising of silk worms, were also displayed there. Some of the finest cocoons of all were from California, and from the most reliable informa- tion it is safe to predict, that at no distant day our Pacific coast will become one of the first silk-raising countries of the world, rivalling even China and Japan. There are now in South- ern California upwards of 10,000 flourishing mulberry trees, and some 300,000 of the finest cocoons have been produced there the past year. The silk manufacture was commenced at Ly- ons in 1520 tmder the auspices of Fe-^tis I. This city, the headquarters of the silk manufac- ture, at one time exported 8-15,000,000 worth 39 annually. Latterly the epidemic among the silk worms, and to some extent the changes of fiishion, have severely injured this industry. The loss by this disease to France alone, M. Thiers has estimated at upward of 100,000,000f., or $20,000,000 in gold annually. Our own country thus far is entirely free from it. Before leaving the subject of French industry let us consider for a moment the prodigious ac- tivity of the great capital. Paris, with a popu- lation of 1,700,000 souls, has more than 100,000 manufacturing establishments, doing a business of $675,000,000. This immense industrial activ- ity occupies 417,000 paid workmen and 133,000 small emj^loyers who also labor with their hands, making a total of 550,000 working peojDle — com- prising a body of men whose creative genius and artistic skill is scarcely more admired by the world than their political j^ower and example is dreaded by ruling despots. As the whole industry of the world was repre- sented at the Exposition, Agriculture, of course, presented its claims to attentive study — agricul- ture^ the basis of civilization, the breath of national life and prosperity. Some of its products appeared in the Champ de Mars, but the Island of Billancourt, at a short 411 distance iu the Seine, was special!}' devoted to an agricultural display. I shall not attempt to enlarge upon this branch of our subject, but barely glance at the salient j)oints presented in the Exposition so far as they relate to European countries. French agriculture is notable for the diversity of its products. At the Exposition France ex- hibited fine specimens of grain, hemp, flax, hops, tobacco, different kinds of woods, manufactured and unmanufactured, beet-root sugar, and wines, brandies and liquors so famous throughout the world. There was a good display of agricultural tools and small well-made machines of moderate cost, the land of that countrv beins; so minutelv sub- divided that ponderous and costly machinery is in little demand. With a population of 38,000,000, there are 24,000,000 who share in the ownership of the soil,* mostly in so minute spots, however, as to afford but narrow scope for either capital or skill. The exhibition of live stock, horses, cattle, sheep and swine, was creditable to France. Merinos, Dishly and South-down sheep have * Diseours de M. Tliicls 1866. 41 been successfully acclimated. She produces fine horses, both light and heavy draught, and there has been a judicious introduction of foreion bloods. The live stock of other countries was excluded from the Exhibition on account of the prevailing epidemic among cattle. Great Britain has long been famous for the high pitch to which she has carried agricultural pursuits. But, unlike France, her soil is monop- olized in the hands of some 30,000 proprietors ; and the condition of her farm laborers is far from enviable, actually subsisting, as some of them do, on bread and lard. The London Punch once hit off this state of things, in a style of humorous exaggeration, by representing a farm hand at an agricultural fair — a gaunt skeleton, with the bones protruding from his skin, standing beside an enormous Suf- folk hog, depicted as a bloated mass of flesh, and suggested prizes for farm laborers as well as for fatted swine. She displayed at the Exposition a number of excellent agricultural implements, plows, threshing, reaping and mowing machines, &c., inferior, it is true, to our oivn, but solid and service- able. She contributed also a superior collection G 42 of cereals, preserved meats, and an assortment of wood from her colonies. Busy little Belgium and industrious Holland sent to the Exposition samples of their flax and hemj). Switzerland sent wheat, barley, potatoes, plants for forage and hay. Spain — flax, hemp, saffron and wool. Portugal was represented by rice, corn, wool and silk. Greece, by cotton, flax, oil and wax. From Turke}^ came tobacco, cotton, silk cocoons, madder, goat's and camel's hair, opium, senna and various gums. Ital}^, once foremost in European civilization, and which, let us hope, is now starting on a fresh career under the inspiration of independence and unity, sent fine specimens of cotton, hemp, mac- caroni, rice and preserved fruits. The French colonies of Algeria contributed good specimens of corn, cotton, wool, flax, mad der, silk cocoons and two plants, the alfa and diss, which promise to be valuable additions to the materials for making paper. The great central and northern nations made a creditable display. Austria contributed hops, wool, silk cocoons and tobacco. Bavaria, where 43 per cent, of the people are farmers, hemp, flax, hops and tobacco. 48 It may be noted in passing that agriculture is steadily advancing in all the German states. In the Rhenish provinces alone there are 1G2 agri- cultural societies, 61 of which were formed in 1866. Colossal Russia, which is also making great improvements in agriculture, sent excellent sam- ples of hemp, flax, goat's hair, wool, tobacco and specimens of Black Sea wheat from the vast fer- tile region which has been termed the granary of Europe ; while Denmark and Sweden exhibited in the agricultural, as in other departments, proofs of intelligent industry. In a word, for I must forbear further details in what at least is but a dry catalogue, the Exposi- tion ofi'ered gratifying evidence that European agriculture from the North Cape to the Rock of Gibraltar, and from St. George's Channel to the Hellespont, is making steady progress, and that in no particular is the advance more marked than in the social improvement of the actual tillers of the soil. May we not hope that the day is not far distant when, cheered by our example, they, like the independent freemen of our OAvn country, shall be — " Men I high-niimlcd men, INIen who their duties know, And know their ri