Panfab.—Baw silk is imported into the Panjab from Khokand, Bokhara, Balkh, Khulni, Alfficha, Shibarghan, And ku i , and Kashmir ; from Saidabad, urshidabad, Rampur-baulia, in Bengal, and from China via Bombay. The raw silk is sent from Amritsar to all parts of the Panjab for manufacture ; raw silk is a staple import by way of Kabul. The principal places of silk manufacture aro the cities of Peshawar, Bunnoo, Lahore, Amritsar, Multan, Kohat, Lcia, and the capital of the neighbouring state of Bahawulpur. The silks of the latter place are considered tho best, and the next those of Multan. The silks generally manufactured in the Panjab are--(1) gulbadan, very stout and mostly broad and of high price ; (2) daryni, of a lighter texture, and to be had both plain and shot. Multan produces two other kinds, viz. khes and eklal, both very broad, and much higher priced than turything made in Lahore ; loongees of cotton with silk ends or borders, or silk and cotton raixed ; rich loongees all silk, and piece-goods of pure silk or mixed cotton and silk. In Kashmir, paper called reshmi kaghaz, or haridi kaghaz, is made from the refuse and from pierced cocoons unfit for reeling.
In the Central Provinces silk is manufactured from the imported raw silk of the domestie,ated worm, but more largely from the indigenous ta,sar worm, at Raipore, Bilaspur, Sumbulpore, the Upper Godavery, Chanda, Bhandara, Nagpur, Balaghat, Seonce, Chundwara, Baitool, and Nar singapur. The collection and rearing of tho worm is pursued as an accessory t,o other employments. The tasar silk ECCMS to bo chiefly employed for fringes, or for weaving with cotton into mixed fabrics, the woof being cotton and the warp silk. In some districts muktas (garments worn by Brahmans after bathing), cholis (wornen's bodices), and do-pattas and dorwas tseem to be mado of pure tasar silk.
Central Asia.—Tho countries bordering on the river Oxus, and the canals and wgercourses from Sarnarcand and Shahr-i-sabz, aro full of mulberry trees. About ten days or a fortnight after the mulberry trees put forth their leaves, the eggs of the silk-worms are removed from the place where they had been preserved during the winter, and, being wrapped in a cloth, aro carried against the naked breast, or still oftener under the armpit. Three to five days are quite sufficient for the little insects to be hatched. They are then placed in a vessel, and fed with the mulberry leaves. After ten days, the worms, according to the expression of the Bokharians, fall into their sleep or trance ; they take no nourishment three days running, repeating the same process every ten days, until the time they begin to spin the cocoon. When these are finished, the worm inside is destroyed by exposing the cocoon to the heat of the sun. That done, the Bokharians proceed to reel off the silk threads. The quality of Bokhara silk is much inferior to that of China, and even to the French and Lombard silks, both in colour and softness. The silk annually pro duced in the Bokhara territory is estimated to be worth 15 lakhs. The greatest quantity is exported
to India. There are several descriptions of silk,— Lab-i-abi is produced on the banks of rivers and canals ; Vardanzai, produced in the district of that narne to the north-west of Bokhara ; Chilla jaidar, produced in the environs of Bokhara, is the best, the best specimens being brought from Koubadian and Hazmt Imam, on the north and south banks of the river Oxus.
Persia.—By the 7th century A.D., the breeding of the worm and the manufacture of silk fabrics was firmly established in Persia. The mulberry grows almost throughout Persia ; but the true silk region lies on the south shore of the Caspian, between the mouths of the Araxes and Gurgan, or, in other words, the Russian provinces of Shirwan and Persian Ghilan and Mazandaran. The raw silk of Gbilan is the most important Persian reicle of export. A paper in the Technologist for 1865 states that the worms are very carelessly treated, and the silk very variable in quality. Its quality is low, it being ill-reelect and irregular. The industry is also carried on in tho Persian provinces of Kachan, Meshed, and Yezd. Yezd produces a beautiful sill: fabric called Husn Kuli Khan. The colour is very rich, yet very quiet, and is well suited for the dresses of European ladies.
Silk in Europe.—Tho silk-worms' eggs were conveyed from China to Constantinople by two Persian monks, who had gone to the east as mis sionaries, and had observed in China the various processes connected with the rearing of the silk worm, the nature of the trees on which they fed, and the preparation of the silk. This occurred about the year 552, in the reign of the emperor Justinian, who gave every encouragement to the introduction of the valuable insect. The eggs were conveyed from China within a hollow cane. At the proper season they were hatched, and the caterpillars were fed with the leaves of the wild mulberry tree. The monks continued to superin tend, at Constantinople, the rearing of the insects and the whole process of manufacturing the silk. The culture spread from there to Athens, Thebes, and Corinth, in the 10th century. Roger TT., king of Sicily, A.D. 1130, took an active interest in establishing it at Palermo followed by Henry Tv. of France and James T. in 'England, and it has extended to most of the states of the south of Europe,to N. and S. America, Northern and Southern Africa, Madagascar, and Australia. France, Swit zerland, Portugal, Spain, Cyprus, Crete have largely engaged in this industry ; and in its great seat, the Lombardo Venetian States, there are about 3000 reeling establishments. Even in Great Britain in 1875 there were 696 silk factories, employing 48,124 persons, but its climate is little suitable for the insect and its food, and its establishments get their supplies of raw silk from France, Italy, Turkey, India, and China. London is a great mart, and raw silk is sold there at 14s. to 16s. the lb., and eggs of the silk-worm at 16s. to £2 the ounce. In 1870, Japan sold two millions of ounces of ova for Europe.