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LYONS 757 library, which is one of the best provincial li- braries in France. Another celebrated public building is the H6tel-Dieu, which was founded by Ohildebert and his queen in the 6th cen- tury, and consists of a series of buildings ex- tending along the Rh6ne. The hospital of An- tiquailles occupies the site of the ancient palace of the Roman emperors, and is devoted to lu- natics and incurable diseases. The cathedral or church of St. John is a remarkable Gothic edifice ; the church of St. Nizier is an elegant building of the 14th century ; that of Ainay, and the churches of the Cordeliers and of St. Paul, are among the other interesting ecclesi- astical structures. Lyons has about 30 Roman Catholic churches and chapels, four Protestant places of worship, and a synagogue. It is the seat of an archbishop, and has an academy, with faculties of Catholic theology, science, and literature ; a lyceum, a veterinary school, many educational and charitable institutions, and a mont de piete. It has a branch of the bank of France, and a great number of courts of justice, among which is a conseil des prud 1 - hommes, a commercial tribunal, composed half of masters, half of workmen, designed to set- tle in a conciliatory spirit disputes respecting wages and other matters. The fortifications consist of 18 detached forts arranged in a circle of about 13 m. round the city, crown- ing the hills of St. Croix and Fourvieres on the right bank of the Sa6ne, and of La Croix- Rousse above the suburb of that name. They have been built since 1834, in consequence of the outbreaks of that year and of 1831. The chief work, Fort Montessay, has full command Lyons. of the turbulent suburb of La Croix-Ronsse, which may be entirely cut off from the city by a fortified barrack on the Place des Bernar- dines. The jewellers and goldsmiths of Lyons transact a large business. In the sham jewelry trade Lyons ranks next to Paris. Carriages, glass and crystal, various kinds of acid, archil, soft soap, indigo, liqueurs, iron and machinery, leather, colored paper, &c., are all manufac- tured to some extent in Lyons; its beer is celebrated; the production of felt hats has declined ; its dye houses for cotton, silk, and wool are of great importance; woollen shawls are extensively manufactured. All these branches of industry, however, are overshad- owed by the silk manufactures. _They were introduced into Lyons during the reign of Louis XI. by merchants of Florence and ^ Lucca, and great factories were established in 1536 by Genoese manufacturers. From 1650 to 1680 the silk industry employed from 9,000 to 12,000 looms. After the revocation of the edict of Nantes, when many of the most skil- ful weavers went into exile at London, Cre- feld, and other places, the number declined to about 4,000. It rose to 18,000 in 1788, was reduced to 3,000 or 4,000 by the revolu- tion, but has since steadily increased ; and in 1873 the number of looms in the city and its vicinity was estimated at 70,000, and the num- ber of hands employed at 140,000, of whom about one half were in the city. The average annual value of the silk manufactures was es- timated at $76,000,000, and the value of the raw silk imported at $60,000,000. Silk weav ing is not conducted in factories, but in the dwellings of the master weavers, each of whom has usually from two to eight looms, which with the greater portion of their fittings are his own property. He and his family keep as