76 SILKWORMS. 



examine the contents under the microscope, and ruthlessly to 

 burn all eggs produced by such moths as showed the slightest 

 trace of the deadly pebrine corpuscles. 



But these proposals met at first with a good deal of opposition. 

 In particular, the cultivators seemed loth to believe that moths 

 apparently healthy, which had issued from good cocoons, could 

 possibly lay any but healthy eggs, whereas Pasteur had discovered, 

 as before stated, that when the disease is contracted daring larva- 

 hood, the insect will generally complete its metamorphoses and 

 often form an excellent cocoon, but will infallibly produce an 

 enfeebled progeny in the next generation, which will perish before 

 reaching the close of larvahood, and therefore yield no silk. So 

 satisfied was he of the truth of his conclusions, that in order to 

 gain acceptance for his ideas, he even ventured to turn prophet 

 on the subject. Selecting from a certain district fourteen parcels 

 of eggs which had been reserved for hatching, he examined a 

 sufficient number of moths which had produced them, and wrote 

 out his predictions of what would occur to each batch the next 

 season, and placing the document in a sealed packet, he sent it 

 to the mayor of the place, with the request that it should not be 

 opened till the results of the next season's educations had been 

 determined. When the time arrived, the cultivators informed the 

 mayor of the results in each case. Then the seal was broken, 

 and Pasteur's predictions produced, and it was found that in no 

 less than twelve out of the fourteen packets, the issues had been 

 exactly what the celebrated scientist had foretold. There had 

 been many total failures, every single caterpillar in the education 

 having perished ; in other cases, nearly all had died, and both 

 these results were exactly in accordance with the prophecy. The 

 two which falsified the predictions had succeeded better than was 

 anticipated, and instead of utterly perishing had yielded half an 

 average crop. Still this was a result that was scarcely worth 

 the trouble of rearing them. It must be remembered that these 

 packets of eggs had all been supposed by their owners to be 

 thoroughly healthy, and had been hatched with the full expectation 

 that they would yield a crop of silk such as would well repay the 

 trouble expended upon them ; and yet in almost every case the 

 labour had proved to be in vain. If, therefore, the proposed 

 moth test of Pasteur had really been adopted in this instance, all 

 the batches would have been condemned, and much trouble, 

 expense, and disappointment saved. The above is only one 

 instance out of several, of prophecies both with regard to diseased 

 and to healthy insects being verified. Hence, finally, after much 

 opposition, the method was adopted and proved signally successful, 



