134 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[June 1, 1870. 



attendant also had discovered, from time to time, the 

 locus quo of many a rarity by imitating my method 

 of research ; and, to use his own expression, he was 

 about, in this instance, to throw away these rotten 

 stems as worthless, when he was arrested by a loud 

 grating, or almost chirping, noise, as of many 

 creatures in concert ; and on looking closer for the 

 mysterious cause, he detected a specimen of Acalles, 

 from which it was quite evident that a portion of 

 the noise proceeded. On shaking the hollow stem, 

 so as to arouse its inmates, and putting his ear 

 alongside it, the whole plant appeared musical, 

 as though enchanted ; and it was evident to him, 

 therefore, that there were more of the performers 

 within, — a conjecture which proved to be correct, 

 for, on breaking open the branches, he captured 

 nearly a dozen of them. So pleased was I with the 

 accomplishments of these anomalous musicians, 

 when brought to me, that I felt quite a reluctance 

 (even though an entomologist) to put them to 

 death. I therefore made a compromise with my 

 feelings, and killed only eight of them. The re- 

 maining three 1 kept alive for several weeks, and 

 even took them to Madeira — where, however, they 

 unfortunately died (as I imagine, from hunger) just 

 before embarking for England. So long as they 

 lived, however, it was a constant source of amuse- 

 ment to make these creatures stridulate, or " sing," 

 as it was usually called, which they would invariably 

 do, for almost any length of time when alarmed, 



— as for instance, when held between the finger 

 and thumb, and slightly pinched. In this manner 

 I have had four of them chirping at a time ; and 

 so loud was the noise produced that it might be 

 heard at a distance of many yards. Whether all the 

 Acalles have this remarkable power, I will not 

 undertake to pronounce ; but so far as the numerous 

 representatives from the Atlantic islands are con- 

 cerned, I have but little hesitation, from the general 

 appearance of the constricted apical region of their 

 elytra, in believing that they have. And, indeed, 

 this conjecture has been absolutely verified in five 

 of the Madeiran ones by the direct and careful obser- 

 vations of Mr. Bewicke, from whom I have received 

 some very interesting remarks concerning them. 

 On my arrival at Eunchal, from Teneriffe, in June 

 1859, I exhibited my specimens (then in a lively 

 state) of the A. argillosus to Mr. Bewieke, and 

 requested him to listen attentively to the Madeiran 

 species, whenever he chanced to meet with them, 

 during the following summer, in order to ascertain 

 whether or not they had a similar stridulating pro- 

 pensity ; and I have since been assured by him that 

 he has heard the music constantly in the A. dispar, 

 nodiferus, terminalis, and ornatus ; and that " it was 

 distinctly audible" in even the minute A. Wollastoni. 



— Wollaston, in Annals of Natural History for July 

 18G0, where a description of these creatures' curious 

 musical instruments is also given. 



WILD CHINESE SILKWORM. 



[" HAVE incidentally alluded to a coarse kind of 

 -*- silk, produced by caterpillars which feed upon 

 the leaves of the Fung tree {Liquidambar Formosand) . 

 The cloth made from this silk is known to the 

 Chinese as Ching Heotig Kien ; and, judging from 

 samples before me, though coarse in appearance and 

 cheap in price, is very strong and durable. I regret 

 that I have not been able to trace, under my own 

 ocular observation, the various stages of its manu- 

 facture from the cocoon to the cloth itself : on this 

 point my remarks are based on Chinese information ; 

 but the same source has been proved correct in 

 respect to those phases of its production which 

 appertain more especially to the naturalist; and, in 

 the absence of any special reason for doubt to the 

 contrary, it may be fairly assumed that my several 

 independent informants have not led me into error 

 as to the cocoons from whence is derived the cloth 

 of wnich they have furnished me with samples. 



On the 12th of May last year (1860) I procured 

 from Sai-ts'iu Shan, a hill of some celebrity about 

 twenty-five miles westward from Canton, a supply 

 of the worms still feeding on the leaves of the Fung 

 tree ; some of these I preserved in spirits ; some I 

 tried to feed, but they refused mulberry-leaves, and 

 a supply of their proper food was not easily obtain- 

 able ; consequently they were lost, except a few, 

 which were apparently driven by their confinement 

 to spin premature cocoons. 



Unsatisfactory, however, as were the results of 

 this experiment, the few imperfect cocoons thus 

 spun by the confined worms were sufficient to prove 

 the identity of a supply of cocoons brought to me 

 from the same place shortly afterwards ; these were 

 adherent to the twigs of the Fung tree, and in this 

 state I kept them till about two weeks ago, or more 

 than seven months after they were brought to me, 

 when my patience iwas rewarded by the issue of 

 several moths of both sexes. Accidents caused by cats 

 and coolies happened, however, and of these moths I 

 succeeded in preserving only one perfect specimen. 



In attempting a description of this insect in its 

 various stages, 1 beg indulgence for my ignorance 

 of the science, and even of the technical phraseology 

 of Entomology. 



The worm is from 2 to 2£ inches in length, and 

 about half an inch in diameter ; the under surface of 

 the body is of a sea-green colour, and the sides and 

 back are marked with six pale yellow and five sea- 

 green longitudinal stripes, the outer stripes on either 

 side being of the former, and the central or dorsal 

 stripe of the latter, colour ; on each of the yellow 

 stripes are eleven obtuse tubercles (except on 

 the outer stripes, where the hindermost one is 

 obsolete, or nearly so), about one-tenth of an inch 

 in diameter and the same in height : in other words, 

 there are eleven transverse rings, each of six tuber- 



