322 



THE NATURALIST. 



lower than sixty, and occasionally 

 warmer. On Friday, the 23rd of 

 September, about 7.30, a bat, sup- 

 posed to be in the room in which 

 were the cocoons, was caught, and 

 proved to be a Bomhyx Cynthia. 

 The specimen was unfortunately 

 greatly injured by being caught w^ith 

 the tongs ! It was caged in a basket 

 where it lived between ten days and 

 a fortnight. During the day it 

 remained very tranquil, towards 

 evening increasing in liveliness, and 

 being invariably in a state of excite- 

 ment in the night. On Wednesday, 

 the 19th of October, about twenty 

 minutes past five o'clock, p.m., 

 another Bomhyx emerged from its 

 cocoon. The expansion of its wings 

 proceeded visibly but unequally, the 

 upper one on the left side keeping 

 much in advance of the others. It 

 should be mentioned that the worms 

 generally, previous to spinning, 

 attained the full size given by Mons. 

 Blain (80 to 90 millimetres) and 

 some even exceeded it. It may be 

 observed that the worms on arriving, 

 were apparently of the same age, 

 nevertheless there was an interval 

 of three weeks between the spinning 

 of the first on the 29th July, and 

 the death of the last without spin- 

 ning, on the 22nd August. The 

 Ailanthus has been long known in 

 England as an ornamental tree, 

 bearing all the changes of our 

 variable climate ; the silk worm, to 



judge by the limited experiment at 

 Sheriff Hutton Park, can be raised 

 in the open air even in Yorkshire. 

 It is scarcely therefore being too 

 sanguine to hope that at no distant 

 time a new cultivation will be prac- 

 tised, which may contribute some- 

 what to the prosperity of the coun- 

 try. In order to pursue the ex- 

 periment as rapidly as possible, the 

 propagation of the plant has been 

 tried at Sherifi" Hutton Park by 

 several different methods, namely : 

 By pieces of the root which struck 

 readily, by seeds sown in a cool 

 frame, and by seeds sown in an 

 open border, which last succeeded 

 the best, a crop of vigorous young 

 plants appearing in about four 

 weeks. Believing that the climate 

 of this part of Yorkshire is not 

 unsuitable, and that the Ailanthus 

 would grow well in not fertile land, 

 I had some few planted in a sandy 

 situation, but the extraordinary frost 

 of the 1st June destroyed the young 

 foliage, though it did not kill the 

 trees. It was mentioned in a 

 French publication, that owing to 

 the very unpleasant odour of the 

 Ailanthus glandulosa it was safe 

 from the attacks of ground game ; 

 a statement which I am sorry to say 

 my experience does not confirm, 

 rabbits having injured the trees 

 planted in a spot to which they had 

 obtained access. 



