REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 231 
by their broader antenne and smaller bodies, as also by the inces- 
sant fluttering of their wings. The females remain comparatively quiet, 
their abdomens being heavy and distended with eggs. A few hours 
after issuing, the sexes, in equal numbers, may be placed together, 
great care having been taken to destroy any that are at all deformed, in 
order to keep the breed as fine as possible. They should be placed upon 
’ paper or card-board, and the room should be kept as dark as possible in 
order that the males shall not uncouple themselves. For the complete 
impregnation of the eggs, the sexes should be kept together six hours, 
neither more nor less, and occasionally visited in order to replace those 
males which may have become separated. Should there, on this day, 
more males than females issue, the superfluous males may be put in a 
closed box and kept till the next day, when the state of things may be 
reversed. Should there, on the other hand, be a superfiuity of females, 
a sufficient number of the strongest and most vigorous males should be 
uncoupled at 4 hours and placed with the unpaired females for 6 hours 
more. As the pairs are uncoupled at the end of 6 hours, care should be 
taken to injure neither sex. The female should be held by the wings 
with one hand and the abdomen of the male. gently pressed with the 
other. The males may then be laid aside in a box, as there may be use 
for them before all the moths have appeared. After all the females are 
impregnated, however, their mates may be thrown away. The females, as 
soon as separated, should be placed for a few minutes upon sheets of blot- 
ting-paper, where they will free themselves of a quantity of greenish-yel- 
low fluid. From the blotting-paper they should be transferred to trays 
lined with cloth upon which the eggs are to be laid. This cloth should 
be of the smoothest sort of woollen stuif rather than of linen or paper, if 
it is desired to remove the eggs at a future time, as they will stick so 
fast to the latter that it will be difficult to remove without bruising them. 
Upon these trays they may be placed in rows, and will immediately com- 
mence depositing. It is advisable to tip up the trays at one end so that 
they incline a little, as the moths are then more apt to lay their eggs 
uniformly. They should also be kept in the dark, in accordance with 
the nocturnal habit of the moth. The temperature of the room should 
be kept at about 75°, and plenty of air given during oviposition. Allof 
the thoroughly impregnated eggs will be laid in about 24 hours, and the 
moth should be removed after that length of.time. She may continue 
depositing a short time longer, but the eggs should be kept by them- 
selves and not mixed with the others. It will be well, also, if the best 
- and purest breed be desired, to keep the eggs of those moths which were 
coupled with males that had been used before separated from the eggs 
laid by those which were coupled with virgin males. ‘ The eggs are 
best preserved on the cloth where originally deposited, as they are pro- 
tected by a natural coating of varnish, and, being fastened, the worms, 
when hatching, eat their way out better. Jor commercial purposes, how- 
ever, they are usually detached during the winter by immersing the cloth 
containing them in cool soft water for a few moments; the moisture be- 
ing then drained off by means of blotting-paper and the eggs gently 
removed with a paper-knife. They are then washed in soft water, thor- 
oughly dried, and put away for keeping. All eggs which swim on the 
surface are considered bad and discarded. The Japanese producers sell 
their eggs on eards or cartoons made of coarse silk. The cards are placed 
in wooden frames, the rims of which are varnished, so that the moths— 
disliking the varnish—are made to confine their eggs upon the cards, 
which are consequently covered in a very regular and uniform manner.” 
The egg retains the characteristic color of the unimpregnated ones— 
