356 Dr. Wallace on the Ouk-feeding 
cither case this valuable species was so highly esteemed, that the 
punishment of death was by law inflicted on any one who exported 
the eggs. ‘This then explains the reason why for so many years 
this species was unknown to our naturalists, and its silk to our 
merchants. It was not till the beginning of the year 1861 that 
during the presence of the French fleet in the Japanese waters, the 
attention of Mons. Duchesne de Bellecourt, French consul ge- 
neral and chargé d'affaires at Japan, having been directed to the 
beauty of the silken fabrics produced from the cocoons of the 
Bombyx Yamamai, he was enabled to obtain some eggs, which 
were transmitted to the Imperial Government of France, and finally 
entrusted to the hands of the Imperial Society of Acclimatization. 
Now fortunately there is no difficulty in procuring eggs of this 
species in Japan, except that sometimes wooden eggs are fabri- 
cated to deceive unwary customers. The eggs first sent over to 
Europe were carefully tended in the Museum at the Jardin des 
Plantes at Paris. Unfortunately nothing was known of the habit 
of the insect, not even its food plant. When therefore the first 
eggs hatched out about the 15th of March, 1861, the young worms 
refused all the leaves presented to them, and perished. But in the 
beginning of April an oak (Quercus cuspidata), placed under glass, 
having put out some leaves, these were eaten by the young worms, 
and hope was now entertained of rearing them. The President of 
the Society of Acclimatization immediately obtained from Toulon 
and Hyéres in the south of France young oak leaves, with which 
the baby worms were fed from the 9th April till the time when the 
oaks at Paris had sufficient foliage. These worms, about forty in all, 
grew well up to their fourth moult, but being in the Serpent 
house, the high temperature and close atmosphere proved injurious 
to them; at least it was probably from that cause that in their 
fifth stage all the worms (five only excepted) died off in a few days 
of the same sickness, a black liquid oozing through the pores of the 
skin. The remaining five made imperfect cocoons, but no moth 
hatched out. Happily a few eggs of the same batch had been 
sent to the learned Entomologist, Mons. Guérin- Méneville, that he 
might name the species; of the few worms hatched out of these 
eggs one only was born sufficiently late to obtain oak leaves, It 
was sent to Mons, Année at Passy, where it throve under glass near 
a door which was alwaysopen. It spun a very handsome cocoon, 
whence a female moth emerged. This attempt, insufficient unfor- 
tunately to propagate the race, yet sufficed for Mons. Guérin- 
Méneville to give a name to the new insect, permitted a study of its 
