Silkworm from Japan. 425 
leaf. That day I took up my eggs. I remarked that they were a 
little dry and hard, but in perfect preservation. Unfortunately 
I mixed the lots; I placed them in the canvass box and exposed 
them to the action of the atmosphere, by degrees from 46° to 60°— 
64°; they were then placed so that at noon the sun’s rays fell on 
them; on the 25th, one worm was born ; 26th, four; 27th, eight; 
and so on up to the 23rd May, by which time fifty or sixty worms 
were born. It then seemed to me that the shells were too hard 
and required moistening ; I gave the eggs a bath, this was fol- 
lowed by a general outburst. The worms generally were born 
about 1 to 3 p.m.; by May 6th 500 worms were born, the tempe- 
rature was 65° to 70°; the worms were fed on oak sprays, with the 
ends placed in bottles of water, and throve thereon: finding one 
day many worms drowned in the water, it occurred to me that 
they required water to drink, and they were watered artificially 
daily ten or twelve times, and they seemed to enjoy it. 
“About the beginning of June I had from 1,500 to 1,600 
worms vigorous and healthy, on forty-eight bottles, having oak 
sprays in them; about 400 were at the point of their last moult, 
when, on the 6th June, they seemed ill. Their colour grew paler 
and of a yellow tint, and dusky specks were seen by a magnifying 
glass, studding their bodies. Ceasing to eat, they discharged a 
clear liquid. In vain I tried various means. I increased the 
number of my waterings. I ventilated the room more freely. The 
thermometer stood at 96° in the sun, at 75° in the room. I chose 
more carefully their food. All was useless. They all died.” 
It will be sufficiently evident, from what has already been stated, 
that the possession and acclimatization of a very valuable race of 
silkworms in Europe is at the present time “ un fait accompli ;” * 
* Since writing the above, I have heard, with regret, that nearly all the 
attempts in 1866 made to rear the Yamamai in Europe have failed, a few 
only have been successful, and there is, in consequence, at the present time, 
a great demand for eggs, which are very dear. Both Mons. Personnat and 
Dr. Chavannes have, as I am informed, met with a complete check. The 
latter attributes his want of success to his having watered the eggs too much 
before they hatched out, and to his not having reared the worms on trees. 
He states that he has been obliged to purchase eggs for 1867. 
But I should rather suggest that 1866 was from the first a most unfavour- 
able year for all insect life; great complaints were made with reference to 
the eggs of the B. Mori, which in many places failed, and this failure was 
mainly attributed to the great drought and heat experienced in the autumn 
of 1865. Whatever atmospheric conditions influenced the eggs of B. Mori for 
