148 Captain T. Hutton on the 
a constant struggle against adverse circumstances; for it seems 
quite evident, since naturalists have never recorded the colours 
of the caterpillar to be otherwise than ashy or creamy-white, 
that even so Jong ago as the time of the Emperor Justinian, the 
true colour of the worm had already ‘been obliterated by the 
centuries of mismanagement to which the Chinese had subjected 
the insect. It is true that the occasional occurrence of dark- 
coloured worms among the general brood has been observed, yet 
these occurrences are always spoken of as exceptional cases 
indicating variety arising from domestication, rather than as 
denoting, what in reality is the fact, an attempted return, on the 
part of nature, to the original colours and characteristics of the 
species. 
Under no other supposition than this does it appear possible to 
account for the error committed by the older naturalists; and, 
consequently, I again assert, with the greatest confidence, and 
shall presently prove, that the whiteness of the worm is to be 
regarded solely as a positive indication of the loss of constitution, 
and that the species, in its natural colours, has yet to be 
described. 
The Fruitlessness of seeking for healthy Seed. 
I shall probably be told that learned and experienced men 
have occasionally been sent from Italy and France, in order to 
collect fresh seed (as it is termed) for the purpose of renovating 
the sickly stock of Europe by the re-infusion of a healthier and 
more vigorous constitution from the worms of India and of China. 
Such an assertion, to a certain extent, would, no doubt, be true, 
since it cannot be denied, that a search for healthier stock has 
often been made, though never with success, from the simple fact, 
that whether in Europe, Persia, India or China, the worms are 
all equally degenerated, or if indeed there be a difference yet 
perceptible, it is altogether in favour of the European race. We 
ean all ‘call spirits from the vasty deep—but will they come 
when we do call?” Had a search been instituted in China for the 
nild worm in its original state of freedom, great benefit would no 
doubt have ensued from its discovery; but if we reflect that the 
worm, even in its native country, has, like that of Europe, been 
immemorially of a pale colour, a Chinese cultivator on being 
asked for the original wild stock would at once acknowledge that 
he knew the worm under no other aspect, and in no other con- 
dition, than that in which for so many centuries it had been cul- 
tivated by his forefathers, and the idea of its having possibly 
