Restoration of the Silkworm. 163 
Of the Morus alba, Count Dandolo remarks,—‘ This species 
comprises the common wild mulberry, which has four varieties 
in the fruit—two have white berries, one red and the other black.” 
Here, then, the merest tyro may perceive that the red berry 
merely forms the connecting link between the black and the white 
fruit, and consequently that there can be but little, if any, differ- 
ence in the quality of the leaf; indeed, all that the Count ventures 
to observe on the subject is, that ‘ the leaf of the black mulberry, 
hard, harsh and tough, which is given to the silkworms in some of 
the warmer climates of Europe, in Spain, in Sicily, in Calabria 
and in some parts of Greece, &c., produces abundant silk, the 
thread of which is very strong, but coarse. The white mulberry- 
leaf of the tree planted in high lands exposed to cold dry winds 
and in light soil produces generally a large quantity of strong silk 
of the purest and finest quality.” 
Now, if by the term ‘ coarse,” as here applied to the silk raised 
from the black mulberry, is meant thick as to fibre, the difference 
is seemingly of little importance, and would be overcome, I should 
imagine, in the reeling by assigning fewer fibres to the thread ; 
while that the produce of the white mulberry is not uniformly the 
same or to be depended upon is shown in its being only “ generally,” 
and not always, of the finest quality ; and moreover “the finest 
quality” does not necessarily imply thinness of fibre, but may refer 
to other qualities, such as evenness, tenacity and elasticity ; while, 
with regard to the degree of coarseness above alluded to, it must 
be borne in mind that it could not possibly be coarser than nature 
intended it to be, because the regulating orifices in the lip would 
prevent it. Besides which it is extremely questionable whether 
“ high lands exposed to cold dry winds” and with a “light soil’’ are 
suitable to the mulberry tree, especially in such high latitudes ; 
and if not, then the worms fed upon the leaves of such trees would 
be naturally less healthy and of smaller size than those reared 
under more favourable circumstances, and, consequently, the worm 
and the labial orifices being smaller, the silk would of necessity 
be finer. This, however, is not an argument in favour of the 
white mulberry, but against the locality in which it is grown. 
Seeing then that the silk cannot be coarser than nature intended 
it to be, while it may be much finer, the argument tends altogether 
to prove that great fineness of fibre is a consequence of decreasing 
size in the worm, produced by increasing debility of constitution. 
M. Boitard, a French writer on the cultivation of silk and of 
the mulberry tree, informs us that the white mulberry is often 
tinged with red, a statement which upholds and confirms my 
VOL. II, THIRD SERIES, PART I1.—AuGuST, 1864. N 
