XII 



SATURNIID^ 



FAMILY, SATURNi'iD^ (children of Saturn : giants). 



SUBFAMILY, ATTACi'N^ (no meaning here). 



SAMIA CYNTHIA 



GENUS, SA'MiA (Samian : no appropriateness). 



SPECIES, cyn'thia (a name for the moon). 



THERE was once a man who wished to prove that 

 cyntlila caterpillars spun cocoons from which 

 could be reeled silk having as great commercial value 

 as that of Bonihyx mori, so he reared several thousand 

 caterpillars and piled their cocoons in boxes in a shed, 

 up-stairs, out of the way. In the winter he thought 

 he would begin the reeling process, so he went for the 

 cocoons, and found that mice had gnawed holes in all 

 but a score or so, eating the pupaB and cutting the 

 silken thread so many times that it was useless to at- 

 tempt to reel it. About ten of the sound cocoons 

 were sent to us, and from two moths emerging on the 

 8th of May we got our first cynthia eggs. The moth 

 laid three hundred and forty-one eggs in nine nights, 



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