THE N1HTK1 AND DK8I 



" It groat comparative defect is tht it cannot be kept in store (in these - 

 at leHHt) longer than a few day* without total dsrtrooUoo, whrM tha start may 

 be kept in well -aired cocooneries even twelve month* with" 



Speed (Agri.-Hort. Soc. Ind. Trans.. 1839. iii.. 21) speak* of , modnai 



Ina pulu, fr<n \sln.-l. it may be ssumed M possibl' > ta 



(( 'l.in.i) insect may bo but a degenerate state of the madroti, the two name* MM 

 and madrtui having in Bengal come to be accepted a* synonymous. That may 

 or may not be the case, but it cannot he too , early writers 



recognised several distinct forum of nutri, of which the madron WM one and by no 

 means the beat. 



(5) B. fortunatus. Mutton. Tram. Kntom. Soc., 1864, 312; Wardl*. Wild 

 Silks of India. 1881. :< ; Kon.lot. L' Art d* la Sow, 1886. i.. 312; Goto*. Ind. 

 Mus. Notes, 1889, i., pt. iii., 160-1. t. viii.. o; Quajat, Dei Ooaoli. 1004. III. 

 The den, choto polo, palu or pat insect the November or cold-weather band. 



As the name implies, this is viewed by the people of Bengal a* an indigenous 

 insect, though it is probable that it is in reality only ao much anterior 

 acclimat isation as to be viewed as relatively indigenous. Perhaps the ftrst definite 

 account of this insect occurs in the volume of official papers (E.I.C.. I.e. 40-7). 

 It is there stated to be produced throughout the year but to vary in nethnsHon 

 and value, according to the season of production and the nutritious nature of 

 the mulberry-leaf upon which fed. " Hence, the worm of the cold-weather or 

 November bnnd, and that of the dry-weather or March and April bands, is superior 

 from the more favourable state of the weather." Speed (Agri.-Hort, Soc. Ind. 

 Trans., iii., 20) speaks of this silkworm as of a small size but aa yielding cocoons 

 five times a year at periods of from 40 to 110 days. Hut ton point* out tha 

 longer period occurs in the November band, hence its superiority. The official 

 papers (E.I.C., I.e. 41) speak of the " Comrnercolly " ehassars formerly raising no 

 cocoons except the den until the year 1790, when two sorts of nittri were : 

 duced by Mr. B. Becher. It is, however, observed that the dcri is the best of all 

 the silkworms. The broods are October, November, March. April and June or 

 July. The first is the best in point of quality, but the second the most produ < 

 The Resident at " Cosstmbuzar " (E.I.C., I.e. 42) describe* the November band of 

 dcsi silk as the largest in the year, but he adds that in his opinion the annual worm 

 is aa far superior to the desi as the latter is to the mixed breed of den and China 

 insect. He then remarks that in Cossirabuzar the April band is mostly the China 

 insect. Similar reports are given from " Hurripaul, Jungypore, Malda. Radna- 

 gore, Soonamooky and Bauleah," thus showing the wide distribution of this insect 

 at the beginning of the last century. Of Hurripaul, it was stated in 1819 that the 

 deei had only just been introduced. In Soonamooky, on the other hand. th< 

 yield of silk from this insect in 1813 was 1,040 maunds of silk, and the Resident in 

 Malda speaks of the produce from this particular inflect having been in 1811. 

 2,708 maunds. He then adds that the cocoons produced in Bauleah and the 

 vicinity in the November band alone, if a favourable one, are about 60,000 inaund*. 



Cleghorn recommended that in breeding the desi worm, it was impenr 

 select dusky moths. This observation regarding the dork-coloured insects and 

 worms will be found to have a peculiar bearing on Hutton's opinion retr.f 

 the original form of B. moi-i . more especially when it is added that Mukerji. 

 while experimenting with certain cocoons furnished by Cleghorn. arrived at 

 the opinion that they " were a cross between the country breeds and . H 

 of Europe." The domesticated and wild insects seen by me in Manipur would 

 appear to belong to the deri race, a fact of no small importance in support of 

 the belief that it is there indigenous (see below, p. 1016). [Cf. Allen, Money. 

 Silk Cloths of Assam, 1899.] 



() B. slnensis, Hutton, Trans. Entom Soc., 1864, ii.. 3 



Notes, 156. This is the sina (China) or chota pat insect of the Indian seri- 

 culturists. It is a small multivoltine silkworm, which produces cocoons inferi< 

 to both the deei and the madrasi. In Bengal its cultivation has been almost 

 abandoned, though it would appear to be grown successfully on the lulls and 

 seems to be the chief multivoltine insect of the plains of Assam. Hutton. speakii 

 of Mussourie, says it was in his hands very prolific and yielded crop after crop up 

 to the middle of December. The cocoons vary in colour from being white, y 

 or greenish coloured. Unlike the other Indian races, which hatch slowly d 

 the morning (from 6 to 12 o'clock), the sina worms come forth all in a bafc 

 hatching day and night till all m out of the eggs. In the volume of oBetaJ 

 papers (Board of Trade, Bengal, 1819) there are several passages that deal with 



997 



SILK 

 BOMBYX 



DAP.. 

 TL.pt.iiL. 



Worm* 



D.BJ?.. 



vL.pt. UL, 

 14. 



lUaipw. 

 WOdlSMes. 



DAP., 



vL, pt UL, 



a, 18-8. 



836. 



Sina or 

 ChoU Pit. 



