98 ON REARING 



water be raised above the line of the eggs, they will die, or 

 not be hatched. If the exterior water be lower than the 

 eggs, then they will not feel the cool air, and their hatching 

 will not be delayed. If their hatching be not prevented, 

 they cannot be preserved from three to seven days in the 

 vase. If they cannot be kept from three to seven days in the 

 vessel, when they hatch, they will fail to accomplish their 

 task, that is to say : they will attempt, in vain, to spin their 

 cocoon. When the moths have come forth, and the females 

 have laid their eggs, they cannot hatch at the end of seven 

 days ; these eggs will not hatch until the following year ; 

 but they must be deposited under the shade of a bushy tree. 

 Some persons put them in unbaked earthen vessels. They 

 hatch in from three to seven days, and the worms which 

 proceed from them succeed in forming a good cocoon. 



TSA-HOTJ-HING-CHOU. 



Thirteen varieties of silk worm are now distinguished : 



1st. The silk worms which have three moultings, and 

 only hatch once ; 



2d. The silk worms which have four moultings, and 

 hatch twice ; that is to say : those whose eggs produce a 

 second crop in the same year ; 



3d. The silk worms with white heads; 



4th. The silk worms called Hie-chi-tsan ; 



5th. The silk worms of the country of Thsou. ( Thsou 

 is the ancient name of the present province of Hou- 

 kouang.) 



6th. The black silk worms ; among them, some hatch 

 once, others twice. (See 2d ;) 



:l 



