SUPPLEMENT. 16! 



the cocoons of the silk worms, of which the eggs have been 

 exposed to the dew, are pointed and long, like pistachio 

 nuts. There are some round and flat, like peach kernels. 

 There is another kind of silk worms, which do not refuse 

 leaves soiled with mud. They are called tsien-tsan, that 

 is to say : despised silk worms, or those that are not es- 

 teemed ; they yield a large quantity of silk. 



There are some silk worms that are entirely white, speck- 

 led, perfectly black, and striped with brilliant colors ; but all 

 give the same silk. Now-a-days, in poor houses, it is the 

 custom to couple an early male, (male Spring butterfly) 

 with a late female ; (that is to say : proceeding from the 

 Autumn eggs:) eggs are obtained from them which produce 

 silk worms of a very remarkable species. 



The wild silk worms form their cocoons, of themselves, 

 that is to say : without the assistance of the cocoon room. 

 They come from Tsing-tcheou, of Y-chou'i, etc. The gar- 

 ments made with their silk, are neither injured by rain, dirt, 

 nor by oil. 



When the female butterfly has come out, it can imme- 

 diately fly. Its eggs are not deposited on paper. In other 

 countries wild silk worms are found, but they are rarer 

 there than in the two places above named. 



FEEDING OF THE SILK WORMS. 



Three days after the time called Thsing-ming, (the 8th 

 of April,) the silk worms hatch without requiring the heat of 

 garments or blankets. The nursery for the silk worms 

 ought to face to the southeast. The interior walls are 

 papered to stop up any cracks through which the air might 



