O F S I L K. 125 



them a little air, or to keep them clofe and 

 warm, according as the weather is hot and 

 clofe, or cold and damp. 



Some authors prefcribe, that they fhould 

 be fed only twice a day till after their firfl 

 moult ; but as the flrowing of a few leaves 

 over them is a matter of fmall trouble 

 when they lie in fo narrow a compafs, I 

 fhould rather choofe to do it thrice or oftner 

 in a day; for if you give them in the 

 morning the quantity which is to ferve them 

 the whole day, you mufl lay them thick 

 on the worms, and moft of them would 

 be withered, or unfit for food before night; 

 and when you gave them frefh leaves, 

 many of the worms would not come up to 

 them, but would continue attached to thofe 

 that happened to be a little frefh among 

 the former old leaves, and thus you would, 

 from time to time, bury and hide many of 

 the worms among the fragments that re- 

 mained, and it is by no means pra6licable, 

 or worth the toil, to be fearching and pick-* 

 ing for them among the leaves. 



But if you only ftrew diced leaves thinly 

 over them, fo as that they fliall juft touch 

 one another or thereabout, but not lie in 

 heaps i or if you give only fo many leaves 



as 



