678 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



ing, be regulated by this principle alone ? May 

 they not exhaust iheir supply of nourishment, and 

 thus cease to live ? tr. B. S. 



DOCTOU muse's REJOIJVDER TO THE EDITOR. 



Cambridge, E. S. Md. Oct. 7, 1S40. 



Gideon B. Smith, Esq. — Tlie critical remarlis 

 with which you have done me the honour to 

 accompany the report of my experiment on the 

 culture or silk, require at least a short reply, 

 which I hope you will find room lor in your next 

 Journal. 



In page 269 of your September number, you 

 have appended to my report the following notice : 

 " if the cocoons weigh 176 to the pound, as ihe wri- 

 ter states, then the bushel of cocoons would weigh 

 19 lbs. to make 30 bushels conlain 100,000." By 

 referring to that, and a part of the previous page, 

 you will readily perceive, that the quantities, 

 which j'ou have assumed for your proportionals, 

 to arrive at the 19 lbs. per bushel, are not only not 

 warranted in the text, by the remotest possibility 

 of construction, but are actually guarded against, 

 by explicit language : you will find it there stated, 

 that the 'dark drab' portion of them were of the 

 size named ; but, that " the ' white mammoth' 

 portion (so called) were small, both worms and 

 cocoons;^'' then, it is wholly unjustifiable to assume 

 in your estimate, that the entire crop were of the 

 same large and equal size — when a portion of 

 them vvas contradistinguished, from another por- 

 tion, as small : indeed it required about 4,000 of 

 the " white" to fill a bushel ; and a half or more 

 were of the " white" sort : I used this large num- 

 ber of the "«j/n'ie" — all that 1 had of them in the 

 first crop — believing it to be an inferior variety ; 

 becausp, its being the first parcel I had ever under- 

 taken, I preferred to hazard them chiefly, rather 

 than the best, to the errors of inexperience. Both 

 varieties I had bought of the same gentleman ; 

 and his register slates, that they were hatched at 

 the same time, and under his charge, on May 3d 

 and 4ih, 1839. The respective numbers of each 

 portion, I considered unessential in my report ; 

 and I did not name them — equally so was the 

 whole number of the crop, whether 65,000 as you 

 make it, or 100,000; yet, I believe the rough 

 estimate I made of 100,000, nearly correct. 



In page 270 you quote from my report, "the 

 doors were seldom closed — and nevermore than 

 ten or fifteen minutes," — and you ask, " is there 

 not some mistake here, in transcribing the article?" 

 and you continue — "you do not see how the tem- 

 perature could be kept so equable, as is represented 

 in the text : or how the damp air could be exclud- 

 ed." I aver that the text conveys no idea of a 

 remarkable e5ua6i7i7i/ of temperature; but simply, 

 that it was not allowed to descend below 65*^ : 

 such was my order ; possibly it might have been 

 occasionally violated ; yet, to my knowledge it 

 was not; it surely was a very easy task lor the 

 manager, who was exclusively engaged in the 

 laboratory. The rooms being plastered and 

 close ; the door in each opening into an inner pas- 

 sage — the temperature in the month of May, 

 thoucrh colder than usual lor the season, could be 

 readily raised by a fire — the doors and windows 

 closed, to much more than 65"^ : and thus raised 

 the door may be opened — the windows kept closed 

 as was in my case, and the fire coolinued j and as 



much as 65° could easily be preserved for a conai- 

 derable lime ; the text liirlher states, that the fire, 

 and other parts of the process, were more frequent 

 and longer continued, as the " damp" and " cold" 

 seemed to indicate the necessity. 



The danger of a confined atmosphere, to ani- 

 mal health, and life, is notorious; it is said a single 

 candle flame will consume a bushel of atmosphere 

 in a minute; then, it may well be inferred, that 

 the multiplied flames of a common fire, in a closed 

 room, of ordinary size, would accomplish the 

 exhaustion of the oxygen, or pure principle of the 

 atmosphere of the room, in a very short time, and 

 render it unfit for respiration ; and more especially 

 in the case of the silk worm, whose mephilic 

 offensive transpiration, if confined, would consi- 

 derably hasten the impurity; and I owe it very 

 much to my caution on this point, that the rooms 

 of my laboratory were not offensive ; and required 

 neither the chk)ride of lime, nor any other chemical 

 re-agent whatever. 



In another note, page 271, you say, "justice to 

 'P.' requires that we relieve him from censure — 

 and that you alone are responsible for the hypo- 

 thesis." I intended no censure for 'P.' or yourself, 

 but simply to oK'er my testimony against it, which 

 I did not consider as censure or oflience. 



'P' asked the question, page 239, August num- 

 ber, whether ritarding is injurious, &c. &c. and 

 you answered if. 



In your last note upon my report, pnge 272, you 

 say "instead of a refutation of the fiypothesis, you 

 view it (my experiment) as going to establish 

 your theory against retarding the hatrhing, as far 

 as a single case can be expected to go. 



This sentiment, I confess, surprises me; your 

 theory maintains in your August number, page 

 226, that the silk worm exposed to the ordinary 

 natural temperature, requires exactly twelve 

 months to pass through the various stages of its 

 existence; you admit subsequently, the hatching 

 may be protracted one month ; but you say "egga 

 that would have hatched naturally the 1st of May 

 will, if protracted to 1st of July, (that is two 

 month?!,) become in their progeny diseased and 

 perish sooner or later after being hatched." 



Under my experiment, which you think goes to 

 establish this position, eggs were hatched 28th 

 April, and the worms did not become diseased ; 

 and another part ol" the eggs of (he same identical 

 stock and date, were hatched the 1st of August — 

 that is, three months after ; and yet the worms 

 did not become diseased, and perish, but were 

 equally free from disease, with the exception of 

 about two dozen, from an accident — and they 

 made good cocoons ; how this can gn to establish 

 your doctrine — " that protraction beyond one 

 month, will occasion disease and death," I cannot 

 comprehend ; you say, because the greater part of 

 my papers of eggs in August did not hatch ; but 

 you will hold in mind that several thousands did 

 hatch and prosper, were li-ee from disease, and did 

 ^/im's/H heir work ; which fact is surely adverse to 

 your doctrine, fis much so, as if all had hatched ; 

 the cause of the vuiny not hatching, may be. fijirly 

 referred to their bad condition, when purchased ; 

 at that early date a few on some of the papers 

 had already hatched — many had the ditrereni tints 

 of color, indicative of advancement in different 

 grades ; and others retained their primitive gray, 

 indicative oi' no advancement; this latter class,! 



