ciimt. xvui. Silkworm Out. 233 



•' placed in a pot or other convenient vessel, containing a mixture of 

 " vinegar and water in eqnal quantities: thej are ihen to be covered 

 " down and allowed to stand for about twelve hours. A worm may 

 " then be taken out, opened, and tested as to its fitness for drawing. 

 " If, in polling the yellowish green coils which will be found within 

 " it to their full extent and extreme, they break from softness of 

 •• texture, the worm must be allowed to remain in the vessel some time 

 " longer, the temperature having much to do with the condition of 

 •■ the pickled insects. When the coils are found to be tough, and 

 " stand stretching fully out, one end of the strand must be placed in 

 " a slit made in the end of a thin board or sheet of bark prepared for 

 " the purpose. This strand is now to be drawn and stretched to the 

 " other end of the board, in which corresponding slits have been made, 

 •' when the extremity of the gut is secured in one of them. When all 

 •• the worms have been thus treated, the stretching board is to be 

 " placed in the sun, in order that the gut may dry, which it usually 

 " does in about twelve hours. It will now be found that a considerable 

 " quantity of yellow substance will remain adhering to the gut. This 

 " must be removed, and in order to do so dissolve a common piece of 

 " soap, about the size of a musket-ball, in a gallon of rain-water. 

 " Place this, with the gut in it, in a boiler, and boil it for ten minutes, 

 " when the gut must be turned out in a cloth to drain. Before 

 " cooling, each strand must be lightly and smartly drawn through a 

 " pledge of cotton held between the finger and thumb, which will 

 •• at once strip off the yellow coating : but great care must be taken 

 " not to press the softened strand hard enough to make it flat or 

 " curled. As fast as the strands are tud through the cotton they 

 " must be replaced on the board, and again dried in the sun, after 

 " which the}- can be selected as to size, quality, length, etc., and 

 ■• packed up in hanks by twisting cotton or any other kind of thread 

 '■ round them." 



The advantages which 1 suppose these worms to possess ovi t 

 the ordinary silkworm are, thai they are larger, and will probablj 

 yield much larger guts ; also that they are indigenous to the 

 country, and do not require to be fed on mulberry leaves, or 

 other choice food, but on the wild tree leaves en which tiny are 

 found. 



More or less objection is taken by silk-spinners to both these 

 worms, on the ground that the silk is difficult to reel, by reason of 

 its being stuck together by such a strong gummy substance, that 



