618 



Cije Crcatfurp of Batumi 



length of the first joint. They are slow and 

 heavy in their gait, but so vigilant as not to 

 be easily surprised ; when it does happen, 

 however, they are so conscious of their in- 

 ability to make effectual resistance, that 

 overwhelmed with fear, they quickly fall 

 into the hands of their pursuers. They live 

 in numerous troops, which, it is said, are 

 conducted by vigilant and courageous chiefs, 

 and at sunrise and sunset they make the 

 forests resound with frightful cries, which 

 may be heard at a prodigious distance. From 

 the accounts given by M. Duvaucel, who 

 had numerous opportunities of observing the 

 Siamang, in Sumatra, both in his wild state '. 

 and in bondage, we learn that while dwelling 

 in his native woods he exhibits an absence 

 of all intellectual faculty, hunger itself being 

 insufficient to excite, or divest him of his 

 natural apathy; and that confinement, how- 

 ever long, seems to have no effect in modify- 

 ing his characteristic stupidity and sluggish- 

 ness ; in short, he never acquires the faini- ' 

 liarity of other apes; and even his submission ! 

 appears to be rather the result of extreme 

 apathy, than of any degree of confidence or 

 affection. 



SIBERIAN DOG. This useful variety of 

 the canine race is distinguished by having 

 its ears erect, and the hair of its body and ! 

 tail very long ; it is also distinguished for ! 

 its steadiness, docility, and endurance of 

 fatigue when used for the purpose of draught, j 

 In many northern countries these dogs are 

 employed in drawing sledges over the frozen 

 snow, five of them being yoked to each I 

 sledge, two and two, with the fifth in front i 

 as a leader. In general only one person rides I 

 in a sledge, who sits sideways, and guides 

 the animals by reins fastened to their collars * 

 Such is their lleetness, that they have been i 

 known to perform a journey of 270 miles, in 

 three days and a half, and such their strength : 

 that they will convey a sledge containing 

 three persons and their luggage sixty miles 

 in a day. 



SILIQUARIA. A molluscous animal, 

 very long and spiral, inhabiting an irregu- 

 larly twisted tube, tapering to wards one end; j 

 the other end open ; and a longitudinal 

 fissure throughout its whole length, corre- 

 sponding with a similar cleft in that part of 

 the mantle which covers the branchial cavity. 

 Along the whole side of this cleft is a 

 branchial comb, composed of numerous deli- 

 cate and tubular-like leaflets. It has a dis- 

 tinct head, and two small tentacula, with 

 eyes at the base. Found in the Mediterra- 

 nean and the Indian Seas. 



SILKWORM. The SILKWORM MOTH 

 (Bombyx mori) is a whitish moth, with a 

 broad pale brown bar across each of the 

 upper wings. The larva or caterpillar, em- 

 phatically styled the Silkworm, is of a yel- 

 lowish gray colour, and, when full grown, 

 nearly three inches long : on the upper part 

 of the last joint of the body is a horn -like 

 process, similar to that on several of the 

 Sphinx Moths. It feeds, as every one knows, I 

 on the leaves of the white mulberry, or, when 

 they cannot be obtained, on those of the 



black mulberry or lettuce. The Silkworm 

 remains in its larva state about six weeks, 

 changing its skin four times during that 

 period, and, like other caterpillars, abstain- 

 ing from food for some time before each 

 change. When full grown it entirely ceases 

 to feed, and begins to form itself a loose en- 

 velopment ofeilken fibres in some convenient 

 spot which it has chosen for that purpose, 

 and afterwards proceeds to enwrap itself in 

 a much closer covering, forming an oval 

 yellow silken case or ball about the size of a 

 pigeon's egg, in which it changes to a chry- 

 salis, and after lying thus enclosed about 

 fifteen days, gives birth to the Moth. This, 

 however, is always carefully prevented when 

 these insects are reared for the purpose of 

 commerce, the Moth greatly injuring the 

 silk of the ball by discharging a quantity of 

 coloured fluid before it leaves the cell. 



The Silkworm, when first hatched, is black, 

 and does not exceed in length one fourth of 

 an inch. The desire for food is the first 

 symptom it exhibits of life, and at this period 

 it is more active than at any other. When 

 about eight days have elapsed after its hatch- 

 ing, its head becomes considerably enlarged, 

 and it turns sick, refuses food, and remains 

 iu a state of lethargy for about three days. 

 This sickness would appear to arise from the 

 pressure of the animal's skin, which has 

 become too tight for the increased bulk of its 

 body. Indeed, the very great difference in 

 the size of the worm, from the beginning to 

 the end of its caterpillar state, is so great, 

 that nature has furnished it with several 

 skins, each of which it casts in succession. 

 The body is begirt by twelve rings, which 

 approach to or recede from each other, ac- 

 cording to its motions : there are nine breath- 

 ing holes on each side of the body ; seven 

 eyes on each side of the head ; and two small 

 orifices below the jaw, through which the 

 worm ejects its silken filament. 



The art of making the filamentous sub- 

 stance available for the use of man, seems to 

 have originated with the Chinese, and to 

 have been discovered at a very early period ; 

 but although the propagation of the Silk- 

 worm was confined to that country, the raw 

 material was purchased and manufactured 

 by the Persians, Tyrians, Indians, &c. for a 

 long time before any attempt was made to 

 establish it in Europe. For many ages silk 

 bore an enormous price at Rome ; but about 

 the middle of the sixth century, during the 

 reign of Justinian, two monks arrived at 

 Constantinople from India, bringing with 

 them the white mulberry, and the eggs of 

 the Silkworm. This, however, is not the 

 place for pursuing the history of the silk 

 manufacture, or we might trace its progress 

 from the East to Greece, and thence through 

 Italy, Spain, and France, where the culture 

 of the mulberry-tree, and the attention paid 

 to the rearing t>f Silkworms, still form a most 

 important feature in the industrial resources 

 of the country. 



" I was occupied the other day," says Mr. 

 Jesse, in his 'Gleanings,' "in reflecting on 

 the benefits accruing to mankind from a 

 remarkable instinct impressed by the great 

 Creator on that insignificant insect the Silk- 



