364 PET ANIMALS. 



face, where ifc will effect another change, and in about twenty days 

 become a lumpish, inelegant, white moth. At this stage of its ex- 

 istence it does nothing more than deposit its eggs, if a female, arid 

 then dies. So soon as the moths emerge from the shell, they should 

 be removed to the same species of trays as those in which they were 

 previously kept, but are useless now, as the insect never eats leaves, 

 the bottoms of the trays must be covered with clean white paper 

 to receive the eggs ; if, however, you wish to preserve a great 

 quantity, it is better to place the moths in a coarse cloth, for the 

 reason that by immersing the cloth in fresh water, you can destroy 

 the viscous matter that glues the eggs to it, and then dry them 

 well, and keep them together in a box as if they were beads, which 

 is a more convenient plan than to be encumbered with a great 

 number of papers or trays. If this method is adopted, the cloth 

 must not be immersed until the eggs have assumed their ashy 

 colour. 



In some places, where silkworms are reared for commercial purposes, 

 such a number of aurelias only are preserved as are necessary for 

 the production of eggs ; the others are destroyed by putting the 

 cocoons in hot water, which process greatly accelerates the winding 

 off of the silk ; this plan must be adopted if you have a great 

 number of cocoons, for unless you wind off the silk within ten days 

 or a fortnight after you have ascertained that the worm has ceased 

 spinning, the aurelia, even in its silken enclosure, will turn into a 

 moth, and by piercing through the cocoon, destroy the silk. The 

 silk varies greatly in colour, being of different tints, from white to a 

 rich yellow, but the lighter colours are the most .sought after. 



The long and tedious process of winding off may be greatly 

 abridged by means of a kind of reel sold at most Tonbridge-vvare 

 shops, which enables the operator to wind two or three threads of 

 silk at the same time. 



