481 



bandry, if so it may be called. I cannot persuade myself that, now 

 the paroxysm of the multicaulis insanity is over, they will not attract 

 that attention from the farmers, which their intrinsic importance claims ; 

 and from the admirable manner in which they are drawn up, they can- 

 not fail to be read with interest. I commend them especially to the 

 farmers' wives and daughters, if I am not presuming too much in 

 thinking they will honor any portion of my pages with a perusal. Will 

 not they take an interest in the history of the wonderful and disinter- 

 ested labors of those humble operatives, to whom they owe so much 

 that is useful and beautiful, oi'namental to their persons and gratifying 

 to their taste, — those delicate and exquisite fabrics which were once the 

 exclusive property of the palace, but are now within the reach of the 

 humblest cottager.'' 



Letter I. — From James Deane, M. D. 



Greenfield, Jan. 5, 1841. 



Mr. Colman, — 



Dear Sir, — The past summer, remarkable for the duration and uni- 

 formity of its high temperature, has been favorable to the cultivation 

 of the mulberry tree, but from causes not sufficiently investigated, the 

 rearing of silk worms has been attended, all over the country, with a 

 succession of mishaps and disasters. The larvae composing my own 

 stock were perfectly healthy, and commenced winding their cocoons 

 on the twenty-eighth day, and as in the experiment I deem myself to 

 have been successful, it is with true pleasure that I am enabled to pre- 

 sent you a detailed statement of operations, together with some reflec- 

 tions naturally suggested by an acquaintance with this great subject. 



There are several absolute changes in the life of the precious silk 

 worm, which require for their complete development just one year, and 

 as each change is regulated by peculiar principles, a thorough under- 

 standing of them all is essential to the success of those who undertake 

 its artificial management. These changes embrace four distinct peri- 

 ods, the last terminating where the first began, to wit : the quiescent 

 state, or that of the egg ; the state of the larva, or of nutrition and 

 the formation of the cocoon ; the chrysalis state, or that intervening 

 between the worm and moth ; and finally the state of the moth, or that 

 of reproduction. These divisions are natural boundaries, and they 

 cannot be too well understood. 



The period occupied by the egg is about ten months, and when left 



61 



