Leaders. 



The Attacus prometheus (described and figured on 

 p. 134, vol. xxxii. of the Naturalises Library} is another 

 native worm adapted to our purpose, and next in point of 

 size to the Cecropia. In range it is as extensive as the 

 Cecropia. It is not quite so omnivorous in its appetite, 

 feeding on the sassafras (Lauras sassafras), the spice-bush 

 (L. benzoin), and the swamp button-ball bush (Cephalan- 

 thus occidentalis) . It is green in color, with yellow feet; 

 "each segment of the body, except the posterior, is 

 marked with six blue spots, from which arise small black 

 tubercles ; in the second and third segments, however, 

 the two centre tubercles are replaced by club-like pro- 

 jections of a third of an inch in length, and of a bright 

 coral red color. The last segment is furnished with but 

 five tubercles, the central one of which is of the same 

 clavate form as the anterior segments, but is of a fine 

 yellow color." Dr. Garlick says, "These cocoons can 

 be collected in great numbers w^here the sassafras and 

 spice-bush are abundant, as it is in this region [Cleve- 

 land, Ohio]. Silk can be drawn from this worm from 

 three to four feet long, and strong enough for salmon- 

 fishing, of the very best quality." 



The Attacus polyphemus is another native silk-worm 

 worthy of attention. It is not described in the Nat- 

 uralists Library, but three exhaustive papers on its nat- 

 ural history and cultivation, by L. Trouvelot, may be 

 found in vol. i. of the American Naturalist, pp. 30, 85, 

 145. Mr. Trouvelot says in substance, the worm is over 

 three inches long and very thick. It is extremely hardy, 

 and will endure with impunity any temperature, even 

 below the zero of Fahrenheit. It feeds equally well on 

 the different species of oaks, maples, willows, poplars, 

 elms, hazels, birches, blueberry, and other plants, with- 



