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Excess of moisture, being rectified by flame fires, 

 which are sometimes kindled four times a day. Dr. 

 Pascalis, an eminently scientific gentleman, has by elec- 

 tricity inspired the silkworms to hasten their labors. 

 By insulating the hurdles, and by the aid of the electric 

 machine and jar, he has succeeded in bringing their 

 labor to a close in twenty-seven days. He states that he 

 is willing, though it divides the honor of discovery, to 

 appeal to the celebrated Abbe Boissier de Sauvages, 

 who wrote seventy years ago. Sauvages had expressed his 

 belief that the finely pointed appendage or process pro- 

 ceeding from the last ring of the silkworm, was a mys- 

 terious organ, the use of which could not be defined, 

 unless it was an electrical point or tractor. He proposes 

 to correct the unwholesome condition of a damp at- 

 mosphere by fires, which will diffuse a dry heat : adding, 

 " That temperature is at all times best for nurseries, in 

 which the air is the most elcctrijitd, and electrical ex- 

 periments are the most successful." Rosier, in the 

 Cours Compht D' Agriculture, had recommended the 

 use of metallic conductors more than thirty years ago; 

 having himself proved their efficacy. He had found 

 that the silkworms which were contained on shelves 

 which were connected with a cistern of water by thin 

 iron wires were decidedly more healthy and active than 

 those on other shelves which were not thus provided 

 with conductors. 



Count Dandolo rectifies the dampness of the air "by 

 burning, in one or two chimneys, shavings or straw, or 

 any small dry brushwood, because the external air there- 

 by attracted, will restore and comfort the languishing 

 worms ; arid this renewed air by no means can increase 

 the necessary or internal temperature. Another reason 

 why blazing fires are to be preferred, is the quantity of 

 light disengaged from dry combustibles ; it is surprising 

 how useful this reviving light proves to the insects, and 

 how much it contributes to their health and growth." 

 In more modern times, no fumitory is used, chloride, 



