AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRIES. 



209 



hot water, is reeled off almost as easily as from the B. Mori. 

 About fifteen days after the metamorphosis has taken place, the 

 cocoons are taken from the leaves and tested. Those which are 

 to be reeled, are placed in the warm sun or the regulated heat of 

 an oven, to kill the chrysalis. The best are set aside for breeding, 

 and after from 20 to 25 days the butterflies come forth. In order 

 to prevent them from flying away before propagation, they are kept 

 in pairs in bell-shaped baskets, woven from bamboo and suspended 



FEMALE OF THE ANTHEREA YAMA-MAI GUERIN-MENEVILLE, 

 HALF THE NATURAL SIZE. 



MALE OF THE ANTHEREA YAMA-MAI GUERIN-MENEVILLE, 

 HALF THE NATURAL SIZE. 



on poles. After the female has laid her eggs on the inner wall of 

 the basket, they are carefully collected in bags and placed in a dry, 

 cool and airy place till the time for the new breeding. 



The eggs of the Yama-mai are nine times as heavy as those of 

 the Bombyx Mori, although it takes from 130 to 140 of them 

 to a gramme. They are spheroidal, i.e. depressed at the ends 

 after the manner of a Mandarin orange. Their dark brown colour, 

 with black spots and stripes, is due to a sticky coating, which dis- 

 appears when they are washed in water or a solution of soda, show- 



II. P 



