230 THE INSECT WOELD. 



If looked at closely, one remarks a black spot and a brownish 

 crescent extending along the circumference. The black spot is the 

 head of the worm, which closely touches the shell ; the crescent is 

 the body, which is already covered with little hairs. When it 

 leaves the egg, the silkworm gnaws through the shell on its side, 

 never on its flat surface. When the opening is large enough, it 

 breaks out through it, head foremost, and immediately fixes a 

 thread of silk to any object it can reach, no doubt so as to pre- 

 vent itself from falling. Sometimes the opening is too small to 

 allow of the head passing out, and the larva is forced to come out 

 backwards, that is to say, tail foremost. At other times, not being 

 able to set its head free, the poor animal very soon dies of fatigue 

 and hunger. 



We will now give a summary of the rearing of the silk- 

 worm, that is to say, of the attention which must be paid to 

 this insect that it may construct its cocoon advantageously. We 

 will call to our aid in this very rapid summary the works or 

 notices of MM. Robinet, Guerin-Meneville, Eugene Robert, and 

 Louis Leclerc, and we must not forget the excellent and classical 

 Dandolo.* 



When it is desired to rear silkworms magnans, as they were 

 called in old French, and as they are still called in the patois of 

 Languedoc the first thing to do is to obtain good eggs, good grain, 

 to use the technical word, and then to choose suitable premises. 

 The essential, the fundamental point, in the rearing, is to possess 

 premises in which the air is easily renewed. The worms should 

 have as much air as possible given to them without ever being 

 allowed to be chilled. There is no better means of attaining this 

 end than by keeping a constant open fire in a room, and by letting 

 air into the room from another chamber which separates it from 

 the open air. One has, in this way, the best workroom for a small 

 rearing. 



In the workshop are arranged racks, by the aid of which are 



* " L'Art d' clever lea Vers a Soie, par le Comte de Dandolo, traduit par Philibert 

 Fontaneilles." In 8vo. Lyons, 1825. Robinet, " Manuel de 1'Education des Vers a 

 Soie." In 8vo. Paris. Gue>in Meneville et Eugene Robert, " Manuel de 1'educa- 

 tion des Vers & Soie." In 18mo. Paris. Louis Leclerc, " Petit Magnanerie." In 

 18mo. Paris. 



