298 Rod and Tackle. CHAP. xx. 



will be found within it to their full extent and extreme, they break from 

 softness of texture, the worm must be allowed to remain in the vessel 

 some time longer, the temperature having much to do with the condition 

 of the pickled insects. When the coils are found to be tough, and stand 

 stretching fully out, one end of the strand must be placed in a slit made in 

 the end of a thin board or sheet of bark prepared for the purpose. This 

 strand is now to be drawn and stretched to the other end of the board, 

 in which corresponding slits have been made, when the extremity of the 

 gut is secured in one of them. When all the worms have been thus treated 

 the stretching board is to be placed in the sun in order that the gut may 

 dry, which it usually does in about twelve hours. It will now be found 

 that a considerable quantity of yellow substance will remain adhering to 

 the gut. This must be removed, and in order to do so dissolve a common 

 piece of soap, about the size of a musket-ball, in a gallon of rain-water. 

 Place this, with the gut in it, in a boiler and boil it for ten minutes, when 

 the gut must be turned out in a cloth to drain. Before cooling each strand 

 must be lightly and smartly drawn through a pledget of cotton held between 

 the finger and thumb, which will at once strip off the yellow coating ; but 

 great care must be taken not to press the softened strand hard enough to 

 make it flat or curled. As fast as the strands are run through the cotton 

 they must be replaced on the board and again dried in the sun, after which 

 they can be selected as to size, quality, length, etc., and packed up in hanks 

 by twisting cotton or any other kind of thread round them." 



The advantages which I suppose these worms to possess over the 

 ordinary silkworm are, that they are larger, and will probably yield 

 much larger guts ; also that they are indigenous to the country, and do 

 not require to be fed on mulberry leaves, or other choice food, but on 

 the wild tree leaves on which they are found. 



More or less objection is taken by silk-spinners to both these worms, 

 on the ground that the silk is difficult to reel, by reason of its being 

 stuck together by such a strong gummy substance, that diluted sulphuric 

 acid is recommended for mixing with water in which the cocoon of the 

 tussa silkworm is boiled ; and of the Attacus Atlas it is said " the silk 

 is difficult to reel, though it yields partially if boiled in vinegar." But 

 this very objection becomes a decided recommendation from a fisher- 

 man's point of view, for the stronger the gluten the less likely the gut 

 is to fray in water, as ordinary silkworm gut will when worn. 



To aid recognition by those who do not know the tussa silk-moth, I 

 quote an extract from a description by Dr. Shortt, F.L.S., F.Z.S., etc. 

 of Madras : 



" The male and female moths differ in size, the male measuring from. 



