1 p^ 



AND GARDENEil'S JOURNAL 



PUIU.ISllCl) I!Y JOSEPH l!KH('K & CO., NO. 5-2 NORI'll MARKET SI'liEET, ( AfiUicuLTUKAL Wakehousk.)— '!"• O- rES3KNI>IiN, EDITOR. 



vol.. XVI- 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 23, 1837. 



m;. T. 



^•03SiIK<S^l£.1S'^J&AILi 



(From the New York SUr.? 

 THE NATIVK AMERICAIS SILKWORM. 



JVeu) Plan for the If'onns to wind the Cocoons. 



Mr Editor : — Since the i-ecfn|)t of _\o{ii' paper 

 yesterday, I received the Naiitm-ket Inquirer of 

 the 15th ult., in which Mr Jenka asks us for fur- 

 ther intelligence in relation to the article on the 

 Silkworm, ptiblislied in the Star of the Sd ult. — 

 As the words, '• si.t different i)lans for the worm 

 to wind the cocoon," were puhlislied verhatiin as 

 I expressed them in conversation with you, the 

 call seems to re(iuire some explanation on my part. 

 I will give it briefly thus: "It is so many contri- 

 vances to accommo<)ate the insect in its [irepara- 

 tion for 'winding up,' or so many dilforeiit con- 

 trivances on which, (not round which) the larvte 

 may susjiend and wind the cocoon. One of the 

 plans may be described thus : nine laths 1-4 inch 

 thick, 1 1-4 inch wide, and 40 inches long, place<l 

 on edge, horizontal, j)arallel to each other, and 1 

 inch apart in the clear ; these are connected by 

 lath, 11 1-4 inches long, fastened across the ends; 

 the whole forming a grate of 9 bars 11 1-4 by 40 

 inches. Five of these grates, placed parallel to 

 and a'-ovc; each other, 3-4 of an inch a|.art in the 

 clear, connected by a single nail at each corner, 

 with laths 9 1-4 long, standing vertically on end, 

 forms one plan, which is probably the best of the 

 six, and in the opinion of some good judges, is 

 superior to all other plans (not excepting the Eu- 

 ropean plan of bushes and branches of trees,) for 

 economy, both in the space which it occupied to 

 accommodate an equal number of worms, and the 

 expense of construction. The 46 laths required 

 for its construction, are worth 6 cents, and can be 



made with the labor of one hour, woith 12 cts 



iiwking in all 18 cents. The worms wind the 

 cocoons between the bars and between the grates, 

 when by removing the four vertical laths at the 

 corners, the cocoons can be cleared out in a few 

 minutes, certainly in less time, and in better con- 

 dition, than the same nundier can be removed 

 from among bushes and trees. 



The native American Silkworm feeds on elder, 

 which is its principal food, and from it, spins a 

 cocoon of good silk, strong, soft and lustrous, al- 

 though coarser than that of the Asiatic worm. — 

 The smallest cocoon in my possession, from the 

 native American worm, is 70 Jier cent, heavier 

 than the heaviest of the Asiatic. A fair average 

 of the native cocoons are nearly 300 per cent. 

 Iieavier than most of the Asiatic. I weighed to- 

 day a fair average of the native American cocoons 

 with 4 different kinds of Asiatic, the weights show 

 the quantity of silk without the chrysalis : 



Native American Cocoon, 17 grains. 



Asiatic large white Cocpon, 6 1-2 " 



" bright white Cocoon, 4 " 



" Monti di Brianza, a pale yel. 3 " 



" Golden Yellow, 2 " 



The ova of the two last named, were imported 

 by Mr Tinelli, the present year. They are imicli 

 cultivated in Italy and Spain, and produce ihf 

 finest silks in Europe. The Monti di Bri.inza i,< 

 jiarticularly fatned for receiving and retaining ihe 

 nmst beautiful dye. By the above, you will per- 

 ceive that the Native American furnishes 850 

 pel cent, more silk, than the Golden Yellovi' Asi- 

 atic. 



A description of the Native American Silkworm 

 may enable Mr Jenks to recognize an old and fa- 

 miliar acquaintance, which he has oflen frighten- 

 ed from its resting place, with the exclamation, 

 " Oh ! what a beautiful butterfly," pronounced in 

 a tone too loud and too harsh for such sensitive 

 antennae. 



It ranks in Linne's System of Nature in the 

 Animal Kingdom, class 5, insects, order iii. Le- 

 pidoptera, Genus, Phalajna. The moth or jicrfect 

 insect is without proboscis, and therefore, cannot 

 eat ; it has Antennte, 2 pectinate and black, he:id 

 white, eyes 2 black, thorax red, abdomen entirely 

 surrounded with alternate red awd white bands, 

 wings 4, brownish gray, lighter in the male, inte- 

 rior of two upper wings red, with one large ocel- 

 late spot near each exterior, and two smaller and 

 less distinct in the margin ; from the anterior to 

 the posterior is a band of 2 distinct white and red 

 lines, between this band and the interior is a large 

 white lunate macula, surrounded with red and 

 hlsck ; the last described band and lunate macu- 

 la, are the same in the lower wings ; across the 

 exterior and margin, is a band of four distinct 

 lines, ashy gray, black, cream and asiiy gray ; low- 

 er wings the same. The larvie is gfeenish, with- 

 out hair, except a few on two protuberances, and 

 feeds mostly on elder. The ova is cream color 

 clouded with red<lish gum, with vvbicli they are 

 fastened to the leaf or bark. The pupa or chry- 

 salis is a dark brown, enclosed in a cocoon of 

 strong, soft and lustrous silk. It is a native of 

 the North American States, and is found in no 

 other country. I have 11 of the cocoons in my 

 possession, 4 of which I found on Manhattan Is- 

 land, near Harlem, N. Y., and 7 in the forest of 

 Bergen County, N. J. 



1 intend, this summer, to manufacture some 

 sewing silk from the Native American Cocoons, 

 and hereby promise to send Mr Jeid^s one skein 

 of it, provided be will " contrive " some belter 

 name than " contrivance," for the plan of laths 

 described in this commuidcation. 

 Yours, &c. 



C. F. DURAT. 



Jerseij City, July 21, 1837. 



ELECTRO MAGNETISM. 



The new machine of Davenport & Cook, has 

 been vastly improved within a few days. The 

 New York Sun says: 



Mr Cook has entirely remodelled tht; stationary 

 and revolving magnet.s, by which means he gives 

 the magnetic current any desirable direction. He 

 seems to have studied Nature in her grandest 



works, and adapted the machine to lier piinci- 

 ples. .As the electric fJuiil spins loniid one plan- 

 et, so Mr Cook now causes the iriagnetic currents 

 to move round the wheels of his machine ; he 

 thus brings the i-reat principle of this interesting 

 branch of science into entire snfcserviency. 



If doubts have heretofore existed in relation to 

 the ultimate success of the inveniion, this inifirove- 

 ment is well calculated to remove them. It tri- 

 utnphantly refuKTs the objections which have been 

 raised against ii, and clearly jjroves that electro- 

 magnets, when in contact with each other, will 

 labor with unimpaired, if not with increased en- 

 ergy, in propelling the machine, and that its pow- 

 er may be increased in a nuich greater ratio than 

 the relative increase of weight. 



The propiietors of this invention, confident of 

 its almost priceless worth, have steadily resolved 

 that they will hazard nothing by rashness, 'i'hey 

 have exercised an economy correspundirjg with 

 the times, and a discreet regard to the value of 

 the invention, in making their experiments and 

 settling principles on a small scale, — although 

 the inipatient may censure, the wise will ap- 

 prove. 



This improved model, whicdi was made in or- 

 der to test and illustrate the principles by which 

 it is moved, has a motion wheel of only seven in- 

 ches in diameter, which we should suppose would 

 be haidly sufiicient for a iiully to a turning lathe, 

 although moved by some other power ; yet we 

 saw this machine attached to a lathe in which 

 iron was turned, the chisel taking chips from the 

 iron with all the power the holder could well ex- 

 ert — thus exhibiting an energy far superior to the 

 steam engine, in proportion to its weight. 



As electricity, galvanism and magnetism are 

 admitted to be but little understooil, as every new 

 discovery in relation to them, urges further in- 

 vestigation, and each electro-magnetic engine jiro- 

 duced in progress of manufacture, comes out with 

 increased power and improved simplicity ; we 

 have every thing to hope, and nothing to fear, 

 from a full development of the science. 



We believe that the doubts in relation to the 

 utility of this invention, have mostly originated in 

 the erroneous opinion that the machine was mov- 

 ed Iiy the mere force or velocity of electricity. — 

 But such is not tlie case. Magnetism, i)rodiiced 

 from the galvanic fluid, is the motive jirinciple. 

 A current of this f^uid, so fe.;ble that it would not 

 even move a feather, will jiroduce a tiiagnelic 

 [lower of several tons ; so that any desirable 

 amount of power may be [iroduccd by nailtiply- 

 ing the number of magnets in use. 



We have long been convinced that mankind as 

 yet, were but in the ignorance of infamy — that 

 we might look forward with confidence in antici- 

 pation of the almost endless achievements of 

 science and art. Yet, we confess that we scarce- 

 ly anlici|iated a single inveniion would ihiis tame 

 anif bring into subjei-tion nature's most subtle and 

 all pervading principle — that we should manufac- 

 ture our clothing — saw our lumber — grind our 



