DIRECT BENEFITS FROM MOTHS. 63 



All the silk produced in Europe, and the greater 

 | proportion of that which is so extensively manufac- 

 tured in China, is the produce of the common Silk 

 Worm, the larva of Phaltena (Bombyx} mori. In 

 India, great quantities are procured from the cocoon 

 of the larvae of moths of different species. The most 

 productive of these is the Tusseh and Arrindy Silk 

 Worms. They are both inhabitants of Bengal. The 

 first of these, the PhaUena, (Attocus Paphia of Lin- 

 naeus,) has been found so plentifully from time imme- 

 morial, as to have furnished an abundant and constant 

 supply of coarse, dark-coloured, strong silk. This is 

 woven by the natives into a cloth, which they call 

 Tusseh-doot-hies a favourite and durable attire of 

 the Brahmins, and several other sects. It has the 

 advantage of being both a light and cool wear ; and, 

 from the length of time it lasts, it proves in the end to 

 be remarkably cheap. It is singular that this useful 

 commodity has not found its way into the south of 

 Europe, or the intertropical countries of America, 

 being admirably fitted for these climates. This is a 

 proof, among many which might be adduced, of the 

 tardy progress of improvement, proceeding too fre- 

 quently from a bigoted admiration of ancient customs. 



The silk of the Tusseh Worm is durable in a 

 remarkable degree ; for it discovers but little symp- 

 toms of decay after being constantly worn for nine 

 or ten years. These insects, which feed upon the 

 Jugube tree, or Si/an, of the Hindoos, and also of the 

 Terminalia alata glabra of Roxburgh, called by the 



