128 THE SILK WORM MOTH. 



itself. They indeed come forth in a variety of colours, 

 their wings bedropped with gold and scarlet, yet are 

 they but the beings of a summer's day ; both their 

 life and beauty quickly vanish, and they leave no 

 remembrance after them ; but the Silk Worm leaves 

 behind it such beautiful, such beneficial monuments, 

 as at once record both the wisdom of their Creator, 

 and His bounty to man. 



The eggs of the Silk Worm are about the size of 

 a grain of mustard seed, of an ovate shape, and 

 depressed in the centre ; they are, at first, of a 

 yellowish colour, but, in three or four days, acquire 

 a bluish cast ; they are laid, in irregular patches, on 

 the leaves of the mulberry. In this country, the 

 caterpillar is produced in May. When first hatched, 

 it appears like a small black worm, not a quarter of 

 an inch in length : it almost immediately moves 

 about in search of food, at which time it is more 

 vivaceous than at any other period, as it is a dull, 

 lifeless animal when full grown, and seldom moves 

 beyond three or four feet during its larva state : 

 hence the ease with which it is managed when 

 cultivated for its silk. The following is a figure 

 of the caterpillar, about two-thirds its dimensions 

 when full grown : 



It has sixteen legs, set in pairs ; six in front, which 

 are covered with a shell, or scale, are placed under 



