390 ZOOLOGY. 



ducing employments. This insect, originally from the northern 

 provinces of China, was introduced into Europe only in 

 the sixth era. Some Greek missionaries brought the eggs 

 to Constantinople during the reign of Justinian, and at 

 the epoch of the first Crusades its culture spread into Sicily 

 and Italy ; but it was only in the time of Henry the Fourtn 

 that this branch of agricultural industry acquired some im- 

 portance in our southern provinces, of which it forms, at the 

 present day, one of the principal sources of wealth. 



The eggs of the mulberry bombyx are known to agricul- 

 turists by the name of seed of the silkworm. When they 

 have been exposed to the air they have an ashy-grey tint, 

 and with some care they may be thus preserved for a suffi- 

 ciently long time without becoming deteriorated. In order 

 that incubation commence, and that the larvae appear or un- 

 fold themselves, it is necessary that the eggs be placed for 

 some time under the influence of a temperature of at least 

 15 or 16 Cent. (59 Fahr.). After having experienced eight 

 or ten days of increasing heat they become whitish, and soon 

 after the larvae begin to come forth. These small animals 

 at the moment of their birth are only about a line and a 

 quarter in length. Their body (Fig. 371) is elongated, cylin- 

 drical, annulated, smooth, and generally of a greyish colour. 

 At its anterior extremity may be distinguished a head, formed 

 by two kinds of hard scaly caps, on which may be remarked 

 black points, which are the eyes. The mouth occupies the 

 anterior part of this head, and is armed with strong jaws. 

 The three following rings have each a pair of small scaly 

 limbs, and represent the thorax. Finally, the abdomen is 

 very large, and has no limbs on the first two segments, but 

 is furnished posteriorly with five pairs of fleshy tubercles, 

 which resemble stumps, and which constitute so many limbs. 

 In the south of France silkworms are called mag nans, and 

 hence the name of magnanerie given to the establishments 

 in which they are reared. The first care they require after 

 their birth is to separate them from their cocoons, and to 

 place them on hurdles, where they find nourishment appro- 

 priate to their wants. For this purpose it is usual to 

 cover the eggs with a sheet of perforated paper, through 

 the holes made in which the worms ascend to reach the leaves 

 of the mulberry placed above ; and it is when they are on the 

 branches furnished with these leaves that they are trans- 

 ported on the hurdles prepared to serve as their dwellings. 



