THE SILKWORM. 309 



Its change into a moth. 



fine grain, and have both ends round and 

 strong. Those of a bright yellow yield more 

 silk than the others. But the pale ones are 

 principally preferred because they take certain 

 colours better, and because, since they contain 

 less gum than the others, they lose less than 

 those in boiling. Five or six days after the coc- 

 coon has been detached from the branches, the 

 birth of the moth is prevented, as this would 

 otherwise pierce the shell, and thereby render 

 the coccoon useless. To prevent this the coc- 

 coons are put into long shallow' baskets, covered 

 up, and baked, for about an hour, in an heat 

 equal to that of an oven from which the bread is 

 just drawn after being baked. After this they 

 are disposed in a proper manner on ozier shelves, 

 distributed into stories, two or three feet distant 

 from each other. 



In about a fortnight or three weeks the insect 

 within the coccoon is changed into a moth ; but, 

 no sooner is it completely formed, than, having 

 divested itself of its aurelia skin, it prepares to 

 burst through its prison. For this purpose it ex- 

 tends its head towards the point of the coccoon, 

 and gnaws a passage through its cell, small at 

 first, but enlarging as the animal increases its ef- 

 forts for emancipation. The tattered remnants 

 of its aurelia skin are left in confusion within the 

 coccoon, like a little bundle of dirty linen. The 

 animal, thus liberated, appears exhausted with 



