39 



ventilators descends, it must pass through the 

 trays. There are also six other ventilators, 

 made in the floor, to communicate with the 

 rooms beneath. Three of the thirteen windows 

 are at the end of the house ; and at the opposite 

 end, are three doors, constructed so as to admit 

 more or Jess air as may be necessary. These 

 doors open into another hall, 36 feet long and 

 90 feet wide, which forms a continuation of the 

 large laboratory, and contains trays sufficiently 

 raised to facilitate the care of the worms. In this 

 hall there are 6 windows and 6 ventilators under 

 them, nearly on a level with the floor, and also 

 four ventilators in the ceiling. There are 6 fire- 

 places in the great laboratory, one in each angle, 

 and one on each side of the centre, and a large 

 stove in the middle ; glass oil burners, that give 

 no smoke, are used to give light at night. Be- 

 tween the hall and the great laboratory, there is 

 a small room having two large doors, the one 

 communicating with the laboratory, the other with 

 the hall. In the centre of the floor there is a 

 large square opening, which communicates with 

 the lower part of the building. This is closed 

 with a wooden folding door; this aperture is 

 used for throwing down the litter and rubbish 

 of the laboratory, and for admitting Mulberry 

 leaves, which can be drawn up by a hand-pulley. 

 Such is the construction of the laboratory of 

 Count Dandolo. 



In giving the above minute description of 

 Count Dandolo's laboratory, we do not offer it as 

 a model worthy of being adopted by culturists in 

 the U. States. On the contrary, we think it espe- 

 cially to be avoided as an example, and for the sim- 

 ple reason that it is too costly ; but notwithstand- 

 ing,that we admonish againstits adoption, we think 

 valuable hints may be derived from it, inasmuch 

 as it will enable those about to engage in the bu- 

 siness to see the great principles to be aimed at in 

 the construction of an establishment, to wit, 

 " convenience, the preservation of a proper tem- 

 perature, and the free circulation of air." These 

 are the great cardinal points to which the Ameri- 

 can cultivator must attend, whatever may be the 

 extent of the buildhsg he may construct. 



Almost every large estate in the United States 

 have buildings upon them which might at a tri- 

 fling expense be converted into laboratories for 

 the accommodation of the worms. Barns, to- 

 bacco houses, out houses, may all be so altered 

 as to answer without at all interfering with their 

 usefulness for the objects for which they were 

 originally built. All buildings may be said to 

 be proper for receiving silk worms^ which have 

 one or more fire-places, two or more ventilators in 

 the ceiling, on a level with the floor, and windows 

 through which light may be admitted to the ex- 

 clusion of sunshine. 



And where no such buildings already exist, 

 that can be spared for the purposes of the worms, 



one at a very moderate cost may be erected 

 Any one with ordinary enterprise and ingenuity 

 may go into his woods and in a few days prepare 

 posts, scantling and clap-boards in sufficient 

 quantities to construct a house even upon the 

 most extensive scale. As to the chimneys 

 and shutters, they will answer every valuable 

 purpose, no matter how plain, or how coarse, the 

 materials of which they may be made. 



In this country it is recommended that houses 

 erected expressly for the purpose of raising silk 

 worms, should be placed in the coolest place's, and 

 most airy situations attainable, and in the shade 

 of trees, if possible, because it is always within 

 our power to increase the heat of the apartment, 

 when necessary, by means of stoves or fire-places, 

 but it is not so easy to guard against a sudden 

 increase of heat in the weather, which might go 

 far to defeat the labors of the season, if it should 

 occur in the fifth age, when the worms are nearly 

 done eating, as will be seen hereafter. 



We will now describe the apparatus of the 

 reverend Mr. Sevagne, which is highly spoken of in 

 the Transactions of the Society of Arts, Lon- 

 don. It is recommended on account of the 

 small space occupied by it, the neatness in which 

 it enables persons using it, to keep the apartment 

 clean, and the ease with which the caterpillars 

 can be fed and their litter removed. 



MR. SEVAGNE'S APPARATUS. 



" The apparatus consists of a wooden frame, 

 four feet two inches high, each side sixteen inch- 

 es and a half wide, divided into eight partitions, 

 by small pieces of wood, which form grooves, in 

 which the slides run, and are thus easily thrust in 

 or drawn out of the frame. The upper slide is 

 of paper only, and designed to receive the worms 

 as soon as hatched", the two next are of catgut, 

 the threads about one-tenth of an inch distant 

 from one another ; these are for the insects, when 

 a little advanced in size ; the four lower ones are 

 of a wicker work, the openings through which 

 the dung is to fall, being about a quarter of an 

 inch square. -Under each of these, as well as 

 under those of catgut, are slides of paper, to pre- 

 vent the dung of the cocoons from falling on 

 those feeding below." 



"Mr. Sevagne afterwards found that netting 

 may be substituted with advantage, in the room 

 of wicker bottoms. The meshes of the netting 

 were about half an inch square." 



"The caterpillars are to be kept in the second 

 and third drawers, until their dung and litter do 

 not readily fall through, and then to be removed 

 to the drawers with wicker bottoms, arid fed 

 thereon, till they shew symptoms of being aboutto 

 spin. Each wicker drawer will afford sufficient 

 room for five hundred worms, when grown to 

 their full size." 



In order to provide against a contingent in- 

 crease of caterpillars, it will be always best to 



