REARING SILKWORMS. 19 



SEX OF THE SILKWORM. 



Concerning the sex of the silkworm, how to 

 detect it in the different stages of its changeful 

 life, etc., it is queried which makes the most and 

 the best silk, etc.; but the question is as yet an 

 open one, waiting for some as yet unknown 

 "savant" to arise and settle the whole matter. 



I will here offer my theory, searched out within 

 the past few years, and submitted for just what 

 it is worth. It is based on the harmonies of 

 nature, and is as follows: 



The sex is not determined by the manner of 

 feeding, either abundantly or otherwise. It is 

 not in the ovum of the female; but it is in the 

 semen of the male, the same as it is in all animal 

 nature. In speaking of creation, the Bible says, 

 " Male and female created he them." This was 

 said of the highest type of animal life, and of 

 course it embraced all the lesser types, however 

 infinitesimal they may appear to us. 



So far as science has yet discovered, in all 

 perfect males there are two sacs, which contain 

 the -seminal fluid, or vitalizing principle. One 

 of these contains the male and the other the 

 female element. These life-germs are injected 

 into the ovum, or egg, which is lodged in the 

 womb of the female insect, or animal. In the 



