REARING SILKWORMS. 45 



In two or three days after laying, those that 

 are seen to begin to change color will not hatch 

 out very soon. In a few more days they will 

 have become quite a dark slate-color, and a 

 magnifiying-glass will show that each egg is full 

 of a liquid in which is floating very fine spots or 

 particles, some larger than others. These little 

 spots are the vitalized particles, that in due time 

 collect round the outer edge of the shell, condense, 

 and produce the little worm, which, as soon as 

 nature has completed her work inside the shell, 

 comes to the outside world through a hole in the 

 side of the shell. As the work of developing the 

 worm progresses, the center of the shell becomes 

 depressed, and the edge elevated as the growth 

 of the worm inside presses it up. 



The polyvoltines, or those eggs that will hatch 

 out within ten days to three weeks, do not change 

 to darker color, as the others, but, instead, there 

 may be seen in them, at the end of the fourth or 

 fifth day, a sort of filmy substance all through 

 the shell. Gradually this condenses toward the 

 outer edge, and then is seen, apparently, the 

 outline of the worm, though so filmy and light 

 as to be almost invisible. In a few more days 

 the eggs are a bright lavender or slate color, and 

 the entire form of the worm may be distinctly 

 seen. Then very soon the little worm will hatch 

 out and look for its natural food, mulberry leaves. 



