IN SOUTH-EASTERN MANCHURIA. 3 



If the weather is favourable, the eggs hatch in from u to 12 days say, roughly, on the 

 i4th day. The larva, born black, begins eating almost at once and continues throughout three 

 days to the period of the first of the four "sleeps " ts'an mien (|j| fjg), which, although it lasts 

 only two or two and a half days, affords opportunity for the first molt t'o p'i (JJ $), from 

 black to green. This sleep ends, approximately, on the igth day. Following it comes a second 

 eating period, this time of four days duration, preparatory for the second sleep and shedding that 

 occupies three days and brings the total to 26. A repetition of this four days feast and three 

 days rest, with another molt during the latter, marks the end 'of the third sleep at the 33rd day, 

 after which there comes an exactly similar cycle that ends with the completion of the fourth 

 molt on the 4Oth day. In each of these four changes the worm sheds its skin completely, 

 including the hard surface of the face and head, and through them keeps pace with the increase 

 in size which ultimately brings it to a length of from 3 to 5 inches. The exuviaj appear on the 

 leaves and in the crotches of the limbs as small brown balls about one-eighth of an inch in 

 diameter. 



It is this period, from the birth of the worm to the end of the last sleep on the 4Oth day, 

 which proved most difficult to verify satisfactorily. CHANG, the watcher of his father's hillside 

 flock, insisted that it usually occupied 27 days, so that I have elected to abide by his information 

 and put the completion of the final rest in the 4ist day. 



Then follows the last period of nourishment, covering, as a rule, 13 or 14 days, which 

 precedes the spinning of the cocoon and during which the larva attains to its most beautiful 

 stage of development. After the 55th day, when feeding ceases, the task of spinning the cocoon, 

 entered upon at once, occupies, on an average, five days, thus bringing the total to a round 60. 

 Some cocoons are perfected in as few as three days while others require eight, depending largely 

 upon the conditions of the weather: dark, rainy days tend to deaden the larva's activity. 



When ready to spin, the worms display much cleverness in choosing places protected both 

 from the rain and from the eye of the passer-by. Whether this latter be one of Nature's gifts 

 of intuition to the industrious spinner may be hazarded only a guess, but it may be unhesi- 

 tatingly stated that this placing of the cocoons renders very thorough search necessary to ensure 

 a full harvest. When thus completed, the cocoons are gathered by the watchers each day as 

 they return to their cottages and are there stored in open trays to await the cooler days when 

 they may be safely packed. 



These watchers who guard the worms and care for them have two important duties. 

 First, they must see that the birds are kept away from their oaks, for otherwise their colony 

 of spinners will be sadly thinned. This guard duty involves with them much shouting and 



