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friends at Turin. This species was first introduced into 

 England in 1859, and reared by Mr. F. Moore, of the East 

 India Museum. The larvae, feeding on the castor-oil plant 

 and hatched from eggs sent by M. Gue'rin Meneville, were 

 exhibited by Mr. Moore, before the Entomological Society of 

 London, in October 1859. Afterwards Lady Dorothy 

 Nevill cultivated the species extensively in this country.* 

 Plates VIII., XVIII, XIX., XX., illustrate the entomological 

 characteristics of Attacus cynthia and Attacus ricini. 



In a despatch to the Eight Honourable the Marquis of 

 Hartington, Her Majesty's Secretary of State for India, 

 dated Simla, the 1st of June 1880, and signed by Lord 

 Lytton, late Viceroy of India ; Sir F. P. Haines, G.C.B., 

 G.C.S.L; Sir John Strachey, G. C.S.I. ; Gen. Sir Edwin B. 

 Johnson, K.C.B., CLE.; A. Rivers Thompson, C.S.I. ; and 

 Maj.-Gen. A. Fraser, R.E., the following statements occur : — 



" In Bengal, small supplies of the (Eria) silk are at 

 present worked up chiefly for home manufacture and use ; 

 but there is no reason to suppose that production would 

 not be stimulated if remunerative prices could be obtained. 



" In Assam, it will be observed that in only a few of the 

 northern districts and in the Jaintia Hills can the silk 

 (Eria) be procured at present in any appreciable quantities. 

 From these districts it is estimated that 84,000 lbs. of raw 

 silk could be obtained annually. Elsewhere a very 

 limited amount of the silk is produced, not as an article of 

 external trade, but for home consumption. But as the 

 necessary food for the Eria silkworm grows in abundance 

 in Assam, it seems probable, as suggested by the Chief 

 Commissioner, that an effective demand would lead to a 

 large increase of production." 



A letter to the Secretary to the Government of India 

 accompanying the above despatch, dated Calcutta 26th April 

 1880, and signed by Babu Rajendra Nath Mitra, states as 

 follows : — 



" The districts in which Eria silk can be obtained are 

 Rungpore, Dinagepore, Bogra, Julpigoree, Darjeeling, 

 Chittagong, Gya, Shahabad, Purneah, and Pooree. 



" In the Bogra and Julpigoree districts the silk is not 

 worked up as an article of trade, but for home consumption 

 only ; about 18 maunds of cocoons being annually pro- 

 duced in Bogra, and about 40 to 50 maunds of thread in 

 Julpigoree. In Darjeeling about 10 to 12 maunds of 

 cocoons could be annually obtained in the Terai. 



* Dr. Wallace on Ailanthiculture. See "Transactions of the Entomological 

 Society for 1866." 



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