ON SERICICULTURE. 105 



Kaffraria. The silk is said to wind off freely, and to be 

 finer and more glossy than that of the Mimosa worm. 



Attempts have been made in Europe to rear Attacus 

 Ailasj a native of Central Asia, feeding on the Berberis 

 Asiaticay apple, &c., and the Tussiir moth, B. Mylitaf from 

 Northern India, feeding on the Zizyphus jujuhus, but with- 

 out success. Unless the food-plant be indigenous, and the 

 climate of the new country resemble that of its native haunts, 

 it is not likely that any attempts to acclimatize a new race 

 can be successful. These conditions are totally wanting in 

 Europe in the case of A. Atlas, B. 3Iylittay and many other 

 denizens of Central Asia.* 



Should, however, among our warmer colonies, any attempt 

 be made to introduce these species, M. Gelot thus speaks of 

 the silk of B. Mylitta — " The silk of this species is, in my 

 opinion, superior to that of B. Pernyi. When the cocoons 

 are properly prepared they wind from one end to the other 

 with the greatest facility ; the quantity of silk in each cocoon 

 is enoi-mous. Its brilliancy is also considerable. This kind 

 we should like much to acclimatize, as being highly useful 

 for silk culture." 



For other Asiatic silk-producing species, I must refer my 

 readers to a paper on this subject. Trans. Ent. Soc. vol. i. 

 3rd series, pt. 4, by Mr. F. Moore. 



The next on our list, the Bombyx Yama-Mai, hitherto 

 only found in Japan, feeding wild in the large oak forests 

 of the northern islands, is, perhaps, the most valuable of all 

 the races experimented upon ; and this not merely because 

 of the excellent quality and quantity of the silk, easily reeled 

 from the cocoon, but also because, being a native of a tem- 



* Anther(^a Roylei, feeding on an evergreen oak from the Himalayas, 

 Northern India, together with other denizens of those more temperate 

 regions, are fair subjects for a trial of acclimatization. 



