8 GRAMMAR OF ENTOMOLOGY. 



and there succeeded in rearing the worms and 

 obtaining their produce. 



17. Silk is now produced abundantly in 

 Europe, principally in Murcia, in Spain, the 

 south of France, and in Italy ; in Hungary it is 

 cultivated, but with less success ; and in England, 

 probably from the want of sufficient warmth, all 

 attempts hitherto made have proved unsuccessful. 



18. Silk is spun by a caterpillar, which feeds 

 on the leaves of the mulberry-tree ; it is called 

 the silk-worm ; it comes from eggs laid by a moth 

 in the autumn of the preceding year. 



19. In May the eggs are hatched, and produce 

 small black caterpillars, less than the tenth of an 

 inch in length ; these increase daily in size, and 

 gradually alter their colour till they become nearly 

 white. 



20. In this country, the caterpillar takes fifty- 

 six days to arrive at perfection, during which 

 time it invariably sheds its skin as many as four, 

 and occasionally five times ; the cause of this 

 occasional additional change is not known. After 

 every change the caterpillar is lighter in colour, 

 and has a larger head than previous to the change ; 

 it spins during five or six days, making about 

 sixty-two days. 



21. In warmer climates the caterpillar arrives 

 at its full growth in forty-seven days, and has 

 finished spinning in five more, making together 

 fifty-two days ; these may be counted thus : 



