Dr. Fr. Meinert on the Ugimyia- Larva / 105 



stigma, from which lie concluded that the maggot entered 

 the stigma from the outside from eggs deposited by the 

 fly on the mulberry-leaves. C. Sasaki does not tell us 

 whether his father published these investigations ; but very 

 similar views and opinions are set forth by the anonymous 

 author of the ' Review of the Japan Silk Trade for the 

 Season 1873-74.' By the great courtesy of the Danish 

 Consul-General at Nagasaki, Mr. de Bavier, I am able to 

 quote at some length this Review, which is very rarely met 

 with in Europe. The author writes (p. 6) as follows: — 



" In the Third Report of Japanese Sericulture, dated 

 Yedo, August 10th, 1870, Mr. F. O. Adams, First Secretary 

 of the British Legation, summing up his previous researches 

 on the subject, states that the larva of the Uji, after having 

 fed upon the chrysalis and killed it, pierces the cocoon ; that 

 the cocoon thus pierced can neither be reeled, nor, of course, 

 be used for reproduction ; and that the proportion of cocoons 

 containing Uji varies from 10 to 80 percent. Jn the absence 

 of all reliable information on the part of the natives, who seem 

 to have paid no attention to the matter, he was led to surmise 

 that the larva of the Uji must in spring transform itself into 

 a fly, and that the fly deposited its eggs under the epidermis 

 of the silkworm. . . . 



" In order to put Mr. Adams's theory to the test of experi- 

 ment we reared some silkworms in a room where every pre- 

 caution was taken to exclude flies and other insects. The 

 result was as follows : — 



" 312, say 50 per cent., cocoons pierced by moths. 

 "235, say 38 per cent., pierced by Uji. 

 "40, say 7 per cent., unpierced either by moths or Uji. 

 " 33, say 5 per cent., double cocoons. 



" . . . . This was in 1873 In October some Uji 



on being cut open were found to contain the well-formed 

 embryo of a fly. On the 3rd May we had the satisfaction of 

 finding a number of flies which had emerged from the Uji 

 prisoners under a veil of gauze arranged for that purpose ; the 

 empty shells of the larva? were found in earth, where they 

 had remained imbedded since their birth. 



" The proportion of Uji, which, in spite of our precautions 

 to protect the silkworms, we had found in our cocoons, was so 

 startling, that we contrived this year to protect them still 

 more efficiently than we had done the year before. The eggs 

 therefore were hatched and the worms fed under a wooden 

 framework provided with sliding doors and entirely covered 

 with gauze. The windows of the room itself were closed with 



