1236 The Zoologist— June, 1806. 



should not fall directly upon the cocoons, as the heat would cause a 

 rapid evaporation, which would certainly kill the chrysalis. Towards 

 the evening of the day on which the moths leave their cocoon, an 

 equal number of both sexes should be placed in the same cage, and 

 after pairing the females should be kept until they die, which will 

 occur in four or five days after their uuion. The eggs, which are 

 stuck to the cage with gum, should be scraped off with a wooden or 

 whalebone knife, and then spread in a large pasteboard-box to dry 

 thoroughly. A ticket, with the date stating when the eggs have been 

 laid, should be put upon the box, so as to indicate the day the worm 

 will probably hatch. The length of the period of incubation depends 

 entirely on the temperature, but in June the incubation generally lasts 

 twelve or thirteen days, while in August the period is two days shorter. 

 Eight or ten days after the eggs have been laid they should be placed 

 in the hatching-box, which should be made of tiu, and about three 

 inches long, two inches broad, and one and a half inch deep. In the 

 middle a narrow longitudinal band of tin should be soldered, and bent 

 so as to form a hook by which the box may be hung to some twig or 

 branch. The box should be painted, and before it is dry sand should 

 be sprinkled over it so as to make a rough surface upon which the 

 worm can crawl with ease. The larvae hatch out from five to teu 

 o'clock in the morning, and the attendant should be ready at that time 

 to place the box upon a branch which has its extremity in the water. 

 A thousand of the little worms can feed upon a branch of moderate 

 size for four or five clays, and when it is well covered with them the 

 box may be removed to another branch. The larvae feed equally well 

 upon the different species of oaks, maples, willows, poplars, elms, 

 hazels, birches, blueberry and other plants, without affecting the 

 quality of the silk. 



Bearing of the Larva in the Open Air. — There are different ways 

 of raising the wild silk-worms. I have for two years cultivated them in 

 the open air. I had about five acres of woodland enclosed by a fence 

 eight feet high : a net was stretched over the bushes, which were of six 

 or eight years' growth : this net, supported upon posts, was intended 

 to protect the worms from the depredations of the birds. The eggs 

 were put upou the bushes in the little hatching-box, so that after this 

 there seemed but very little to do ; but it was not so : over so large a 

 space it was impossible to keep the net in good order, and the birds 

 managed to get under it; the small ones could go through the meshes, 

 and the larger ones through some holes in the old net, so I was 



