Jan. 14, 1 8 75 J 



NATURE 



207 



through successive moultings ; the feet become atrophied : 

 if the worm dies, the body dries up without putrefaction ; 

 if it lives on to metamorphosis the moth sliows all the 

 characters of hydropsy. 



M. Duseigneur-Kleber has paid much attention to the 

 method of work performed by the worms in the constnic- 

 tion of their cocoons. A healthy worm (in disease they 

 act irregularly) selects a suitable spot for its operations, 

 where there is space for its whole body to move about, 

 supporting itself generally by its two last feet only. 

 Having carefully arranged from twig to twig the outline 

 of its work, its movements quicken, and at the end of 

 three hours the first outer layers of its nest are complete, 

 and the sphere of operations is then limited. At the end 

 of five or si.t hours the exact form of the cocoon is indi- 

 cated, still remaining diaphanous and rarely coloured 

 yellow. So far it is easy to watch the worm at work, and 

 it is seen that it holds itself in a semicircle or curved like 

 an S. After a little more work the cocoon loses its trans- 

 parency, and begins to be coloured. The author, however, 

 by methodically cutting into cocoons continued his obser- 

 vations, and found that the worms never stopped to repair 

 the damages thus caused, but going on uninterruptedly, 

 the layers formed within the cut layer rapidly covered the 

 aperture. Remaining attached by its hind legs, a worm 

 forms its layers in the shape of an 8, changing its position 

 from time to time, generally moving but a short distance, 

 though sometimes turning completely round and continu- 

 ing on the opposite side of the cocoon. He calculates that, 

 varying according to race, there are from thirty to forty 

 different layers in a cocoon, and the time occupied in 

 its construction is from three-and-a-half to four days. 

 Whatever may be the condition of the outer layers, the 

 innermost coat formed is of the finest thread, and the end 

 towards which the head is turned is the tenderest, thus 

 providing a soft and elastic cradle for its metamorphosis. 



The book is especially intended for practical purposes, 

 and contains information as to the outward appearance 

 that may guide a dealer in purchasing cocoons, a special 

 chapter being given to each kind of defect. Not only 

 double cocoons, but cocoons in which three or even four 

 worms have worked together, are mentioned. 



In the enumeration of silk-rearing districts, besides the 

 well-known locahties of France, Italy, the Austrian Em- 

 pire, China, and Japan, the following less known are 

 among those mentioned : — California, ]\lexico, Guatemala, 

 Peru, Brazil, Chili, the Argentine Republic, Algeria, and 

 Armenia. In South Amenca especially increased atten- 

 tion is being paid to silk-production, and it gi\'es promise 

 of becoming a very important industrj'. 



OUR BOOK SHELF 



The Straits of Malacca, Iiido-China, and China ; or, Ten 

 Years' Travels, Adventures, and Residence Abroad. 

 By J. Thomson, F.R.G.S. Illustrated. (London : 

 Sampson Low and Co., 1S75.) 



Mr. Thomson's sojourn in the countries with which 

 his book is concerned seems to have extended from 

 1862 onward, during which time he evidently had 

 plenty of leisure to visit various places on the south-east 

 and east of Asia, extending from Penang to Pekin. We 

 can heartily recommend his modest work to anyone 



wishing to obtain a fair idea of the social life, scenery, 

 and productions of the districts which he visited, and in 

 which he usually sojourned for some time, including the 

 IMalay Peninsula, Siam, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Amoy, 

 Pekin, and other coast-towns of China. He also sailed a 

 considerable distance into the interior of China, up the 

 Yang-tse-Kiang, and made a short walking tour into the 

 interior of Formosa. Mr. Thomson put his eyes, his 

 ears, and his camera (for he is an accomplished photo- 

 grapher) to excellent use, so that we do not know any 

 work of the size that conveys a juster and fuller idea of 

 the manners and custoais of the various peoples whom 

 he visited. J\Ir. Thomson makes no pretension tu have 

 travelled in the interests of science, but only to be a 

 photographer and an observer of the ways of men. Never- 

 theless, throughout the work occasional jottings are in- 

 troduced that may be of interest to the botanist and 

 geologist. Among the very first pages he hazards some 

 conjectures as to the cause of the love of brilliant 

 colours among tropical men, birds, and flowers, which 

 are evidence of some observation and thought. " Per- 

 haps," he says, " our men of science might be able to 

 tell us whether the heat of the oriental sun develops in 

 flowering plants a craving for the absorption of certain 

 colours of the solar spectrum, and for the reflection of 

 others ; whether, indeed, the electric affinities of plants 

 in this way are affected by temperature. Can we, in the 

 same way, account for the brilliant plumage of tropical 

 birds, in which homogeneous red, yellow, and blue are 

 very conspicuous, and also for the Uking which uncultured 

 Eastern races show for the reds, blues, and yellows." 



Mr. Thomson gives some very interesting information 

 about the Chinese, whom he found wherever he v/ent, 

 mingling as managers or factors in the life of every place, 

 always bent on making money, and generally succeeding. 

 He seems to have studied their ways intimately, and 

 gives some very curious facts with regard to the powerful 

 associations, or guilds, into which they band themselves, 

 everywhere. His visit to Siam, and the account^of his 

 intercourse with the King and other aignitaries, will be 

 found entertaining as well as informing. 



One of the most valuable chapters in the book, cer- 

 tainly the most interesting to archaeologists and ethnolo- 

 gists, is Mr. Thomson's account of his visit, in 1866, to 

 tlie magnificent ruins in Cambodia, probably the grand- 

 est, if not the most interesting ruins in the world. The 

 illustrations to this part of the work will give the reader 

 a fair idea of the nature of these ruins, their colossal and 

 beautiful architecture, and their wonderful sculpture, 

 giving evidence of a vigorous and high civilsation, the 

 lapse or obliteration of which is one of the strangest 

 events in the history of the world. We have much to 

 learn yet -about the history of these ruins and of the 

 people of which they are almost the only remains. " A 

 richer field for research," Mr. Thomson rightly says, " has 

 never been laid open to those who take an interest in the 

 great building races of the East, than Aat revealed 

 by the discovery of the magnificent remains which the 

 ancient Cambodians have left behind them." We may 

 expect the French, who are the dominant European race 

 in this quarter, to add considerably to o;;r knowledge 

 of these remains, and to clear up the mystery which hes 

 around them. Indeed, the late unfortunate Lieut. Garnier, 

 in his " Travels in Indo-China," has both with pen and 

 pencil shed much new light on the subject. 



To those who don't know much about Formosa and 

 its strange inhabitants, savage and semi-civilised, Mr. 

 Thomson's account of his tour in the island will be found 

 of considerable interest. Appended is a list of the Di- 

 urnal Lepidoptera of Siam, collected by Mr. Thomson, 

 and named by Mr. H. W. Bates, F.L.S. Altogether the 

 book is a thoroughly creditable and, we believe, credible 

 one, full of the most interesting information, and valu- 

 able for the considerable insight it gives into the life of 



