curved claw. Of the segments of the body, the fust four ;ire of nearly equal length, 

 hut are perceptibly shorter than the last five, and these again differ sliu'htly amongst 

 themselves: the abdominal portion of the first eight segments is divided into five parts 

 by means of four furrows, of which parts the middle one is broadest, the two on each 

 side narrower ; or it may be thus stated : — The ventral portion of the body is covered, 

 not as on the back, by one, but by five horny shields. The spiracles are nine in num- 

 ber on each side ; the foremost on the under side of the mesothorax, close to the an- 

 terior margin of this segment ; the remaining eight on the eight first segments of the 

 abdomen, where they are situated on the dorsal shield, directly below the edge, where 

 it bends towards the ventral side." 



Bomhyx Cynthia, 

 Mr. Spence communicated the following extract from the ' Journal of the Society 

 of Arts,' February 24, 1854 : — 



" Col. Sir William Reid, Governor of Malta, has forwarded to the Society of Arts, 

 through the Colonial Office, a communication in which he stales, that after many fail- 

 ures, through the very laudable and persevering efforts of Mr. Piddinglon, of Calcutta, 

 with the aid of the Directors of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Packet Company, 

 he has received some sound eggs of the Indian silkworm {Bomhyx Cynthia), called 

 by the natives of Assam ' Eria,' and which feeds on the leaves of the castor-oil plant. 

 Of the eggs received about five hundred have hatched, and the worms, after undergo- 

 ing two mutations, still appear to be in a very healthy state, feeding only on the cas- 

 tor-oil plant. Mr. Piddington had, for some time previously to Sir William Reid's 

 arrival in Malta, been striving to convey this silkworm to the Agricultural Society of 

 Turin, as they wish to introduce it into Italy ; it will be his first duty, if he succeeds, 

 to send it there." 



Sir William Reid has also inclosed some copies of an account of the Assam silk- 

 worm, which have been published in the ' Journal of the Society of Arts of March 

 3rd. The following are extracts : — 



" It is stated by Dr. Heifer that ' the Eria is reared over a large part of Hindo- 

 stan, but more extensively in the districts of Dinagpur and Rangpur, in houses, in a 

 domesticated state, and feeds chiefly on the leaves of Ricinus communis. The silk of 

 this species has never been wound off, but people are obliged to spin it like cotton. It 

 gives a cloth of seemingly loose coarse texture, but of incredible durability, the life of 

 one person being seldom sufficient to wear out a garment made of it, so that the same 

 piece descends from mother to daughter. It is so productive as to give sometimes 

 twelve broods of spun silk in the course of a year. The worm grows rapidly, and of- 

 fers no difficulty whatever for an extensive speculation.' 



" ' On account of the double profit that would be derived from the same area of land 

 by cultivating it with the castor-oil plant, which produces oil and feeds the worm, an 

 extensive cultivation of this species would be highly recommendable ; and if, also, the 

 cloth is of the coarsest nature, it is, on the other hand, very valuable on account of its 

 durability. May it not be particularly well adapted to mix in certain textures with 

 cotton ?' 



