39 



conveyed, and with the assistance of the Directors of the Royal Mail Steam Company, 

 that eggs in a sound state vrill reach the West Indies." 



Tlie Secretary also read the following extract from the 'Turin Gazette,' inclosed in 

 the above-mentioned despatch : — 



" Culture of Silk in Piedmont. — Sig. Vincenzo Griseri, the first person who has 

 undertaken the reaving of the Bonibyx Cynihia worm upon leaves of the castor-oil 

 plant, and the first who introduced it into France, has now terminated his second 

 experiment of rearing the said worms. Sig. Griseri, conceiving the great service that 

 these valuable insects might render in the production of silk, diligently distributed 

 them to the various provinces of the State, as also in Brianza, and has received from 

 all quarters accounts of a successful result. He succeeded last spring in rearing these 

 worms even upon the castor-oil plants while in the ground and in the open air, in the 

 garden of the Chemical Laboratory, under the observation of Chevalier Canlu, Director 

 of that establishment, the Minister, Conte de Cavour, his Excellency the Duke of 

 Guiche, Minister Plenipotentiary of France, Professors Abbenne and BorsarelH, and 

 many other distinguished personages. From this mode of treatment Signer Griseri 

 discovered that these worms do not suffer from a low temperature, nor from strong 

 winds, nor from continued rain ; but, on the contrary, he obtained finer and better- 

 formed cocoons than those produced by the ordinary method, all which circumstances 

 have been submitted to the Royal Academy. After the first experiment he published, 

 through the printers Chirio and Mina, the mode of bringing up these worms. In the 

 second experiment he also fully succeeded, and found that the cocoons were superior 

 to those brought from Calcutta and Malta, on which account he came to the conclu- 

 sion that this new silkworm, a native of Bengal, has found its own climate in our 

 country. An experiment is now being made as to the mode of extracting the silk, 

 which has been confided to the care of able throwsters, and from some samples 

 already produced it results that this silk is finer and more elastic than our common 

 silk; further, two more important facts have just been communicated by Sig. Griseri, 

 namely, that he has succeeded in feeding these worms exclusively upon willow-leaves 

 and lettuce-leaves, and has obtained cocoons similar to those produced from the 

 leaves of the castor-oil plant. During these experiments Sig. Griseri was assisted by 

 the Countess Marianna Antonini, an experienced producer of silk, and Sig. Francesco 

 Comba, a distinguished naturalist, who kindly offered him their aid and advice. 

 Sig. Griseri intends next spring to try the rearing of our native grubs, the Pavonia 

 major and the Pavonia minor, which feed upon various wild plants, and yet produce 

 silk, as he has already confirmed this by experiment. There is reason to believe from 

 these experiments made by so celebrated a silk-grower, well known by the numerous 

 services he has rendered in rearing and improving the race of silkworms, that the 

 culture of silk will receive a development, the limit of which can hardly be foreseen, 

 as the object is nothing less than to convert the vegetable matter of the most common 

 leaves into the valuable substance of silk." 



LarvcE preserved in Canada Balsam. 



Mr. Westwood said he had received examples of insect larvae preserved in Canada 

 balsam, by a gentlemen in Zurich, and he wished to state that they could be furnished 

 at a very reasonable rate. 



