268 



" Eggs pure white, which hatch in from ten to fifteen days. The 

 larvae arrive at their full size, which is from 2^ to 3 inches, in about 

 one month, during which they cast their skins three or four times. 

 They are very voracious. The cocoon, or covering thereof, is white 

 or yellowish, of a very soft, delicate texture ; in general about 2 inches 

 long and 3 in circumference, pointed at each end ; the perfect insect 

 comes out after a period of from ten to twenty days." 



Mr. Atkinson remarks, that "they are reared in a domestic state, 

 and entirely feed on the Palma Christi plant. The cocoons are re- 

 markably soft and white, or yellowish ; the filament so exceedingly 

 delicate, as to render it impracticable to wind ofF the silk ; it is there- 

 fore spun like cotton. The yarn, thus manufactured, is woven into 

 a coarse kind of white cloth, of a seemingly loose texture, but of 

 incredible durability, the life of one person being seldom sufficient to 

 wear out a garment made of it." — (Dr. Roxburgh, Trans. Linn. Soc, 

 vii. p. 42, 1804.) 



According to Mr. Hugon, the caterpillar of the Eria (see Journ. 

 A. S. Beng. vi. pp. 23, 24), in a domesticated state at Assam, "is, 

 when young, about \ inch in length, and nearly black ; as it in- 

 creases in size it becomes of an orange colour, with six black spots 

 on each of the segments ; the head and legs are black ; after the 

 second moult they change to an orange colour ; that of the body 

 become? lighter, in some approaching to white, in others to green, 

 and the black spots gradually become the colour of the body ; after 

 the fourth and last moult, the colour is a dirty white or a dark 

 green : the white caterpillars invariably spin red silk, the green ones 

 white. On attaining its full size, the worm is about o\ inches long ; 

 its colours are uniform and dull ; the breathing holes denoted by a 

 black mark, — the moles have become the colour of the body, and 

 have increased to long fleshy points, without the sharp prickles the 

 Moonga worm has ; the body has a few short hairs, hardly percep- 

 tible. In four days the cocoon is completed. The hill tribes settled 

 in the plains are very fond of eating the chrysalis. 



" The Arrindy, Arria, or Eria silkworm is reared over a great 

 part of Hindostan, but more especially in the districts of Dinajpur 

 and Ranjpur, in houses, in a domesticated state, and feeds chiefly on 

 the leaves of Ricinus communis. The silk of this species has hitherto 

 never been wound ofi^, but people spun it like cotton. It is so pro- 

 ductive as to give sometimes twelve broods of spun silk in the year. 

 The worm grows rapidly, and offers no difficulty whatever for an 

 extensive speculation." (Dr. Heifer, J. A. S. Beng. 1837, p. 45.) 



In the Journal of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of 

 India (vol, ii. pt. 2. p. 61) is an account of the successful experiment 

 of winding off the silk from the cocoon of the Eria worm. Some 

 further accounts also appear in the Transactions of the Entomolo- 

 gical Society of London for December 1854, and reprinted in the 

 above Agricult. and Horticult. Soc. Journal, vol. ix. pt. 2. p. 29. 



"One of the most active and distinguished of the members of the 

 Society of Acclimation, M. Guerin-Meneville, who has been especially 

 interested in the introduction of new silkworms, has recently succeeded 



