148 Silkworms in India. [ Vol. I. 



selection of sex is comparatively unimportant, and we consider it wiser to choose 

 the cocoons in relation to their firmness and texture, and trust to chance to bring 

 as many male moths as female. Double cocoons, when two woims have spun 

 together, should never be used in egg-making. 



" The proper cocoons having thus been selected, they should be strung upon 

 stout threads about three feet long. Care should be taken not to prick the chrysalis 

 with the needle while passing it through the end of the cocoon in making the chains. 

 These chains should then be hung in a cool darkened room, while waiting for the 

 moths to emerge. Previous to this emergence there should be prepared for each 

 ounce of eggs to be produced about one hundred small bags of fine muslin cheese- 

 cloth, made in the following manner : cut the cloth in pieces 3 by 6 inches, fold one 

 end over so as to leave a single edge of about three-quarters of an inch broad and sew 

 up the sides so as to make a bag with the upper end open, then turn it inside out, so that 

 the seams will cause the sides to bulge. These bags, or cells, should be strung on a cord 

 stretched across the room. The moths emerge from the cocoons, as a rule, from 5 to 

 8 o'clock in the morning. At the latter hour many of them will be found coupled 

 and clinging to the chains. These should be carefully taken by the wings and placed 

 upon a table by themselves, the single moths being placed upon another table, where 

 they will couple if the sexes are evenly divided. They should then be transferred 

 to the first table, as the fluttering of the male moth is apt to disturb the couples. 

 They should be left together until 4 or 5 o'clock in the afternoon, when they may be 

 separated by drawing them gently apart by the wings. The females should then be 

 placed in the cells or upon the cloths already described, where they will at once com- 

 mence egg laying, completing it in about 36 hours. Most of the males may then be 

 thrown away, though it may be wise to keep a few of the more active ones to com- 

 pensate for any superabundance of females in the issue of the following day. 



"When the eggs have been laid, the microscopical examination of the moths should 

 be made with a view to ascertaining whether or no they are afflicted by pebrine. The 

 entire moth should be ground up with a few drops of distilled water in a small glass 

 mortar (2-ounce is a convenient size). A drop of this water is then taken with a 

 medicine dropper and placed upon a glass slide with a cover slip over it. It is then 

 microscopically examined with a power greater than 300 diameters. When the 

 moths are not examined until some time has elapsed after their death, they will 

 be found to contain other germs peculiar to putrefaction. These do not indicate any 

 disease that would affect the egg or its issue ; nor does the presence imply any lack of 

 vigour in the parents. They are simply post-mortem parasites. Great care should be 

 taken in cleansing the mortar, pestle, and other implements, before making an exami- 

 nation, by washing them in an abundance of water and rinsing them thoroughly with 

 distilled water. In making the above examination only the corpuscles of pebrine need 

 be looked for, as the bacilli and ferments of flaccidity are rarely found in the moth. 



" Choking the chrysalis. — In cocoons which are not intended for breeding, some 

 means must be used to kill the contained chrysalis, before the cocoon is injured for 

 reeling purposes by the egress of the moth. This can be done by stifling them with 

 steam or chokiug them by dry heat. Steaming is the surest, quickest, and best 

 method if the facilities are at hand ; it can be done at any steam mill. The cocoons 

 are laid upon shelves in a tightly sealed box and the steam turned in. Twenty 

 minutes will suffice to do the required work, and the cocoons are then dried in the 

 sun. The dry heat method occupies a much longer time. The cocoons are placed in 

 shallow baskets and slipped on iron drawers into an oven, which is kept heated to a 

 temperature of about 200° Fahrenheit. This should not be increased for fear of 



