No. 3. ] Silkworms in India. 14-9 



burning the silk. This operation lasts from 2 to 24 hours. A certain humming noise 

 continues so loug as there is any life, and its cessation is an indication that the 

 chrysalides are all dead. When the choking is well done there is little loss, only 

 about one per cent, of the cocoons bursting at the ends. After choking in this 

 manner, the cocoons should be strewn upon long wooden shelves in the shade, with 

 plenty of air, and, for the first few days, frequently stirred. After remaining on 

 these shelves for about two months, with occasional stirring, the chrysalides become 

 quite dry, and the cocoons will preserve indefinitely. They are however still liable 

 to the attacks of rats and mice, and the little beetles known as Museum pests, belong- 

 ing to the genera Dermestes and Anthrenus are attracted by the dead chrysalis within, 

 and will penetrate the cocoon, injuring it for reeling purposes." 



The following is an extract from a letter, dated 8th July 1887, by 

 J. A. AndersoD, on Susani's egg-rearing establishment at Mouza, 

 Italy : — 



" Signor Susani is the largest grower of seed in the world. , . . Pasteur, be said, 

 had given up the whole thing years ago. He told them what to do, and they had 

 to find out how to do it on a proper system, and really the whole matter is system, 

 for in a place like Susani's the work is enormous. He employs 300 to 500 micro- 

 scope women during the inspection time, and as these are peasant girls for the most 

 part, you can fancy what that means. 



" The worms (in the beginning of June) were either in the last stage, ox spinning 

 or had just finished. They are in numbers of well ventilated pucca houses standing 

 at good distance from each other, and everything as clean as can be. 



" As the butterflies come out they are taken by pairs and put into little bags of 

 coarse muslin about 3" x 2". Susani uses several millions of these, all exact size and 

 cloth, with a string to pull the mouth together. The muslin is stiff, and a small block 

 is used to give the bags a round shape before putting in the flies. The bags are 

 hung on frames, the eggs laid, and the assorting begins. 



" Each bag is placed in a small box with a pestle and mortar, the bag at one end 

 and pestle and mortar at the other : ten of these boxes fit into a tray. One girl will 

 do 40 or 50 trays (400 to 500 specimens) in a day. As each tray is finished an 

 inspector tests one as a check (1 in 10), and an over-inspector tests one in every ten 

 that the sub-inspector does. 



" If any girl is found to have made a mistake, the whole of her work of that day 

 must be checked. An inspector can do 600 to 700 specimens, as he works much faster 

 than an uneducated peasant. If any pair is found to contain disease, the eggs are at 

 once thrown away by the girl. The mortar remains so that her work can be checked, 

 but the seed is at once thrown away, so that there can be no mistake about it. 



" The damage to microscopes is a very serious item ; he has 650 (400 power), and 

 half of these have to be repaired every season, — the girls smash them so. They cost 

 73 francs each in Milan. 



" The eggs are taken in November and put in a cold room, and the temperature 

 kept till I5th March at from 0° to 5° Centigrade. (He has two refrigerators, in case 

 one breaks down.) They then begin to raise the heat gradually till they put the eggs 

 to hatch. There is a hot air apparatus in all the places as well. 1 " 



1 From the diary of Mukharji, who was deputed to Europe in 1888 to study the silk 

 question, it appears that in order to reduce the percentage of diseased moths, amongst those 

 he rears to produce eggs for sale, Susani does his rearing from fifteen to twenty days before 

 the regular rearing season of the district commences ; thus lessening the liability to iufec- 



