40 On the indigenous Silkworms of India. [Jan. 



and perfection of their productions, only by those of the celestial 

 empire. Now in the hands of an enlightened benevolent government, 

 they will probably surpass it in a short time, when its natural resources, 

 daily more conspicuous, shall be discovered, examined, and brought 

 in to general use. 



As in China, so in India, silk has been produced since time imme- 

 morial : not the silk of the later introduced mulberry caterpillar, but 

 the silk from various indigenous cocoons, which are found only and 

 exclusively here. 



The first notice of these, but only in a cursory way, has been given 

 by the father of Indian botany, Dr. Roxburgh, in the Transactions 

 of the Linnsean Society, vol. vii. 



He there mentioned only two species, the Phalena(Attacus) CSaturnia) 

 paphia and Phalena cynthia. Since that time no further attention has 

 been paid to this subject except that Dr. Buchanan, in his description 

 of the district of Dinajpur, says, that another silkworm is reared on 

 the castor oil plant for the domestic use of the natives. 



From the moment of my arrival in India, I had paid an unremitted 

 zealous attention to the productions of Botany and Zoology, and had 

 been so happy to identify in the course of two months, two other species 

 of the genus Saturnia which yield silk, one from Silhet the other 

 from Bankoora. Just at this time Mr. James Prinsep received from 

 Captain Jenkins in Assam, a memoir by Mr. Hugon on the silk- 

 worms of that newly acquired, remarkable province, establishing six 

 different kinds of silkworm : the cocoons of four of which are now 

 transformed into silk by the inhabitants of Assam, and to my great 

 joy and surprise, I found that three of them are different from the 

 well known Bombyx mori, and from the two other indigenous which 

 are worked in Bengal. 



These recent discoveries merit particular attention. India has thus 

 the internal means of providing the whole of Europe with a material 

 which would rival cotton and woollen cloth, and would be preferred 

 in many cases to both, if brought within the reach of every one by a 

 lower price : and an unlimited resource of riches and revenue might 

 be opened under proper management. 



May it be now permitted to me to go through the numerous differ- 

 ent species of India which actually produce silk of which seven kinds 

 have never been mentioned before. 



1 . Bombyx mori, the mulberry silkworm, which has been probably 

 introduced as the mulberry seems to be an acclimated plant, is too 

 well known to deserve a particular mention. 



2. The wild silkworm of the Central provinces, being described 



