The New Oak-feeding Silkworm of China. 243 



escape from tlie cocoons, have paired, deposited their eggs, 

 which are hatched on sheets of paper upon which the young 

 leaves of the oak are placed. The insects are thus nursed and 

 nourished for a few days, by which time they have grown 

 to about an inch in length. They are then transferred to the 

 trees themselves on the hill slopes, the younger and the most 

 tender-leaved plants being selected. Some days elapse before 

 the caterpillar moults for the first time ; it also changes its colour 

 from black to green, and increases considerably in size. It 

 goes through four of these changes, after each of which its 

 bulk is increased, but it retains its green colour. It now begins 

 spinning its silk, and of course encloses itself in its cocoon, 

 there again to take the chrysalis form. These natural changes 

 are gone through much quicker in the spring than in the 

 autumn season, a difference of five or six weeks existing. In 

 each season, as fast as the caterpillars consume the leaves 

 of one oak bush they are removed by the attendant silk culti- 

 vator to another, the youngest bushes being first used. 



Mr. Meadows, the English Consul at Newchang, says, (C I 

 was in some of the silk valleys from the 29th of August to the 

 12th of September, and had an opportunity of observing the 

 autumnal worms in their last stages. The most advanced 

 began weaving their cocoons around them on the 2nd of Sep- 

 tember, but at this time a large proportion of the worms were 

 still in the stage between the third and fourth sleeps, while 

 others, which had cast their skins for the last time, were feed- 

 ing hard in preparation of the work of cocoon spinning. On 

 the 12th of September fully one half were enclosed in, or busy 

 with, their cocoons, while the most backward had all changed 

 their skins for the fourth time." 



As the description of the insect, as given by Mr. Meadows, 

 may be better understood by many of our readers than a purely 

 technical oue, we will quote it entire : — (C Just before spinning 

 its cocoon, it is a bright green-bodied grub or caterpillar of 

 about 3 h. to 4 inches in length, with a light brown head. On 

 its pale brown face there are six or eight small black specks. 

 Its body has twelve joints. On eight of these, it has on each 

 a pair of claws, five pairs of what I shall call back claws on 

 the hinder part of the body, and three pairs of front claws on 

 the forward part. The hindermost, or tail joint, has a pair of 

 the back claws ; then there are two joints without claws ; then 

 come four joints, each with a pair of the back claws (one on 

 each side) ; then come two joints without claws ; and then the 

 three foremost joints, each with a pair of the front claws. 

 The five pairs of back claws are less developed as claws than 

 the front oues, being, to outward appearance, of the same soft 

 green matter that the body is composed of; and merely tipped 



