The New ale-feeding Silkworm of China. 245 



to its hind part,, and with the fore part in the condition in which 

 it is when the animal is in one of its sleeps on the bush. After 

 a while the fore part began to move, and the animal to spin 

 silk, which it attached at each turn of its head to the surface 

 of a table on which I had placed it. It seemed to be labouring 

 to increase the thickness of its cocoon, being, doubtless, roused 

 to the necessity of so doing by the feel of the open air to which 

 it was again exposed. I judged that if the cocoon had not 

 been opened, the animal would, after a sleep in it, have pro- 

 ceeded to thicken the inner surface by further thread spinning, 

 and have gone on so doing till its bulk was sufficiently decreased 

 for its turning into the chrysalis shape." 



From the foregoing description of the Anther cea Pernyi, it 

 will be seen how close it agrees in habit with the Bombyx 

 Cynthia, or ailanthus feeder. It remains yet to be proved 

 whether the insect can be successfully reared in this country, 

 and whether it will feed on the leaves of any of our British 

 oaks. If so, and it succeeds in our climate as well as the 

 ailanthus worm, it will prove a valuable companion to that 

 useful insect. The silk appears very strong, and when pro- 

 perly cleaned will, no doubt, prove tolerably bright and flossy. 

 As an article of export from China, it will probably prove a 

 valuable addition to our trade with that country, and if accli- 

 matized with us, would of course be valuable to our home 

 productions. 



It appears that these insects are not only useful as silk 

 producers in their native country, but the insides of their huge 

 bodies are drawn out by the Chinese, who make fishing-lines 

 of them, which are of a somewhat similar nature to catgut. 

 We are told by a celebrated traveller in China that these can 

 be sometimes drawn out to a continuous length of fifteen or 

 twenty yards. 



The drawing, by Mr. Fitch, is made from a moth which 

 escaped from a cocoon about the middle of February last. This 

 cocoon was kept, amongst others in the possession of the 

 writer, in an ordinary sitting-room, and up to the present time 

 none of the others have made their appearance. 



The Plate represents — 1. The Cocoon, ; nat. size; 2. Chry- 

 salis, nat. size ; 3. Moth, nat. size. The leaves and acorn are 

 those of Quercus serrata, Thb., which produce the best kind 

 of silk. 



