Zoological Society. 4277 



piece descends from mother to daughter. It is so productive as to give sometimes 

 twelve broods of spun silk in the course of a year. The worm grows rapidly, and of- 

 fers no difficulty whatever for an extensive speculation.' 



" ' On account of the double profit that would be derived from the same area of land 

 by cultivating it with the castor-oil plant, which produces oil and feeds the worm, an 

 extensive cultivation of this species would be highly recommendable ; and if, also, the 

 cloth is of the coarsest nature, it is, on the other hand, very valuable on account of its 

 durability. May it not be particularly well adapted to mix in certain textures with 

 cotton ?' 



" Dr. Heifer estimates that there are not less than a hundred and fifty species of 

 moths in India [the larvae of] which form cocoons more or less adapted for use in 

 manufactures. He adds, — 'Many have made the objection that the silk of the Indian 

 species is much inferior. This is yet an undecided question. The mulberry silkworm 

 degenerates if not properly attended to. What has been clone to raise the indigenous 

 species from the state of their natural inferiority ? Very much depends upon the cul- 

 tivation of the worms in houses ; secondly, on the method of feeding them, selecting 

 not that vegetable substance which best gratifies their taste, but that which contributes 

 to form a fine cocoon ; and, thirdly, from the first chemical operations employed be- 

 fore the working of the rough material. But even if the raw material would not be 

 capable of a higher degree of cultivation, the demand for it would, notwithstanding, 

 never cease in Europe. All the silk produced in Hindostan has hitherto found a ready 

 and profitable market in Calcutta, and the demand is always greater than the supply."' 

 —J. W. D. 



Zoological Society of London. 



Secretary's Report, February 28, 1854. 



The number of visitors to the Gardens, not being Fellows of the 

 Society, has exceeded all precedent, with the exception of the year 

 of the Great Exhibition. But it is a remarkably interesting fact, that 

 no single day even in that memorable summer approached the spec- 

 tacle which was witnessed on Whit Monday last, when upwards 

 of 22,000 persons paid for admission to the Society's collection. 

 Although this vast multitude necessarily embraced many grades of the 

 population, it is a most gratifying fact, which deserves to be recorded, 

 that not a single instance of misconduct in any shape occurred during 

 the whole day : but, on the contrary, the general character of the 

 assemblage was that of earnest and intelligent enjoyment. 



It must be regarded as a subject of the highest congratulation to 

 the Society, that their establishment has fixed itself in this practically 



