4520 Entomological Society. 



" His Excellency Sir James Hudson, the English Minister in Turin, assures us 

 that when at Rio Janeiro, two years ago, he had heard that a Lombard had come there 

 for the purpose of attempting, on a large scale, the rearing of the Palma-Christi worm, 

 as both this insect and the Palma-Christi thrive well in Brazil. 



" Mr. Piddington writes us from Calcutta, on the 17th of March last:— 'I have 

 read with pleasure the various notices of the Bombyx Cynthia inserted in the ' Official 

 Gazette' of Turin. I know that these silkworms thrive at Malta, although they have 

 been somewhat affected by the cold. I have written to our common friend, the 

 Governor of Malta, to inform him that the temperature of Assam varied from between 

 57° and 40° Fahrenheit, the temperature being 68° F. (20 centigrade, 16° R.), and that 

 the north and north-east winds blowing there are very cold. The seed I have for- 

 warded to him came from Bogorah (?), half-way between Calcutta and Assam, where 

 the cold is very intense. There is a great quantity of ice in winter in the plains at 

 Hoogly, distant about 25 miles north of Calcutta, by reason of the evaporation of water 

 in porous and shallow pans. I have also brought up in the winter many of those silk- 

 worms (une couvee de vers), which I had not hitherto attempted, and I have seen many 

 perish in the early stages of their existence, the formation of the cocoons retarded, and 

 every insect beginning to spin whilst still very small. In this we must admire one of 

 the laws of Providence, to which every animal, and especially such prolific insects, 

 must conform, namely, that there are seasons in which, owing to the atmospheric 

 changes, and for want of sufficient nourishment, the insects die in great quantities. 

 Were it not so, the world would not be large enough to contain them. I also warned 

 Sir Win. Reid that perhaps our rooms are loo light for these insects, the light being 

 injurious to their eggs, as it is to the germination of plants. In its natural state, the 

 Bombyx Cynthia lives under the shade of green foliage, a very scanty light pene- 

 trating into the miserable huts of our ryots (peasants of Bengal). It is also believed 

 that too much light is injurious to the production of silk. I give you a hint of these 

 ideas, without commenting on them, being persuaded that you will exert yourself in 

 every way for the successful rearing of these valuable insects. Lastly, let us bear in 

 mind that these poor little animals are the first of their kind which have crossed the 

 ocean, and been installed in the splendid palaces of the Knights of Malta, and that if 

 you have an idea of presenting them at Court je ne reponds pas des suites.' 



" Our spirited Mr. Piddington finishes by begging us to send his kind compliments 

 to Signor F. Berzonzi, at Boulogne-sur-Mer, to whom we owe the first idea of the 

 attempt to enrich Italy, if possible, with the new silkworm of the Indies. 



" The problem, then, for the naturalist seems solved. This insect can be trans- 

 ported to, and successfully reared in, latitudes differing so widely from those of Turin 

 and Assam in Bengal. The common llicinns (Palma-Christi), especial food of the 

 Cynthia, takes well in Piedmont; and already the production of the seeds more than 

 pays the cost of cultivation. In the Province of Nice, in the Island of Sardinia, and 

 in the more southern countries of Italy, the Ricinus grows luxuriantly. The silk- 

 growers will now try how far it will answer to couple the rearing of the silkworm of 

 India with that of China. The first yields in its native land seven crops of cocoons 

 in the year, and supplies us with a finer and more beautiful silk. Naturalists and 

 silk-growers will soon have the opportunity of trying a mixture of the two breeds ; 

 meanwhile, the experiments now made give every man to expect that the most 

 sanguine hopes of those interested in the cultivation of silk will ultimately be realised. 

 Let us close these few lines addressed to our numerous correspondents with the obser- 

 vation recently made by the celebrated naturalist, Geofiroy dc St. Hilaire, President of 



