Nov. 1, 1864.] THE TECHNOLOGIST. 



RESTORATION OP THE SILKWORM. 183 



"Fahrenheit, when, having no more leaves upon the trees, I was com- 

 pelled to place the remaining eggs out in the open air at night in order 

 that the sharp hoarfrosts might effectually put a stop to any further 

 hatching. All these worms were of the dark kind, and no white ones 

 now appeared among them as in the spring ; indeed, from the white 

 stock only three worms were produced, and these came to nothing. 

 This circumstance, so thoroughly unusual with Bombyx mori, I attri- 

 bute entirely to an accession of health and strength in the black worms, 

 which are evidently now in a transition state, which may account in 

 some measure for their hatching out of season, so irregularly and in 

 such a low temperature. This, however, must close, the experiment for 

 1863, and I must hope for some decided results in the spring of 1864 

 from the eggs deposited in October, 1863. 



In the meantime, then, I will return to the consideration of what the 

 worm ought in reality to be. 



That the dark colour is the natural one is shown in some measure by 

 the strong similarity, evinced in the disposition and arrangement of the 

 markings, to the wild races of India ; while the moth also, instead of 

 remaining so purely white in wings and body, assumes a dark ashy or 

 smoky hue on the body of the males, which is likewise diffused over a 

 great portion of the wings, as in Bombyx Huttoni. 



Here, then, I think I have already given in the above account strong 

 proofs that the original colour of the worm was dark, and that the pale 

 sickly hue which it has long since assumed is entirely owing to debili- 

 tated constitution. 



Nor is there here much room for wonder when we reflect how often 

 among our other domestic stock the original colour fades away, to give 

 place to piebald, and finally to white. Need I do more than call atten- 

 tion to our domesticated rabbits, our pigeons, domestic fowls, turkeys, 

 Guinea fowls, ducks, and geese, in proof that the more the white colour 

 prevails the further do the species recede from their natural character- 

 istics, and the weaker becomes the constitution. Even our cage-birds, 

 as ev^ry bird-fancier well knows, exhibit this same tendency to lose their 

 original colours, and become paler and paler, until many eventually turn 

 altogether white. 



On this subject, for the purpose of strengthening my argument, I feel 

 that I cannot do better than quote a passage from General Daumas' very 

 able work on ' The Horses of the Sahara,' that writer's views being so 

 thoroughly in accordance with my own. 



" It is abundantly apparent," says the General, " that legendary 

 traditions and experience are in perfect harmony in according a decided 

 superiority to coats of deep and decided hues. Coats of a light pale 

 colour are held in no esteem whatever. The horse's coat, therefore, 

 must be an index to his character. The long experience of Mahomed 

 the prophet and of Moussa, the conqueror, must have placed them in a 

 position to speak with full knowledge of the subject, and their opinion, 



