282 STATES OF INSECTS. 



the threads not merely pushed to each side, but actually 

 cut asunder. He therefore infers that the eyes, which are 

 the only hard organs of the head, are the instruments by 

 which the threads are divided — their numerous minute 

 facets serving the purpose of a fine file a . It should be 

 observed, however, that Mr. Swayne confirms Malpighi's 

 asserdon, that the silkworm does not cut, but merely 

 pushes aside, the threads of its cocoon ; and he informs 

 us that he has proved the fact, by unwinding a pierced 

 cocoon, the thread of which was entire b . Yet Reau- 

 mur's correctness cannot be suspected : and he affirms, 

 that from observation there can scarcely be a doubt that 

 most of the threads are broken c ; which is further con- 

 firmed in an account of the breeding of silk-worms pub- 

 lished in the American Philosophical Transactions : in 

 which it is expressly stated, that cocoons out of which 

 the fly has escaped, cannot be wound d . Analogy, it 

 must be confessed, is against Reaumur's opinion ; since 

 other kinds of silkworms make their escape by means of 

 ajluid. Thus we are informed by Dr. Roxburgh, that 

 Attacus Paphia, when prepared to assume the imago, 

 discharges from its mouth a large quantity of liquid, with 

 which the upper end of the case is so perfectly softened, 

 as to enable the moth to work its way out in a very short 

 space of time, — an operation which, he says, is always 

 performed in the night e . Perhaps the two opinions mav 

 be reconciled, by supposing the silkworm first to moisten 

 and then break the threads of its cocoon. In those 

 that are of a slighter texture, a mere push against the 



a Reaum. i. 624. *> Trans, of the Society of Arts, vii. 131. 



c Reaum. ubi supr. cl ii. 359. 



e Linn, Trans, vii. 35. 



