LEPIDOPTERA. 



sorts of it in use among the Chinese ; some admired for beauty, and others for durability. 

 It is generally supposed these are not merely the effect of different manufacture, but 

 are the produce of distinct insects.* Sir G. Staunton speaks of the culture of silk worms 



* M. Merian says, in the description of the Surinam variety of Phalsena Atlas : " Telam ducunt fortem, 

 quare bonum fore sericum rata, istius aliquam eollegi copiam et in Belgium transmisi, ubi eadem optima 

 judicata est : ut itaque, si quis Erucas istas congregandi laborem non detrectaverit, et bonee notse bombycem, 

 et maximum hinc lucrum sibi comparare posset." The thread of which this coccon's web is composed is so 

 strong, that it has been imagined it would make good silk. [ have brought some of it into Holland, which has 

 been esteemed such ; so that if any one would take the trouble to collect a number of these caterpillars, thev 

 would be found good silk worms, and produce great profit. Merian.— Abbot informs us, the Moths of the 

 Emperor tribe in general are called silk worms by the people of Georgia; and in the description of Phaleena 

 Cecropia is still more explicit : for he says, " the caterpillar spins on a twig ; the outside web is coarse, the 

 inner covered with silk, like a silk worm's coccon. It is said this silk has been carded, spun, and made 'into 

 stockings, and that it will wash like linen." Abbot's Ins. by Dr. J. E. Smith.— These insects are all of the 

 same natural order, P. Cecropia is rather smaller, but very similar to P. Atlas, and this information at least 

 corroborates the assertion of Merian. 



An opinion that the Chinese rear several kinds of insects for the sake of their silk has long been prevalent 

 Dr. Lettsom proposes a query on this subject, " Which species of moth or butterfly is it the caterpillar of 

 which, in China, affords that strong grey kind of silk, and how is it manufactured or wore ' How are these 

 s.lk worms or caterpillars preserved, fed, and managed' The introduction of such a new silk into England 

 would be a useful acquisition, and redeem entomology from the censure it is now branded with of beinsr a mere 

 cur.os.ty void of any real utility.- If Lesser and Lyonet are to be relied on, the Theoloyie des Insectes 

 answers this query. « At this day there are to be found in China, in the province of Canton, silk worms in a 

 wild state, which, without any care being taken of them, make in the woods a kind of silk which the inhabitant, 

 afterwards gather from the trees. It is grey, without lustre, and is used to make a very thick and st onf H 

 named there K.en Tcheon. It may be washed like linen cloth, and does not stain " A -ntl , 



the East Indies speaks of a large Phakena producing silk in that count, ^ « We havt a^eauS S 

 north-east of Bengal, that feeds on the Ricinus, whence I call it Phalina Ricini Ti , Pa u T 



spines, very large and voracious, and spins a coarse, but strong and useful s^k Th ITw' "* 



with elegant dark plumage. Is it known to European natural! ts V 7na V LwT " !T ""■ 

 Dr. Anderson in Madras, 1788, 1789.-M. Le Bon, Reaumur, Roese. and vet Xf T' " "'' 



weave the silk of spiders as a substitute for that of silk worms, but t^Z^l^ZTT^ 

 out the .ngenuity of the proposers than promise to be useful; for after many trials it Z T '? V ° im 

 spiders would be inferior in lustre and far more expensive than that of l^ZT SrlTunt n f °' 

 these expenments in his description of the Java forests. « In some open spots were found K f '" 



woven wuh threads of so strong a texture, as not easily to be divided without a cu Z "t ' P f"' 

 seemed to render feasible the idea of him who, in the southern provinces of Europe & T "' ' ^ 



from spiders' threads, which is so ridiculous to the eyes of those who have only viewedT'fl " mnufactUre 

 msects spin in England." Many other substances of a soft texture have also been wo ■ I 'T ^ ^ 

 tr.fl.ng articles, as gloves, stockings, &c. of the fibres of Asbestos earth, or mountain flaxl'T r T^ ° f 

 Puma shell, &c &c. nax - bear d ot the larsre 



Naturalist and Traveller's Companion, 1774. 



