DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. 



insects. They contain the envelope of the cater- 

 pillar carefully preserved, or its representation 

 in wax, the chrysalis, the nymph drawn out of 

 its envelope, and lastly, the cocoons in which 

 the caterpillars enclose themselves, and the silky 

 nests which they prepare for the residence of 

 their community. In one of the frames is a nest 

 formed of a multitude of cocoons symmetrically 

 placed near each other like the cells of a honey- 

 comb ; it is the work of a species, whose silk 

 is used in Madagascar. 



The ten first frames enclose the genus bom- 

 byx(i), to which belong the bonibyx mori, or 

 silk-worm moth (n° 123). Amongst the nume- 

 rous species of this genus we shall notice the 

 phalcena pavonia major y Lin. (n os 3o and 3i), the 

 largest of our indigenous lepidopterous insects, 

 exhibited here in all its states, together with 

 its work; the p. atlas (n 09 i and i3), a native of 

 China, still larger than the preceding ; several 

 species known by the name oiluna (n°4), cecro- 

 pia (n° 21), promethei (n° 23), and tau (n os 37 to 



(1) The silk-worm lives in a wild state in several provinces of China; 

 its eggs were transported from that country to Constantinople by some 

 Greek missionaries under the reign of Justinian ; from thence they 

 were conveyed to Italy, and the silk-worm was first known in France 

 in the middle of the fifteenth century; but it was not cultivated 

 till the time of Henry IV, when Sully caused plantations of mulberry- 

 trees to be made for its support. 



