140 JOURNAL B. A. S. CEYLON. [Vol, VII., Pt. II, 



RycklofT Van Goens, who, on handing over the administration 

 to his successor, in 1663, thus apprises him of the imitation 

 of the experiment 'At Jaffna Palace a trial has been under- 

 taken to feed silk-worms, and to ascertain whether silk may be 

 reared at that station. I have planted a quantity of mulberry 

 trees, which grow well there, and they ought to be planted 

 in other directions.' — Valentyn, chap. xiii. The growth of 

 the mulberry tree is noticed the year after in a report to 

 the Governor-General of India, but the subject afterwards 

 ceased to be attended to; but it never attained such a develop- 

 ment as to become an article of commercial importance. 



Ceylon now cultivates no silk-worms whatever, notwithstand- 

 ing this abundance of the favourite food of one species; and the 

 rich silken robes sometimes worn by the Buddhist priesthood, 

 are imported from China and the Continent of India. 



In addition to the Atlas moth and the Mylitta, there are 

 many other Bombycidce in Ceylon ; and though the silk of 

 some of them, were it susceptible of being unwound from the 

 cocoon, would not bear a comparison with that of the Bombyx 

 mori, or even of the Tusseh moth, it might still prove to be 

 valuable when carded and spun. If the European residents 

 in the Colony would rear the larvae of these lepidoptera, and 

 make drawings of their various changes, they would render 

 a possible service to commerce and a certain one to ento- 

 mological knowledge. 



In connection with the subject of Sericulture in Ceylon, I 

 have obtained the permission of the Revd. Father Palla, of 

 Galle, to illustrate my paper by the exhibition of a card of 

 silk-worm eggs as originally received from Japan, through 

 Government, in December last. 



In November, 1879, the Rev. Father Palla applied to His 

 Excellency the Governor, Sir J. R. Longden, to use his influence 



