249 



(Tectona grandis), the Bor (Zizyphusjujuba), the Asana (Terminalia 

 alata glabra}, and the Mulberry Tut (Morus indica). The cocoons 

 are extensively used by matchlock-men, cut into thongs, as ligatures 

 for binding the matchlock barrel to the stock : the thongs are more 

 durable than those of leather." 



From the Journal of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of 

 India, 1848 (vi. p. 167, et seq.), we extract the following notes by 

 Messrs. B. H. Hodgson and R. W. G. Frith. According to Mr. 

 Hodgson, " this is the Munga silkworm moth of the Meches, and is 

 found wild in the Saul forest. It feeds on the Saul tree (Shorea 

 robusta) ; the fibre yielded is very strong, and must surely be that 

 known to classic commerce, and used by the Romans for the manu- 

 facture of the awnings of their immense theatres." Mr. Frith says : — 



" As far as my acquaintance with this insect extends, I believe it to 

 be found throughout the whole of this side of India ; that is to say, 

 from the north-western range of the Himalaya direct south as far as 

 Midnapore, and also through the north-eastern range to Assam and 

 southwards to Chittagong. I have no doubt but that it extends 

 further, but cannot state so from my own experience. Dr. Royle, in 

 his volume on the productive resources of India, states that it was 

 found by Colonel Sykes in the Bombay, and by Dr. Geddes in the 

 Madras Presidency. I have seen it from Mussooree, and have it in 

 my own collection from Kussowlee, Darjeeling, Assam, Cherra 

 Poonjee, Sylhet, Chittagong, from Chota Nagpore, and from several 

 of the districts of Bengal. In Bengal I have taken the larva at all 

 seasons of the year, except during the cold weather, when the trees 

 constituting its food are useless. It is most abundant, I am informed, 

 in the Bhangulpore district, where the cocoons in their proper season 

 are collected by cart-loads for the manufacture of the Bhangulpore 

 or Tusseh silk, as it is called, and now so well known. It is not on 

 account of the great size of the larva that it is obliged to take to the 

 under side of the twigs to enable it to traverse them in search of 

 food (as is [above] stated by Dr. Roxburgh), for it can pass along 

 the twigs in any position when they are strong and thick enough for 

 its powerfully clenching feet to find sufficient to grip hold of. It is 

 clear that when the larva approaches the ends of the thinner branches 

 and twigs (which it frequently does, having taken it on some so 

 slight that it has been in a perfectly pendent position), it would be 

 impossible for it to travel with ease to itself in such a position as to 

 keep itself upwards ; it therefore prefers to take the under side of 

 the twig, and passes along it in a suspended position, with the aid 

 of its powerful feet, — for it takes some little trouble to make them 

 release their hold when once firmly fixed. 



" I have known the perfect insect make its appearance out of the 

 cocoon in the rainy season in about twenty days. A great deal de- 

 pends, however, upon the temperature and the state of the atmo- 

 sphere as to the number of days that are required ere the moth 

 makes its exit from the pupa state. The food of the larva seems to 

 be confined to the leaves of but a few trees : I found it only upon 



