DIRECT BENEFITS DERIVED FROM INSECTS. 281 



given by Dr. Roxburgh in the Linnean Transactions.^ These 

 insects are both natives of Bengal. The first (Saturnia 

 Paphia) feeds upon the leaves of the Jujube tree {JRhamnus 

 Jujuha), or Byer of the Hindoos, and of the Terminalia alata 

 glabra, Roxburgh, the Asseen of the Hindoos, and is found 

 in such abundance as from time immemorial to have afforded 

 a constant supply of a very durable, coarse, dark-coloured 

 silk, which is woven into a cloth called Tussehdoofhies, much 

 worn by the Brahmins and other sects, and would, doubtless, 

 be highly useful to the inhabitants of many parts of America, 

 and of the south of Europe, where a light and cool, and at 

 the same time cheap and durable dress, such as this silk 

 furnishes, is much wanted. The durability of this silk is 

 indeed astonishing. After constant use for nine or ten years 

 it does not show any signs of decay. These insects are 

 thought by the natives of so much consequence, that they 

 guard them by day to preserve them from crows and other 

 birds, and by night from the bats. The Arindy silk-worm, 

 (^Saturnia Cynthia Drury,) which feeds solely on the leaves 

 of the Palma Christi, produces remarkably soft cocoons, the 

 silk of which is so delicate and flossy, that it is impracticable 

 to wind it off : it is, therefore, spun like cotton; and the thread 

 thus manufactured is woven into a coarse kind of white cloth 

 of a loose texture, but of still more incredible durability than 

 the last, the life of one person being seldom sufficient to wear 

 out a garment made of it. It is used not only for clothing, 

 but for packing fine cloths, &c. Some manufacturers in 

 England to whom the silk was shown seemed to think that 

 it could be made here into shawls equal to any received from 

 India. A moth allied to this last species, but distinct, has 

 been described and figured by Colonel Sykes, who met with 

 its leather-like cocoons composed of silk so strong, that a 

 single filament supported a weight of 198 grains, in that part 

 of the Deccan in India lying between the sources and junc- 

 tion of the Bema and Mota Mola rivers. These cocoons are 

 called kolesurra by the Mahrattas, who use them cut into 

 thongs, which are more durable than leather for binding the 



1 vii. 33 — 48. Compare Lord Valentia's Travels, i. 78. 



