174 
panied by specimens of silk spun from worms bred at Malta, 
that the worms are breeding faster in Malta than they can 
rear Castor Oil plants to feed them with, and also that they 
were thriving in the open air, and as they consumed the 
leaves of the Castor Oil plant, they travel from plant to 
plant, feeding upon several other plants growing near, but 
apparently doing best on the former. 
If then the insect can be transported from Assam in 
Bengal, and successfully reared in latitudes differing so 
widely as Assam, Turin, Piedmont, France, Italy, the "West 
Indies, Algeria, Malta, Germany, Sweden, and Russia, 
surely there is a presumption in favour of the insect thriving 
also in Britain. 
In order to arrive at the value in a commercial point of 
view, the expenses of an ordinary silk crop must be taken 
as a basis for an estimate. Supposing that the time of one 
man is required on an average to attend to the produce of 
each ounce of eggs, the cocoons from one ounce will, on 
this computation, cost as follows : — 
£. s. d. Value £. s. d. 
One Man, 45 days 12 Thalers, or 1 17 6 \ peroz. . . 8 12 6 
8 cwt. of Mulberry leaves 8 „ or 1 5 0 
Fuel, Rent of Buildings, Wear I Cost 3 5 7£ 
and Tear of Utensils, &c. . . 1 » orO 3 lj [Profit . . 5 6 10* 
21 Thalers, or 3 5 7£/ £8 12 6 
" This estimate," Iierr Kaufmann says, " is rather above the 
mark than below it. By returns from the silk its rearer 
expects not only to cover all his expenses, but, as in all com- 
mercial and agricultural occupations, to receive a surplus, which 
it is expected will be as much. The chief outlay of capital 
being for buildings, plantations, &c, which are made with the 
expectation of their being required only for a few weeks in 
each season; whereas, if more than one crop could be ob- 
tained each season, the outlay under this head would not be 
increased, while the returns would be doubled!" With the 
