PREFACE. 
V 
itself, and a sufficient supply of food for 
its subsistence. 
There is scarcely an individual into 
whose hands this book may fall, who has 
not, either in his own person or that of his 
connexions, witnessed how successfully 
these insects may be reared on a small 
scale. In the hands of some this culture 
has been carried to a considerable extent. 
Success, therefore, might fairly be looked 
for as undoubted, were it not that every 
attempt hitherto made in this country on 
a scale of magnitude sufficiently large for 
the purposes of commerce has failed, 
though it is an incontrovertible fact, that 
were all the Silk annually grown with suc- 
cess by individuals for amusement col- 
lected, it would form no inconsiderable 
quantity. 
To what fatality can we attribute such 
an apparent paradox, as that a few hun- 
dred worms shall succeed, while a few 
thousand shall as constantly fail, but to 
our total inattention to, and ignorance of, 
their habits, rather than to the inaptitude 
of our climate. 
