SILK-WORMS. 
163 
being guided by the thermometer and the hygro- 
meter. 
At the conclusion of the fifth age, we shall 
state the total weight of the litter which it will 
have produced. 
Sixth Day of the Fifth Age. 
(Twenty-eighth of the Rearing of the Silk-worm.) 
The silk-worms should have 975 pounds of 
picked leaves, divided into five feeds, the last of 
which should be the most plentiful. The silk- 
worms now eat most voraciously, and some even 
attack the mulberries which are among the leaves. 
If, after having distributed the leaves, the 
quantity appears insufficient upon some wickers, 
and thus it has been devoured in an hour, an in- 
termediate meal should be added when neces- 
sary. 
Knowing the quantity of leaves to be given in 
the day, it is easy to distribute them either into 
four or five meals, as it may appear to suit the 
silk-worms best. If the wickers could not be all 
cleaned on the preceding day, the operation may 
be finished this day. 
The shelly black shining proboscis placed at 
the extremity of the muzzle is become stronger ; 
it is in this proboscis that are placed the small 
saws which tear and separate the hard leaves, and 
even the fibrous parts of the leaf. 
