220 
THE ART OF REARING 
fourteen or fifteen days in hatching ; in the latter, 
they employ only about eleven or twelve. 
This law is for the most part general, though 
there are some exceptions. As I have said before, 
a sign that the moths are about to come forth is, 
when the cocoons are humid or wet at the end 
where the head of the moth is situated. 
The room in which the moths are produced 
should be dark, or at least there ought to be 
only sufficient light to enable one to distinguish 
objects. 
The moths do not come forth in a great number 
the first nor the second day ; they are hatched 
chiefly on the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh 
days, according to the degree of heat of the place 
in which the cocoons are kept. 
The hours when the moths burst the cocoon 
in greatest number are the three or four hours 
after sunrise ; very few are produced during the 
other hours of the day, if the temperature be 
from 04° to 66° ; though, if it be kept at 73°, more 
are hatched. During the days when the most are 
hatched, the surface of the cocoons is seen nearly 
covered with them. Some persons think that the 
first which come forth are males ; for my own 
part, I have observed both males and females, nor 
do I think there is any thing fixed on that point. 
The male moths, the very moment they burst 
the cocoon, go eagerly in quest of the female. 
