164 
THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER. 
(Stett. Cat.) at the roots of an old willow 
stump on the side of the towing-path 
between Putney and Hammersmith. It 
is a rare species near London, being 
commonly found in mountainous dis- 
tricts: it is about 3£ lines long, and of a 
brassy colour. It would be interesting 
to note what common mountain species 
are found sparingly in open plains. 
Ant/iicus tibialis occurs at the side of the 
ditch running parallel to the Thames 
below Gravesend ; I took it there hyber- 
nating at the roots of Malvse on the 2nd 
instant. — C. Gloyne, jun., 5, Terrace , 
Kensington ; Feb. 11 . 
BOMBYX CYNTHIA. 
The following communication has been 
received by the Society of Arts from the 
Colonial Office: — 
“ Downing Street, January 29, 1868. 
“ Sir, — I am directed by Mr. Secretary 
Labouchere to request that you will lay 
before the Council of the Society of Arts 
a copy of a despatch from the Governor 
of Malta on the subject of the Bombyx 
Cynthia silkworm. 
I am, Sir, 
Your obedient servant, 
Herman Merivale. 
“ The Secretary to the Society of Arts." 
DESPATCH REFERRED TO. 
“ Palace, Valetta, December 22, 1857. 
Sir, — In 1854 I made several reports 
on the Bombyx Cynthia silkworm, which 
feeds on the castor-oil plant, for the in- 
formation of the Society of Arts. It bad 
been introduced into Malta from India 
in that year, and appeared both hardy 
and wonderfully prolific, yet it failed in 
Malta in 1855. 
“ 2. I had, however, previously dis- 
tributed a great number of eggs, by 
sending them to Italy, France and Al- 
geria ; and I continued to watch the 
accounts of the trials made in those 
countries. I found that it had spread 
there, and had been carried to Spain and 
Portugal, and was creating considerable 
interest wherever it had been tried. 
“3. I was therefore induced to re- 
introduce it into Malta. At the end of 
J uly last I received a few eggs by post 
in a quill from Paris, and these have 
multiplied in an extraordinary manner, 
so that I have not attempted to have 
them counted. The temperature of the 
winter season, now in December, seems, 
however, to be affecting them even in 
Malta, inasmuch as they grow more 
slowly than they do in summer, but 
nevertheless they appear healthy. 
“ 4. A very interesting paper on the 
progress making in different countries in 
rearing the Bombyx Cynthia will be 
found in the last number of the papers 
of the French Societe d’ Acclimation. 
This paper is by the able President of 
that Society, M. Geoffroy Saint Hilaire. 
“5. I had, in 1854, successfully sent 
the insect to the West Indies. The 
French Society have sent it to Brazil, to 
the Southern United States, and into 
Egypt. It is being introduced into 
Germany, and we are now sending more 
eggs and worms from Malta to Sicily. 
“ 6. Experiments are making in France 
on spinning the silk, which is found to 
be very fine, very strong, and to take 
dyes well. In France the cocoons are 
carded and afterwards spun, as in Malta. 
It is said that the chrysalis, on extricating 
itself from the cocoon and becoming a 
moth, does not, as was supposed, cut the 
thread; and the French have partially 
succeeded in unwinding the cocoons. 
“ 7. The great interest I find taken in 
other countries in the attempts making 
to naturalize the Bombyx Cynthia has 
induced me to report to you its re-intro- 
duction into Malta, with the view of 
begging you to make this known to the 
