144 
SATURNIA CYNTHIA. 
yarn thus manufactured is wove into a coarse kind 
of white cloth, of a seemingly loose texture, hut of 
incredible durability, the life of one person being 
seldom sufficient to wear out a garment made of it ; 
so that the same piece descends from mother to 
daughter. 
Dr. Roxburgh’s correspondents furnished him with 
much additional information regarding this insect as 
a silk -producer. Mr. Atkinson states that he reared 
two parcels of them with a view towards winding 
off the cocoons, but all his endeavours to obtain 
cocoons that would reel off were in vain. He even 
brought a man from the country where this species 
of silk -worm is cultivated, and he laughed at Mr. 
Atkinson’s endeavours to get cocoons to reel ; as- 
serting that it was impossible, and that they were 
always spun off into thread like cotton by the 
women only. 
On the same subject Mr. Creighton writes as 
follows : — “ The Palma Christi silk-worm goes by 
the same name as the plant does among the natives, 
which is Arr indy. They accordingly call it Ar- 
rindy-worm , Arrindy-thread, Arrindy-cloth, &c. 
They rear it in their houses much in the same way 
the silk-worm is reared. Their manner of spinning 
it is as follows : — Four or five of the cocoons are 
fastened to a stick stuck in the ground, or some- 
times they hold it in their'hand. These are united 
into one thread, and made fast to a piece of wood, 
with something heavy to make it spin round while 
suspended by the thread : when they let out suffi- 
