THE MULBERRY WORM IN ASSAM. 
643 
niight become obvious with abetter acquaint- 
ance of the country. There is a branch of 
the Oxus running from opposite Bokhara 
towax'ds Herat ; and in the same direction 
there is said to be a practicable road between 
those places of about 600 miles, through a 
fertile and watered country. This uncer- 
tainty obliges us in this enquiry to follow 
the line of march in constant use by caravans, 
and proceeding through Balkh in progress 
towards the Indus. 
The town of Balkh is situated about thirty 
miles from the point where the Oxus is navi- 
gable ; and it will be necessary to examine 
the capabilities of this province, w'here the 
army would be obliged to abandon their 
water carriage, and have recourse to baggage 
animals.” 
(To be continued.) ^ 
Art- V, — On the production of silk at 
Kamptee, By Miss Anna Calder, 
with Mr. Prinsep’s Report on the 
specimens forwarded. 
Raw Silk, from a printed copy forwarded 
to the Agricultural Society of India. 
By George Norton, of Madras. 
^Experimental cultivation in Western In- 
dia. 
Extract of a Letter from Mr. Shake- 
spear, on an improved method in 
winding silk. 
On the Silks of Assam. By Captain 
Jenkins. — Trans. Agricultural and 
Horticultural Society, 1836. 
Remarks on the Silk Woryns and Silks of 
Assam. By Mr. Thomas Hugon, 
Sub. Asst. Nowgong. — Journal of the 
Asiatic Society, for January, 1837. 
(Continued from page 567.) 
We are able to give additional valuable 
information from the following valuable 
papers by Mr. Hugon. 
The following worms producing silk are 
found in Assam. The mulberry worm (large 
and small), the ma, the mooga, or moonga, 
the Jcontkuri, the deo mooga, and the haum- 
pottonee. The five last are indigenous to 
the country, but there is no reason to 
suppose that the first is likewise so. The 
mulberry is scarce, and none is found in the 
wild state. The time of the introduction 
could be, perhaps, ascertained in some of 
the Assamese booronjees or chronicles — 
(which Mr. Hugon was unable to procure 
immediately to ascertain the point) ; some of 
them extending several centuries back — as 
the Assamese got religious instructors from 
Bengal, it is very probable they also got 
from there the mulberry tree and worm. 
The use of the silk being confined to the 
raja and grandees, and the rearing of the 
worm to but one caste, are additional proofs 
that its introduction did not precede that of 
Hinduism. 
“ MU LB ERRY WORM.— The manage- 
ment of these worms in Assam is nearly simi- 
lar to what it is in Bengal. They are reared 
within doors, and require the same care and 
attention as are bestowed on them there ; a 
separate hut is used, which is fitted with 
bamboo stages with a passage between them 
and the outer wall — these huts are built 
north and south with a single door on the 
east side. This is generally the case, but by 
no means a fixed rule amongst the Assam- 
ese. Only one female of the family goes 
into the house, and previous to doing it al- 
ways washes her hands and feet. The large 
and small mulberry worms are reared in 
Assam. The rearing of those which produce 
only one bund a year, are described (the 
larger), they being more in use than the 
others in this district. The moths are made 
to deposit their eggs on pieces of cloth — 
these are packed up with the household 
clothing ; w^hen the time of hatching ap- 
proaches (December), they are taken out 
and exposed to the air. On being hatched 
the worms are fed the first three or 
four days on the tender leaves cut up, in 
new earthen pots ; then on a bamboo tray. 
After the first moulting they are removed to 
the mutchang (mach&n) or stages. When 
they are about beginning to spin, they are 
put on bamboo trays fitted up with pieces of 
matting fixed perpendicularly at intervals of 
two inches ; these in the first afternoon 
are exposed for half an hour to the side 
where the sun is shining, and afterwards 
hung up in the house. After leaving as 
many as are required for breeding, those 
