MOTH. 
359 
ber of the branches with the young brood upon 
them ; these they convey to their homes, and distri- 
bute the branches on the asseen tree, but put none 
on the byer tree, as the insect is not so partial to 
its leaf, and consequently does not produce so good 
a cone when fed on it. The hill people guard the 
insects constantly while in the worm state, to pre- 
serve them from birds by day and from bats by 
night. 
Before the cocoons are wound off, the natives put 
them into a ley made of plaintain ashes and water 
for about two hours, after which they are taken out 
and put in their wet state into an earthen pot ; 
those which are properly softened are first applied 
to the reel, and they are thus used in succession 
for four or five days, till the whole are wound off'. 
A small common reel of four bars is used for this 
purpose, which is turned by the right hand, whilst 
the thread of four or five cocoons passes over the 
left thigh of the spinner, who at the same time 
gives the thread a twist with his left hand upon his 
thigh. 
An interesting paper on the subject of these silk- 
worms, by Dr. Roxburgh, is published in the 
seventh volume of the Transactions of the Linnean 
Society, from whence we have derived our infor- 
mation, and where the reader will find a more par- 
ticular account than the plan of this work will allow 
us to give. We cannot dismiss these insects, how- 
ever, without noticing the amazing distance which 
they are sometimes known to fly when in the moth 
