3&0 
the cottage gardener. 
February 16. 
industry into Europe. They observed with interest the 
labours of the little insect, and made themselves acquainted 
with the various processes of fabricating its produce, and 
succeeded in obtaining a quantity of Silk-worm eggs, which 
they concealed in a hollow cane, and safely conveyed them 
to Constantinople, in the year 552. The eggs were hatched 
in due season, and the insects thus produced were the pro¬ 
genitors of all the countless generations of Silk-worms in 
Europe, and have become, to many countries, a valuable 
branch of industry. From Constantinople it spread to 
Greece, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, and Holland. 
Even in Sweden and Russia, silk is successfully cultivated; 
and we trust, that the time is not far distant when England, 
so justly renowned for its industry and its inventions, shall 
also count its silk cultivators. Pullen says, in his Essay, 
“ A lady, with a little trouble, may easily provide herself 
with a suit of silk.” 
It has been proved that 4,000 Silk-worms spin more than 
one pound of silk, which will make sixteen yards of Gros 
de Naples, sufficient for a lady’s dress; and the time from 
the hatching of the eggs to the reeling of the silk is no 
more than six weeks. Attempts have often failed, by trying 
to substitute different food for that which is natural to the 
Silk-worm, for the insect will not thrive on any other food 
but the Mulberry-leaf; and Monsieur L. de Long Champs 
asserts, that the Silk-worm fed upon the white Mulberry-leaf 
produces a much finer silk than those fed upon the black; 
the former having the advantage also of coming into leaf at 
least a fortnight earlier than the latter, and of being most 
easily propagated. 
The following is a statement of the result obtained by 
Monsieur Nourrigat, cultivator at Lunel, in the Department 
of the Herault, in France : 
From 24 ozs. of eggs he obtained Silk-worms sufficient to 
produce 32 cwts. of cocoons; the worms requiring 321 
cwts. of leaves, or 100 leaves for every five cocoons. 
The cocoons were sold for.T30G 10 0 
The expenses were... 108 5 0 
The Nett Profit T198 5 0 
Bohbyx. 
DISEASES OF POULTRY. 
VERTIGO AND APOPLEXY IN LAYING HENS. 
The regularity with which certain diseases recur at parti¬ 
cular seasons is not the less remarkable in feathered than 
in unfeathered bipeds. The commencement of the laying 
season has furnished me with an unusual number of cases 
of vertigo and apoplexy. The history of these cases is 
nearly, in all instances, perfectly identical; the birds well 
fed during winter become very fat, and as soon as the egg 
organs become active an undue determination of blood to 
the brain takes place, causing vertigo, when the hen stag¬ 
gers or runs round and round ; in severe cases a small vessel 
gives way, and an effusion of blood takes place, which, press¬ 
ing on the brain, causes apoplexy. (It may, perhaps, in¬ 
terest some of my professional readers to state that I have 
invariably found the effusion to take place at the base of 
the brain, and ehiefiy around the medulla oblongata; in 
fact, so low down does the extravasation extend, that it may 
be noticed in all cases where it exists by merely removing 
the atlas, without opening the skull; to do which, without 
injuring the brain, is attended with very considerable 
trouble.) Cases of vertigo may usually be successfully 
treated by holding the head of the bird under a stream of 
cold water, taking care that it does not run into the mouth, 
or the bird may be drowned; this should be followed by an 
immediate dose of five grains of jalap in powder, which, by 
its irritating and drastic action, will cause a determination 
of blood from the head to thedigestive organs. (I may men¬ 
tion, in passing, that this is one of the very few cases in 
which jalap is a desirable medicine for poultry, its violent 
and weakening effect rendering it much less desirable than 
other aperients, as castor oil, &c.) This treatment, followed 
up by low unstimulating diet for a few days, will generally 
be quite successful. Should, however, the vertigo continue, 
or should apoplexy supervene, immediate recourse must be 
had to copious bleeding ; to perform this operation, nothing j 
more is requisite than to stretch out the wing, on the under i 
side of which may be observed several veins; the largest 
should then be freely opened with a sharp-pointed penknife, 
or lancet, when, if the finger is pressed on the vein above 
the opening (that is nearer the body), the blood, being 
arrested in its course towards the heart, will flow freely, 
and continue to run as long as the finger is kept in that 
position, ceasing on its removal. The quantity taken away 
must, in all cases, depend on the urgency of the symptoms; 
in apoplexy, the only chance of saving the bird is to con¬ 
tinue until consciousness returns ; and in vertigo, until the 
bird on being placed on the ground ceases to run round 
and round. 
By adopting these means I have saved every bird affected 
with vertigo that has come under my notice; whereas, if 
left alone the disease generally terminates in apoplexy; 
and in the latter disease I have saved two valuable birds 
which I had the opportunity of seeing immediately after the 
attack. 
I may mention, that these diseases occur also in male 
birds, although, as far as my experience extends, less fre¬ 
quently than in laying hens.—W. B. Tegetmeier, Willesden, 
near London. 
ROYAL SOCIETY OF VAN DIEMEN’S LAND. 
The monthly meeting was held on 10th September; Sir 
W. T. Denison, President, in the chair. 
Among the presentations were, from Mr. H. Hull, seeds 
of Martynia fragrans, from the Mauritius, for the society’s 
gardens. 
From the Rev. Edward Freeman, of Brown’s River, a 
specimen of drift wood cast up on the sea-beach there, upon 
which were iixed a congeries of curious ova-cells of a shell¬ 
fish. 
From Sir W. T. Denison, a packet containing nineteen 
species of seeds from China, for the gardens. 
From Francis Smith, Jun., Esq., a packet containing 120 
species of Indian seeds, for the gardens. 
A case containing thirty-nine plants has been forwarded to 
Aucland, and a case of New Zealand plants is expected in 
return. 
A member suggested the great difficulty generally ex¬ 
perienced in cultivating the conifers of Tasmania. Mr. 
Archer informed the meeting that his attempts with them 
had usually been successful, and that he had now, in a 
thriving condition in his garden at Cheshunt, (immediately 
at the foot of the Western Mountains), six pieces. 
Mr. W. Archer submitted for examination, and explained 
at some length, a series of drawings made by him of certain 
galls or tuberosities, with turret-like processes, upon twigs 
of the Casuarina quadrivalvis, laid before the society a few 
months since by Dr. Officer, and of the animal contained, 
and promised to supply a description in writing for the next 
monthly meeting. 
Mr. Archer drew attention to a small brown speck 
observable on the surface of oranges brought here from 
Sydney this season, and to the fact, that under each of these 
brown fungus-like scales he had found a minute living insect, 
little more than one-hundredth-of-an-ineh in diameter. 
Mr. Archer also laid on the table a curiously convoluted 
and fantastic growth of a shoot of Casuarina for inspection. 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
*** We request that no one will write to the departmental writersof 
The Cottage Gardknek. It gives them unjustifiable trouble and 
expense. All communications should be addressed “ To the Editor of 
The Cottage Gardener, 2, Amen Corner, Paternoster Row, London .” 
Cucumber and Melon House.—T. T. Bays,—“In No. 259 of 
The Cottage Gardener, I saw a plan of a ‘ Cucumber and Melon ' 
House’ which was much recommended. We arc about erecting a 
small house to grow early Cucumbers and late Melons, and to put 
a few stove plants in to flower which will not bloom in our green¬ 
house. We have five lights, 8 feet in length, and 3 ft. 6 in. wide. 
