SILK WORMS. 73 
Mot/ier, Not all ; some of the finest 
cocoons are preserved to produce young 
worms for the next year. The baking 
requires much exactness, that the co- 
coons may not be scorched^ and yet 
that the fly may be killed. They are 
then thrown into a copper basin, in 
which the water is kept to a particular 
heat ; and the threads of three or more 
of them, according to the size of the silk 
that is wanted, are wound together upon 
small steel reels. In this state it k 
called raw silk, and is sold in hanks to 
the manufacturers. 
Lucy. Are there many other insects 
that are of use to us ? 
Mother. A great many; but not 
among the lepidoptera. 
Lucy, Well, there are none of these 
however that do us any harm. 
Mother, There you are much mis- 
taken ; the caterpillars of several species 
do a vast deal of mischief, by devouring 
the leaves of cabbages, lettuces, and 
numbers of other useful or beautiful 
E 
