LEPIDOPTERA. 
fmall fpecimen of the Surinam kind. According to Merian, there are three broods of this infect in a years 
they are very common, and feed on the orange trees. Linneus fays, they adhere fo tenacioufly to the 
leaves, that they can fcarcely be taken off'. 
The common filk worm, or Phalzna Mori, is of this family, and merits obfervation as a native of 
China. The art of weaving its threads into filk is of the earlieft date. The difcovery is attributed to the 
Seres, a people of the Eaft Indies, fuppofed the Chinefe*. In the days of Solomon, we are told, a woman 
named Pamphilia, of the Ifland of Co, was {killed in the art of making cloth, of the filk brought 
from the country of the Seres. The moft ancient of the Chinefe writers afcribe the invention to one of the 
women of the emperor Hoang ti, named Sz ding, and in honour Yuen fert. When Rome degenerated into 
voluptuoufnefs, Perfia, its dependency, furnifhed this article of luxury; but it is fuppofed they were in- 
debted to the Chinefe for it, and being fupplied only in {mall quantities, it was confequently dear. In 
Rome it was fo fcarce, as to be worn only by perfons of the firft diftinGtion. 
The Chinefe hiftorians affirm, that the difcovery was confidered at firft of fuch importance, that all 
the women in the palace of the emperor were engaged in rearing the infect, and weaving its filk. In after 
times, the filk of China was a principal article of commerce, but latterly its value has been materially 
leffened, by the culture and fabrication of filk in other countries. As the Chinefe know little of the ufe 
of linen, the filk is a ftaple article of their own confumption. The jefuit miffionaries mention feveral 
forts of it, in ufe among the Chinefe ; fome admired for beauty, and others for durability. It is gene- 
rally fuppofed thefe are not merely the effect of different manufacture, but are the produce of dif- 
tinct infects". Sir G. Staunton fpeaks of the culture of filk worms in China, but only of the common 
fort. It will gratify curiofity, if not prove advantageous, fhould future obfervers afcertain what kind of 
r Larva verticillata verrucis pilofis nec folliculos grandes, tenaces, vix extricandos. Linn. Syft. Nat. 
* Velleraque ut foliis depectant tenuia Seres. Virg. Georg. II. 122. 
tDu Haxpe, Des Soyeries. Les plus anciens écrivans de cet Empire, en atiribuent la découverte 4 une des femmes de 
l’Empereur Hoang ti, nommeée Si Jing, et furnommée par honneur Yuen fei. 
u M. Merian fays, in the defcription of the Surinam variety of Phalena Atlas: ‘‘ Telam ducunt fortem, quare bonum fore 
fericum rata, iftius aliquam collegi copiam & in Belgium tranfmifi, ubi eadem optima judicata eft: ut itaque, fi quis Erucas 
iftas congregandi laborem non detreétaverit, et bone note bombycem, et maximum hinc lucrum fibi comparare poffet.” 
The thread of which this coccon’s web is compofed, is fo ftrong, that it has been imagined it would make good filk. I have 
brought fome of it into Holland, which has been efteemed fuch. So that if any one would take the trouble to colleét a number 
of thefe caterpillars, they would be found good filk worms, and produce great profit. Meri1an.—Abbot informs us, the Moths 
of the Emperor tribe, in general, are called Silk worms by the people of Georgia, and in the defcription of Phalzena cecropia, is 
ftill more explicit: for he fays, ‘* the caterpillar fpins on atwig. The outfide web is coarfe, the inner covered with filk, like 
a filk worm’s coccon. It is faid this filk has been carded, fpun, and made into ftockings, and that it will wafh like linen.” 
Abbot's Inf. by Dr. F. E. Smith —Thefe infeéts are all of the fame natural order, P. Cecropia is rather fmaller, but very fimilar 
to P. Atlas, and this information at leaft corroborates the affertion of Merian. 
An opinion, that the Chinefe rear feveral kinds of infe&ts for the fake of their filk, has long been prevalent. Dr. Lettfom 
propofes a query on this fubjeét, ‘* Which fpecies of moth or butterfly is it, the caterpillar of which, in China, affords that 
ftrong grey kind of filk, and how is it manufaétured or wore? How are thefe filk worms or caterpillars preferved, fed, and 
managed? The introduétion of fuch a new filk into England would be a ufeful acquifition, and redeem entomology from the 











