self of its value, and introduced it widely and successfully in France. The emperor Napoleon has exhibited warm interest in the business. The advantages of the fibre over that of the common worm (Bombyx mori), which feeds upon the mulberry, are that the tree (Ailanthus glandulosa) which sustains the worm is very common and hardy, and grows even upon sterile soil; the moth itself is not tender and subject to diseases like the other, and is not affected by wind and rain; the product is more strong and durable; and the goods manufactured from it will be much cheaper than ordinary silk, though not so brilliant in color. Another species of silk has still more recently been manufactured in France. It was obtained from the Japanese Tusseh moth (Antheroa yama-mai), also through the efforts of M. Guérin Meneville. It is of a brown color, wanting in lustre, but very firm and durable. It is easily wound from the cocoon, and can be worked to great advantage with cotton or wool. Experiments were made in California as to the usefulness of the Saturnia ceanotha, a silkworm feeding upon a shrub (Ceanothus) common upon the hills. Other species adapted to our use will, it is supposed, be brought to light in the course of our increased acquaintance with those empires in which the manufacture of silk was a subject of universal interest for many centuries before our forefathers and the Romans and Greeks ever knew of the existence of this royal material. We will thus discover what will be suitable to the varieties of the climate of our extended country and open up sources of wealth to every portion of it.

The English in India, having succeeded so well in the culture of cotton and tea, have turned their attention to

that of silk. Various species of silk-producing moths have been long known in that country. The following interesting description is given of those in India, China and America, together with some hints that may be useful to us, by the entomologists Kirby and Spence:1 "The most important species known are the Tusseh and Arindy silkworms. These insects are both natives of Bengal. The first (Saturnia paphia, Linn.) feeds upon the leaves of the jujube tree, or byer of the Hindùs, and upon the Terminalia alata glabra (Roxburgh), the asseen of the Hindùs, and is found in such abundance as from time immemorial to have afforded a constant supply of very durable, coarse, dark-colored silk, which is woven into a cloth called tusseh-doothies, much worn by the Brahmins and other sects, and which would be highly useful to the inhabitants of many parts of America and the south of Europe, where a light and cool, and at the same time a cheap and durable, dress, such as this silk furnishes, is much wanted. The durability of this silk is really astonishing, as after constant use for nine or ten years it does not show the least appearance of decay. These insects are thought by the natives of so much consequence that they guard them by day to preserve them from crows and other birds, and by night from the bats. The Arindy silkworm (Saturnia cynthia, Drury), which feeds solely on the leaves of the palma christi, produces remarkably soft cocoons, the silk of which is so delicate and flossy that it is impracticable to wind it off; it is therefore spun like cotton, and the thread thus manufactured is woven into a coarse kind of white cloth of a loose texture, but

1 Introduction to Entomology (Phila. ed. from 6th London), pp. 224, 225.

of still more incredible durability than the last, the lifetime of one person being seldom sufficient to wear out a garment made of it. It is used not only for clothing, but for packing fine cloths, etc. Some manufacturers in England to whom the silk was shown seemed to think that it could there be made into shawls equal to any received from India. A moth allied to this last species, but distinct, has been described and figured by Col. Sykes, who met with its leather-like cocoons composed of silk so strong that a single filament supported a weight of a hundred and ninety-eight grains. There can be little doubt but that silk might be advantageously produced from it, as the caterpillars which spin it feed indiscriminately on the teak tree, the mulberry, the bor (Zizyphus jujuba) and the osana (Terminalia alata glabra).

"Other species are known in China. 'We have obtained,' says the writer of a letter in Young's Annals of Agriculture, a monthly silkworm from China, which I reared with my own hands, and in twenty-five days have had the cocoons in my basins, and by the twentyninth or thirty-first day a new progeny feeding in my trays. This makes it a mine to whoever would undertake the cultivation of it.'

"There seems no question that silk might be advantageously derived from many native silkworms in America. An account is given in the American Philosophical Transactions (v. 325) of one found there whose cocoon is not only heavier and more productive than that of the common kind, but is so much stronger that twenty threads will carry an ounce more." The authors proceed to notice several moths known in various parts of North and South America and the West Indies whose

silk has been wrought into clothing, handkerchiefs, pasteboard and other articles.

These writers1 make a suggestion in regard to the manufacture of other articles besides the thread and its manufactured products from the silkworm, which will be interesting to some of our own people. They say:

"It is probable, too, that other articles besides silk might be obtained from the larvæ which usually produce it, particularly cements and varnishes of various kinds, some hard, others elastic, from their gum and silk reservoirs; from which it is said the Chinese procure a fine varnish, and fabricate what is called by anglers Indian grass. The diminutive size of the animal will be thought no objection when we recollect that the very small quantity of purple dye afforded by the Purpura of the ancients did not prevent them from collecting it.”

An English company was formed for the development of the supply of silk from India and other colonial possessions, after the attention of the people had been turned to the importance of this business by the Paris Exposition. It was styled the Silk Supply Association. Its objects are thus stated: "1. To stimulate the production of silk, by cottage cultivation and otherwise, in every country where the mulberry tree is capable of giving food to the silkworm. 2. To encourage the introduction and exchange of the eggs of the best kind of silkworms in silk-producing districts. 3. To offer practical suggestions and encouragement to the producers of silk for improving the quality and securing a better classification, and for ensuring greater care in the reeling of the silk. 4. To promote the cultivation of silk in 1 KIRBY and SPENCE, p. 226.