The various diseases which^ during so many years, were so fatal to the mulberry silkworm, suggested the idea of acclimatis-

See the " Annee scientifique," ye annee, p. 432.

ing in Europe other silk-producing Bombyces, if not with the view of superseding, at least as auxiliaries to the mulberry species. The genus Attacus has furnished these auxiliaries. Among the species which have, in this respect, the greatest claims to our attention, we must place in the first rank those which feed upon the leaves of the oak tree. Indeed, the trees which can be made use of for their cultivation are very numerous in Europe, and, moreover, the silk produced by these worms appears to possess superior qualities.

There are three oak-feeding species of the genus Attacus. They are Yama-Mm, Fentyi, and Mylitta.

Fig. 221,— Larva of Attacus (Bombyx) Yama-MaT.

The silk of Yama-Mdi is as bright as that of the mulberry silkworm, but a little less fine and strong, and occupies the first rank after it. If we could succeed in acclimatising this species it v/ould supply any deficiency there might be in our crops of ordinary silk.

The eggs of the Attacus Yama-Ma'i were brought from Japan — where this worm is reared — conjointly with the mulberry silkworm, in 1862. The larvae hatched at Paris, in 1863, were green, of a great size, remained in that state eighty-two days, and were easily reared. Their cocoon resembles that of the mulberry species. It is compo.sed of a beautiful silk of a silvery whiteness in the interior, and of a more or less bright green on the exterior. The moth is very large and beautiful, of a bright yellow colour, approaching orange.

We give a drawing of the Aitacus Yania-Mai\ taken from the plates which accompany M. Guerin-Me'neville's memoir.'^

Fig. 223. — Attacus (Bombyx) Yama-Mai.

Fig. 221 represents the larva, or caterpillar, two-thirds natural size; Fig. 222, the cocoon, drawn on the same scale; and Fig. 223, the moth.

Sur le Ver a Soie du Chene, et son Introduction en Europe. Extrait du Magasin de Zooiogie, 1855, No. VI. [For an account of experiments conducted in England by Dr. Wallace, which.

LEPIDOPTERA.

In 1866 M. Camille Personnat published a very interesting monograpli of Ya7na-Afai, which may be consulted with profit by both cultivators of silk and naturalists."^

Attaais pernyi yields a remarkably beautiful silk, fine, strong, and brilliant, which can be spiun and dyed with great ease. The tissues obtained from it partake of the qualities of ordinary silk, of wool, and of cotton. This species of Attacus, which is reared on the oak in Manchooria, has given rise to great hopes in France. The cocoons and moths of this worm were exhibited for the first time at the Universal Exhibition of 1855. They were reared by M. Jordan, of Lyons, from some cocoons sent from China by missionaries. It will be easily understood, however, that great difficulty attends the acclimatisation of several of these moths in European countries.

Figs. 224 and 225 represent, after drawings in the Memoir of

Fig. 224. — Cocoon of Attacus (Bombyx) pernyi.

M. Guerm-Meneville, already referred to, the cocoon and moth ot the Attacus periiyi. The silk which Attacus Mylitta produces is perhaps superior to that of Pernyi. When the cocoons are properly prepared, the silk can with ease be wound off from one end of them to the other. This worm is found in various parts of Bengal and of Calcutta, and also at Lahore, and its silk is exported in considerable quantities under the name of tusseh. Brownish stuffs are made of it in India of

unfortunately were complete failures as far as rearing the moth went, see an essay by that gentleman in The T7'ansactio7is of the Entomological Society of London, 3.rd series, vol. v., pt. 5; Longmans and Co. The results of an experiment which gave the greatest hopes of success, will be found in **The Entomologist " for October, 1867.— Ed.] * Le Ver a Soie du Chene {Bombyx Yama Mm), son histoire, sa description, ses moeurs. 8vo, avec planches colorees. A Laval, a I'ecole de sericulture.

firm and bright texture, which are used for summer clothing, or for covering furniture.

Fig. 225.— Attacus (Bombyx) pernyi.

Figs. 226 and 227 represent the moth and the cocoon of Attacus

Mylitta after M. Guerin-Me'neville.

Fig. 226.— Attacus (Bombyx) Mylitta.

In 1855 M. de Chavannes reared this species in the open air, near Lausanne, in Switzerland. This treatment succeeded perfectly,

without any degeneration, for many j^ears. It, hovv'ever, died out at last, from the effects, perhaps, of too great a difference in the climate, or from those accidents, still so little understood, to which even the insects of our own country are subject. This was unfortunate, as this species is one of those whose acclimatisation in Europe is the most to be desired, for it would render grccit service to the cultivators of silk. It remains for us to speak of two other species, which are very important, inasmuch as their domestication in Europe is now an accomplished fact. We mean the Attacus or Bombyx of the Ailanthus, and also that of the Castor-oil plant.

Every one has heard of the Ailanthus silkworm {Aitacus \Bombyx\

Fig. 227. — Cocoon ot Attacus (Bombyx) Mylitta.

Cynthia), whose acclimatisation in Europe was materially assiated by

the admirable and persevering efforts of M. Guerin-Me'neville.

The Ailanthus worm is a native of Japan and of the north of China. It was brought over in 1858 by Annibale Fantoni, and sent

to M. Gue'rin-Meneville by MM. Griseri and Colomba, of Turin. When it is nearly full-grown it is emerald green, with the head, the feet, and the last segment of a beautiful golden yellow, and has black spots on each segment. This worm, in its full-grown state, is represented by Fig. 228; in the same figure are also represented the eggs and the cocoon. The moth has the abdomen yellowish underneath, with little white tufts. Its wings are traversed by a white band, which is followed exteriorly by a line of a bright rose; each wing is also marked by a lunula or crescent-shaped spot.

In 1858 M. Guerin-Me'neville presented to the Academic des Sciences of Paris the first moths and the first eggs laid in France of the Attacus Cynthia. This able entomologist demonstrated very soon afterwards — ist, that the caterpillars of this insect can be reared in the open air, and with scarcely any cost for management; 2ndly, that it produces two crops a year in the climate of Paris and the

Fig. 227. — Cocoon ot Attacus (Bombyx) Mylitta.

north of France; 3rdly, that the cultivation of the Ailanthus, or the false Japan varnish tree, on which this insect lives, is easy even in the most sterile soil. M. Guerin-Meneville showed still further that ailaiitine, the

Fig. 228.— Eggs, larvae, and cocoons of Attacus (Bombyx) Cynthia.

textile matter furnished by the cocoon of the Cynthia, is a sort of floss silk holding a middle place between wool and the silk of the mulberry-tree worm, and which, as it can be produced at scarcely any expense, would be very cheap, and would serve for the fabrication of what are called fancy stuffs, for which ordinary floss silk is now used. In 1862 M. Guerin-Meneville sent in a Report to the Minister of

LEPIDOPTRRA. 24/

Agriculture on the progress of the cultivation of the Ailanthus, and of the breeding of the silkworm, which was reared in the open air on this tree. He mentions, in his Report, the rapid development of the cultivation of the tree in France, the great number of eggs of the Ailanthus silkworm sold, the foundation of a model silkworm nursery at Vincennes, and, this one great point gained, that they had found out the way of unwinding the silk from the cocoons of the Cynthia in one unbroken and continuous thread.

Till then European industry had only succeeded in drawing from the cocoons of the Ailanthus silkworm a floss silk, composed of filaments more or less short, obtained by carding, and unable to produce, when twisted, anything better than floss, that is to say, refuse silk. It is to the Countess de Vernede de Corneillan, on the one hand, and to Doctor Forgemot on the other, that the merit is due of having obtained an unbroken thread of silk from the cocoon of Attacus Cyjithia. A monograph on the Ailanthus silkworm appeared in 1866 under the title, " L'Ailante et son Bombyx, par Henri Givelet."* It is a complete account of the results obtained up to that date, both as regards the rearing of the silkworm and also as regards the cultivation on a large scale of the Ailanthus, or false Japan varnish tree.t

The Castor-oil Plant Silkworm (^Attacus \Bombyoc\ ricini) is a species very nearly akin to the Ailanthus vzorm, perhaps only a variety, and comes from India. The silk which it produces is very similar in eveiy respect to that of the Cynthia. The rearing of this worm could never attain to any great importance in France, on account of the necessity there is of renewing the plantations of the castor-oil plant each year. It would, however, afford an additional source of income to the farmers in the south of France, who cultivate the castor-oil plant with a view to selling its seeds, which are much used in pharmacy. Nearly allied to the genus Attacus, which furnishes us with all these prec'ous auxiliaries to the mulberry silkworm, are a great number of other species, both indigenous to Europe and exotic, mostly remarkable for their great size, and a few of which are common in Great Britain.

In 8vo, avec plans et planches colorees. Paris, 1866. t A work by M. Guerin-Meneville on the same subject, entitled, " Education desconsulted.Vers a Soie de FAilante et du Ricin," in i2mo., Paris, i860, may also be

[For a full account of successful experiments carried on in England, see Dr.

Wallace's essay in The Transactions of the Entomological Society of London^ 3rd series, vol. v., pt. 2; Longmans and Co. — Ed.]

Fig. 229 is the largest European moth, but never found farther north than the latitude of Paris. Its wings are brown, waved, and •variegated with grey. Each of them has a large black eye-shaped spot, surrounded by a tawny circle, surmounted by one white semicircle, and by another of a reddish hue, the whole completely enclosed

Fig. 229 — Saturnia pavonia-major.

in a black circle. '' These moths," says Geoffroy, " are very Isrge; they look as if they were covered with fur, and, when they fly, one is inclined to take them for birds."

Saturfiia pavonia-7najor comes from a very large caterpillar, which is of a beautiful green, with tubercles of turquoise blue, each of which is surmounted by seven stiff divergent hairs. This caterpillar lives principally upon the elm, but it feeds also upon the leaves of the pear, plum, and other trees. It spins a brown cocoon, formed of a coarse silk of great strength. It is not until the following spring that it becomes a moth.

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