DESCRIPTION OF THE SILK-WORM, ETC.
Preliminary observations--The silk-worm--Various changes of the
silk-worm--Its superiority above other worms--Beautiful verses on the
May-fly, illustrative of the shortness of human life--Transformations
of the silk-worm--Its small desire of locomotion--First sickness
of the worm--Manner of casting its Exuviæ--Sometimes cannot be
fully accomplished--Consequent death of the insect--Second, third,
and fourth sickness of the worm--Its disgust for food--Material of
which silk is formed--Mode of its secretion--Manner of unwinding the
filaments--Floss-silk--Cocoon--Its imperviousness to moisture--Effect
of the filaments breaking during the formation of the cocoon--Mr.
Robinet’s curious calculation on the movements made by a silk-worm
in the formation of a cocoon--Cowper’s beautiful lines on the
silk-worm--Periods in which its various progressions are effected
in different climates--Effects of sudden transitions from heat to
cold--The worm’s appetite sharpened by increased temperature--Shortens
its existence--Various experiments in artificial heating--Modes of
artificial heating--Singular estimate of Count Dandolo--Astonishing
increase of the worm--Its brief existence in the moth state--Formation
of silk--The silken filament formed in the worm before its
expulsion--Erroneous opinions entertained by writers on this
subject--The silk-worm’s Will 98