CHAPTER VII.

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