The Sun.
London, England, 1851-04-25 00:00:00

' At-the commencement of the fourth age, the worms re-
quire a square space of not lesa than four hundred and
twelve feet, and the imoortance of fresh and pure air
beeames greater from clay to day. In some establish-
ments the previous stages of life have been passed by
the worms in a smaller atelier than the great one to which
they are now removed; but this plan is by no means
needful, and is only resorted to by very scientific
breeders who pay great attention to the atmcnpheric re-
quirements of their charge. El general, the animals spin
their cocoons upon the claies, and in the chamber to
which they were transported from the hatching-
room, while in many instances one single apart-
ment only has been employed for the whole process.
The worms eat on the first day of the fourth ago about
1001bs. of leaves and tender branches. Their removal
to their fresh claies employs several people, as it is :of
importance that the work should bo well and speedily
performed. In this age the leaf is given without being ,
cut, as in the previous stages, and the worms are gene!!
rally thriving, vigorous, and full of life, climbing shee
Lively upon the leaves. The skin of the creatures is
gradually growing white. Oa the aecend clay of the
fourth age lehlbs. of leaves are given in uhequal Wes
tions, the last meal being the largest. The nest day..
225.1b5. of leaves are distributed, arid the, third day;
25elbs.; the three first repasts being aboutlslbs. weight
each, . The worms are now quite
.an inch, andel half
lone. Oa the fifth day ;of the fourth age. the appetite •
falls off, and only 128Ibs. of leaves are distributed, the
fiwrorstmmsebaalvebefianigienthfoet the most
Towards • everting the
most part asleep, and,Bslbs. of
leaves suffice for the few who feel in a lively condition
next morning. The change of skin takes place as usual
in the, night, the insects being now so large that thirty-
five of them• weigh an ounce. Straw fires are lighted so
as to produce great blaze with little heat, • and other
means are taken to stir and purify the air, as the worms
are now undergoing their change to vie 'fig th and last,
caenldl:na c
fsez important
es, tThees; the fifth
ages
already past 'are
iespe gtiztese.
rez fis- the grange
r
freze, and upon the progress thel made by the insects
depends in a great measure the success of the, ',egg-ding.
In the fifth age the worms are grown so large, and
the quantity of food consumed is so great, that unless
proper precautions be taken the air of the tnee'etasoleyeee
becomes offensively putrid. In too- many instances these
precautions are either neglected or inefficiently observed,
and the worms and their keepers both suffer the bad con-
sequences. On the return of vitality a square place, of
near 920 feet of dales is necessary for the accomnehda-
tion of the inner*: I ou-ht to observe that,- 111 ir6ng-
ing them on their new beds, after each change of rkin.
they do not occupy the whole additional space at hlce•
Room is left for spreading them out, as they wax thicker
and longer, the, creatures being generally arrangej at
each end of the claie with a vacant space in the centre.
On the first day of the fifth age the worms take in twig's
and leaves, about 180Ibs. of food. The second day at least
2701b5. are furnished, the last meal being the greatest.
The worms are growing rapidly,
and becoming white.
The third day the mulberry allowance is 4201bs.—the
last meal consisting of about 1201hs. Many of the
insects are now 26 or 27 lines long. The next day
they consume about 5401b5. of leaves, waxing strong
and vigorous, and the length increasing, to 32 or 33
lines. The fifth day sees 8101bs. of leaves devoured,
besides which small extra allowances are frequently
given if the animals seem. unsatisfied._ The next
day the worms attain the. height .of their- degustatory
prowess, eating very nearly I,ooolbs. of leaves, spread
over five or, six meals. Many of them are pow more
than two inches in length. The seventh day 9001ba. of
leaves are given—the quantity at each meal decreasing.
On this day the creatures attain their greatest size and
vigour—sixteen worms weighing an ounce ; their
weight having in seven: days increased fivefold, and
their length become at least double. The eighth day
they require only 6601b5. of food. They are now going
down hill in appetite, weight, and vigour, and are as-
suming a yellowish tinge, which denctes the approach
of perfect maturity. The ninth day 5001bs. of food
suffices. Oa the tench day the insects commonly show
symptoms of desire to weave their cocoons. They
climb upon the leaves without eating, move their heads
as though seeking. eomethiag, and begin. to crawl to-
wards all perpendicular surfaces. The dales upon
which the cocoons are spun have then to be set up. I
have already explained, in general terms, that they con-
sist of furzy branches of small twigs, arranged upright
between the dais, so that, the worms can easily
climb into theme The skill of the attendant is
shown in arranging the claies so as to cause them to
be as slight an obstruction to the ventilation as possible.
The meals aro now greatly reduced. Over feeding has
a tendency to retard the desire to mount the claies.
Twigs and small sticks are now scattered all along the
c tales, so that the worms crawling upon them are easily.
d istinguished, and are moved at once to the bottom of
the brushwood rows. As a general rule, healthy worms
finish their cocoons in three or four days after they have
set fairly to work; but in general the task of gathering
does not commence until the eighth or ninth day after
the insects have begun to climb. In large establish-
ments several hands are usually employed in the task.
Of the whole quantity of cocoons about the sixtieth
part is kept for use sake of the eggs for next year. A
pound of cocoons gives an ounce of eggs—in some cases
even more. These are, of course, kept till the chrysalis
makes his way in his new butterfly dress through the
gnaws' silk. The creatures are for the most part too
weak to fly, and after the female has been impregnated
and has deposited her eggs upon cloth spread out for
the purpose, the brief but usual life 'of the longest -
surviving silkworm' is over. The others have been
stifled in the cocoons, and their silken web spun off from
around them.

The rules of feeding which I have given above are
those observed by the most successful breeders'of Italy
and France. It rill be readily :seen that the exact
weights of food adduced are slightly added to or dimi-
nished according to the varying circumstances of each
particular case. The general result, however, as to the
quantity of food and the quantity of silk, may be thus
stated. About 1001bs. of leaf gives nearly 81E4. of
cocoons; 8113 s. of cocoons give about 18 ounces of pure
cocoons, deducting the worn and all impurities; and
these 18 ounces of pure cocoons give about 8 ounces of
spun silk. The proportion of the weight of the cocoon
to that of the leaf is thus about 1 to 90; the proportion
of the spun silk to the weight of the leaf about 1 to 150.
The price of cocoons range per pound from 2 francs to
2i francs.
In the breeding of silkworms the metayer system is
not uncommon; the farmer finds the work, and the pro-
prietor the leaves—the two dividing the proceeds..
France annually produces about 8,0007000 kilogrammes
of raw silk, and of her 84 departments, as many as 60
grow mulberries, to a greater or less exttnt, for the use
of the silkworms bred within them.

THE GREAT EXHIBITION,
(From tho Expositor.)
The following suggestion from a pamphlet published
this day, entitled " A Moral and Religious Guide to the
Great Exhibition," by the Rev. J. A. Emerton, D.P.,
Principal of Hanwell Collegiate School, appears to us
worthy tho deep consideration of the Royal Executive
Committee of the Great Exhibition. The inscription,
" Glory to God in the Highest," entirely forbids the
chance of any m-n, whatever his peculiar religious opi-
nions may be, taking offence. The motto is the sugges-
tion of one who combines the rare character of a very
worthy and high-minded divine with that of a liberal
May
let a flag of large
it the inscription.
GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST. It would add to the
citizen of the world:—
dim"eAnstiotbnes
obpueuriauivi,n
ft Ist,p
, ofutn a
effect if, at tbe moment it was elevated, all the other
'cg the various kingdoms flags represent' and nations of
the earth were lowered and again raised when affixed '
it, place.. This might be repeated, if thoughtla
advisably,
every morning.
The Mgt religious mind would be thus
in-
asmuch as it would be tamest a literal fulfilmentsatisfied'
prN-liction, ' All kings shall tali down of the
nations shall do Mai service,' wbilsttherehelore Him,
all
he Catholic or Protestant, Greek is no one, be
Mehemet, or disciple of Confucius,or Jew, follower of
who
w his God." would not join
in the adoration