178

LIFE OF COLONEL MACERONI.

long, because, from the state of worm, larva, they pass,within their coccone, into that of chrysalis, or nympha, andfrom the latter, into a moth, or phalena, which makes its wayto light, by eating a hole through the coccone, and thus spoilsthe silk.

Before, therefore, it can he feared that the phalena isformed, the cocconi -are picked off the twigs, and being putinto a hot oven, the animals within are killed.

Of course, it is usual for those who rear silk-worms, toproduce the eggs for the next year’s crop. To this end, a cer-tain number of cocconi, attached to their hushes, are placedupright upon a shelf. A sheet or sheets are hung up againstthe wall, upon which the branches full of cocconi arerested. Upon the moths or phaleni coming forth, theycrawl on to the sheet, where they remain, buzzing over itssurface, as we see flies or moths flutter on the glass ofa window, and soon cover the sheet with thousands oftheir eggs, which adhere firmly to it. Each moth pro-duces about four hundred eggs. The whole are then takenoff the sheet and corked up in a bottle until wanted theensuing spring.

The cocconi are either taken to the next market-town forsale, or to the nearest filatura.

To reduce the cocconi into skeins, is the work of theJilatura. A multitude of small coppers are placed over thefire-place, like the stoves in a French kitchen. In the cop-pers, water, a little soap, and the cocconi are placed. Thewheels on to which the silk is to be thrown and wound, passin front of every spinner. In order to gain a thread, whenthe cocconi have macerated sufficiently in the hot water,the spinner lightly brushes them, as they swim on the waterin the copper, with a little bunch of thin birch twigs.These catch hold the end of the thread of as many cocconias are touched by them. Each single thread is so fine as to