ar liquid. Some of it kept in a bottle, well corked
up, was once preserved for several months. The cork, on being extracted,
came out with a loud report, followed by a bluish smoke; the milk was a
little acid, but not disagreeable to taste.

A grove of cow-trees is a grand sight, for the species grows to a great
height, and the trunk may be fifty or more feet without a branch; near
the top the branches cluster together, displaying tough and ribbed
leaves. Many of these leaves are ten or twelve inches long. The tree
bears fruits of moderate size, each containing one or two nuts, which
are said to have the flavour of strawberries and cream. From the bark of
the tree, soaked in water, a bread has been made, which proved nearly as
nourishing as wheaten bread.

INSECT WAYS AND MEANS.

X.--HOW INSECTS MAKE SILK.

Of all the marvellous things of which the lower creatures are capable,
certainly one of the most wonderful is their power of spinning threads
of the most beautiful fineness, some of which we know as 'silk,' while
for others we have no special name.

Though insects are--at least, from our point of view--the most important
of the world's spinners, yet they are not the only creatures who possess
this secret, for the spiders and mussels and the pearl oyster have also
shown themselves very wonderful spinners.

The purposes for which the fine thread is spun are very different.
Caterpillars use it chiefly as a means of providing a warm covering
while in the chrysalis stage: so also do some beetles. The spider uses
its silk to build cunning traps for unwary flies. The mussel lying below
the surface of the sea employs its power as a spinner to construct a
cable, which, being fastened to the rocks on the sea-bed, prevents the
otherwise helpless mussel from being washed away.

In the silkworm (fig. 1) the silk is produced by certain peculiar
structures, tube-like in shape, known as the silk-glands. The silk is
created in a liquid form in the inside of the silk-gland, and, becoming
mixed with a kind of gum, is forced through a sort of mechanical press,
from which it comes through the mouth in the form of the delicate
threads which we know as 'silk.'

This silk is used by caterpillars for various purposes, and varies much
in quality: that spun by silkworm caterpillars is much prized by man.
The caterpillar uses it to form a case for the protection of its body
when turning into a chrysalis, from which it will emer