THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 



133 



The magic of these metamorphoses surpasses anything 

 one could imagine ; they are so many dramatic scenes, in 

 the last of which arises a creature quite unexpected in ap- 

 pearance. 



The butterfly, which at different stages of existence so 

 little resembles its former self, seems to be born and die 

 three times ; but it is only a question of simple develop- 

 ment, accomplished in the midst of an apparent torpor, dur- 

 ing which life only preserves its hidden springs. The 

 caterpillar already contains all the rudiments of the forms 

 which it is to take on in succession. The genius of the 



68. Earwig: Forjicula auricularia. Adult, Nymph, and Larva. 



anatomist discovers in it three creatures, one encased within 

 the other, the last of which, enveloped in a double winding- 

 sheet, finally throws it off to appear in all its beauty. 



Some insects, however, show neither the immobility nor 

 the complete transformation we have been speaking of. 

 The passage from one life to another takes place by means 

 of a successive development. Some even maintain a con- 

 stantly active existence in every stage. We only recognize 

 the larva by the absence of its wings, and the nymph by its 

 having merely rudimentary ones ; this is the case with the 

 wood-bugs and the Forficulas, or earwigs. But generally 



