38 



It was my intention to have offered some general remarks on the pupa; or 

 chrysalides of that favourite family the Papilionidae ; but I find that, in the present 

 number, I must content myself with describing the process of the caterpillar of 

 Papilio machaon, in changing to the pupa state. The caterpillar of this truly 

 elegant and graceful insect (one of the two species of Papilio which we can alone 

 lay claim to as British) having fixed upon a spot where he intends to take up his 

 abode for the period of his imprisonment, turns his head on one side, and attaches 

 a thread, which he carries over to the other, where he also fastens it, and returns 

 again and again, backwards and forwards, until it has acquired a sufficient thick- 

 ness to sustain his weight. The caterpillar now, having laid hold with his anal 

 feet, is supported by these combined threads, which pass under the junction of the 

 thorax and abdomen ; and, by a violent muscular action, the skin of the caterpillar 

 bursts at the head, and it is pushed or thrown off like an elastic garment. Hav- 

 ing seen this remarkable process accomplished, I was curious to know by what 

 means he could fasten the apex of the abdomen to the box ; and, from the obser- 

 vations which I was enabled to make, I feel satisfied that it is by ejecting a gluti- 

 nous fluid through the pores of the tail, which is the analogue of the anal feet, 

 for, the skin being cast off, he placed the apex of his body close to the box, to 

 which it instantly adhered. I then detached it, and again it firmly united ; but 

 a third trial had probably so exhausted its powers, that it afterwards remained 

 suspended by the thoracic chord alone. 



MUSIC OF SNAILS. 



There is a poetical notion that Oysters, amongst other gentle qualities, love 

 minstrelsy, and the fishermen, in some parts, 



" Sing, to charm the spirits of the deep," 

 as they troll their dredging nets ; for 



" The Herring loves the merry moonlight ; 



The Mackarel loves the wind ; 

 But the Oyster loves the dredging song ; — 



For he comes of gentle kind." 



These lines gave rise to a communication from a young lady, which I will 

 send you. Perhaps some of your readers may confirm the supposition of the 

 Snail's musical capabilities. She says : — " One evening I kneeled upon the win- 

 dow seat, when it was nearly dusk, and heard a soft musical sound ; not a hum- 

 ming or murmuring, but a truly musical tone. I saw a Snail, and, having a desire 

 to annihilate those destroyers of fruit and flowers, took it from the window. 

 I had silenced the music ! I recollected what I had heard, and felt a sort of 

 pang." S. KENNAWAY. 



