METAMORPHOSES. 63 



not always have grovelled in that humble state. If your 

 unlucky intrusion upon its vaulted dwelling had not left 

 it to perish in the wide world, it would have continued to 

 reside there until its full growth had been attained. Then 

 it would have gnawed itself an opening, and having en- 

 tered the earth, and passed a few months in a state of 

 inaction, would at length have emerged an elegant beetle 

 furnished with a slender and very long ebony beak : two 

 wings, and two wing-cases, ornamented with yellow 

 bands; six feet; and in every respect unlike the worm 

 from which it proceeded. 



That bee but it is needless to multiply instances, 



A sufficient number has been adduced to show, that the 

 apparently extravagant supposition with which I set out 

 may be paralleled in the insect world ; and that the me- 

 tamorphoses of its inhabitants are scarcely less astonish- 

 ing than would be the transformation of a serpent into 

 an eagle. 



These changes I do not purpose explaining minutely in 

 this place : they will be adverted to more fully in subse- 

 quent letters. Here I mean merely to give you such a 

 general view of the subject as shall impress you with its 

 claims to attention, and such an explanation of the states 

 through which insects pass, and of the different terms 

 made use of to designate them in each, as shall enable 

 you to comprehend the frequent allusions which must be 

 made to them in our future correspondence. 



The states through which insects pass are four : the 

 egg ; the larva ,- the ptipa ; and the imago. 



The first of these need not be here adverted to. In 

 the second, or immediately after the exclusion from the 

 egg, they are soft, without wings, and in shape usually 



