314 INSECT TRANSFORMATIONS. 



genious experiments in proof of this upon several 

 plants, such as the small duck's meat (Lemna minor) j 

 and the vivi})arous fescue grass {Festuca vivipara), 

 which led to the conclusion that they could accommo- 

 date themselves without perishing to the vicissitudes of 

 variable situations.* 



We observed a no less marked instance than those 

 recorded by Mr Gough, in a plant of the geranium, 

 named Prince Leopold {Pelargonium macrant/wn, 

 Sweet), the whole of whose leaves were so hard fro- 

 zen as to break rather than bend. We immersed the 

 whole of the plant in cold water, a few degrees above 

 freezing, till it was thawed, and it recovered so com- 

 pletely, that not a single frosted spot appeared on any 

 ofthe leaves.! 



Several extraordinary facts relating to insects prove 

 that temperature alone will not account for the varia- 

 tions ofthe periods of their disclosure. It is stated by 

 Marsham, that Mr Jones of Chelsea, in one of his ex- 

 cursions, caught a female ofthe spotted muslin moth 

 {Diaphora mendica^ Stephens), which laid a number 

 of eggs, and he fed thirty-six ofthe caterpillars hatch- 

 ed from these, till they spun their cocoons and be- 

 came pupae. At the usual season only a third of these 

 produced moths, and he concluded the rest were dead: 

 but, to his utter astonishment, twelve more made their 

 appearance the second season; and the remaining 

 twelve were evolved the third season, as perfect and 

 healthy as those which had been first produce^.. J 



The same extraordinary fact has been observed in 

 the pupae of the small egger-moth [Eriogaster lanes- 

 tris), the greater number of those which spin up 

 in summer appearing in the succeeding February; 



* Manchester Trans. t J. R. 



:j: Linn. Trans, vol. x, p. 402. 



