350 



INSECT TRANSFORMATIONS. 



always in the same state as when it issued from the 

 chrysahs.* 



«, Fnncssa urtiece, with one wing imperfect, i, brown-tail 

 moth, Porthesiu nurijlua, with shrivelled wings, c, Vanessa urticccy 

 with uiiexpanded wings. 



It is not a httle remarkable, that when insects are 



evolved from the pupa state, they always discharge 



some substance. It is important to remark, that the 



matter voided at this period by many butterflies ( Va- 



nessce, 8lc,) is of a red colour, resembling blood, while 



that of several moths is orange or wliitish. It could 



not readily be supposed that this should become the 



object of superstitious terror, yet so it has been in 



' more instances than one. MoufFet tells us, from 



Sleidan, that in the year ]o53 a prodigious multitude 



of butterflies swarmed throughout a great portion of 



Germany, and sprinkled plants, leaves, buildings, 



clothes, and men, with bloody drops as if it had rained 



blood. t Several historians, indeed, have recorded 



showers of blood among the prodigies which have 



struck nations with consternation, as the supposed 



omen of the destruction of cities and the oveithrow 



of empires. About the beginning of July, 1608, one 



of these showers of blood was supposed to have fallen 



J. R. 



t JToafTet, Theatr. Ins. 107. 



