ATTACUS ATLAS: A LIFE-HISTORY. 39 
congeners. On two or three occasions I have found the larve of 
Atlas on the sand, apparently uninjured, evidently just fallen, and 
I have replaced them and they have taken hold; but these 
invariably died without removing farther. A fallen caterpillar is 
a lost caterpillar, at least in Attacus Atlas. 
Before matters had quite reached this pass, however, I had 
procured, from Mr. Watkins, nearly sixty more larve, mostly 
new-born, but a few just entered upon their second age. These 
came on leaves of plum, on which Mr. Watkins tells me he had fed 
them exclusively. Yet I thought well to give them a choice of 
food as before. Accordingly, I had prepared for their reception a 
six-inch flower-saucer of wet sand, into which I plunged leafy 
twigs of willow, plum, apple, and Japan quince. The larvee were 
sent through the post in tin canisters, in two lots, arriving on the 
25th and 380th of August. Some of the first lot were dead, but 
these were not counted: the second lot were all active. Among 
the twigs of their nursery I distributed the plum-leaves which 
sustained the larve, carefully handling them by means of plers, 
avoiding contact with my fingers. Fearing that I had kept my 
former in a too confined atmosphere, I decided to give these a 
freer air, trusting to their proved stationary habit to avoid loss by 
wandering. Accordingly, the saucer with its little forest, now 
stocked, I placed in the bottom of a thirteen-inch bell-glass, 
seated in the mouth of a flower-pot ;—covered, indeed, with a 
piece of white blonde at first, but after a few days allowed to 
remain quite open in my study-window, the window open day and 
night at top, facing the 8.E. 
These conditions, with an exception of place to be after- 
mentioned, remained unchanged, during the history. The food, 
also, I by-and-by made wholly sallow; for I found, after a full 
fortnight’s trial (during which I had offered oak, sloe, and pear in 
addition), that they manifested avery decided preference for sallow, 
above all,—plum alone maintaining any rivalry with it. 
The leafed twigs maintained their succulence well in the damp 
sand. At intervals of three days I changed the food, and 
examined the larve, keeping a careful register of the number, as 
distributed in their several ages. My procedure was this: I 
spread a large sheet of paper on a table, to which I lifted the 
saucer from the bell, which latter I cleaned out. Then I 
removed one by one, with pliers very carefully, the old twigs, 
