MARIA SIBILLA MERIAN. 25 



that first inspired her with the 'desire of crossing 

 the Atlantic for the purpose of delineating them as 

 they appeared in their native haunts and localities. 

 The beauty of the insect tribes, especially, so far 

 surpassed what she had been accustomed to con- 

 template, that her partiality for them was fully 

 confirmed, and she determined to enjoy the pleasure 

 of observing them in their living state. What 

 tended not a little to confirm her in this design, 

 was observing how much was wanting to complete 

 the natural history, even of the most common and 

 interesting kinds; almost nothing being known of 

 any of them in the states in which they exist before 

 acquiring their final form. The difficulty of pre- 

 serving caterpillars and other larvae, sufficiently 

 accounts for the small number of these to be found 

 in cabinets, even at the present day ; and the most 

 obvious method of making up for this deficiency is 

 by coloured drawings taken from living examples. 

 The desire of supplying this important desideratum 

 in regard to some of the more remarkable insects of 

 America, as well as of determining the nature of 

 their metamorphosis and kind of food, had more 

 influence in leading Madam Merian to visit that 

 country, than a wish to delineate the perfect insects, 

 many of which were already well known in Europe 

 from preserved specimens. 



She accordingly made arrangements for leaving 

 Europe, but did not finally set sail till the year 

 1699, taking one of her daughters along with her. 

 " It was a kind of phenomenon," says Reaumur, 



