328 THE SEASON WHY. 



1 That which the palmer-worm hath left hath the locust eateu ; and that which 



the locust hath left hath the canker-worm eaten ; arid that which the 



canker-worm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten." JOEL i. 



prospective contrivance of the most curious kind ; we have organi- 

 sations three deep ; yet a vascular system, which supplies nutrition, 

 growth, and life, to all of them together." 



Lord Brougham, in a note upon the above, does not support 

 Pnley's view. He says "It is more than probable that the parts 

 which are to appear in the perfect insect do not exist in the larvae, 

 where there is not much difference between the larva and pupa, 

 excepting at the time just previous to its becoming a pupa, at 

 which time the larva is motionless and torpid. The caterpillar of a 

 moth, when about to turn into a pupa, provides for the protection 

 of the latter state, either by surrounding itself with a web, or by 

 some other means. Soon after this is accomplished, the caterpillar 

 becomes motionless, or nearly so ; it can neither eat nor crawl. At 

 this time, and not before, the parts of the pupa are forming within 

 the skin of the caterpillar, which may be easily seen by dissection." 



It appears to the author, however, that Paley is partially right, 

 and Lord Brougham totally wrong, in these remarks. When Lord 

 Brougham asserts that the parts of the pupa are forming within 

 the skin of the caterpillar at that time when the transformation 

 begins, " and not before, which may be easily seen by dissection," 

 he forgets, that although in some instances it is the first moment 

 when, to the human eye, the organs of the new creature become 

 perceptible, that the " three deep " nature which Paley attributes 

 to the grub, must really have existed in the egg that the butterfly 

 originated in the egg, as certainly as did the caterpillar, or the 

 crysalis, and that unless that egg had possessed its three myste- 

 rious embryos, it would have been impossible for the grub to have 

 progressed to the stages of transformation. No one has ever known 

 the embryo of a bird's egg to pass through three distinct and dis- 

 similar states of existence ; nor has any one ever known the embryo 

 of the butterfly's egg to stop short at either of the stages, if the 

 proper conditions of its existence and development were supplied to 

 it. Why ? Because the embryo of the insect has a threefold 

 nature, while that of the bird is single. 



