288 THE LIFE OF AN INSECT. 



a chemist of what materials a vessel ought to be 

 to contain so potent an acid ; he will reply, Of 

 glass.* Yet our moth has no glass recipient ; her 

 bottle is a membranous bag ; but of so wonderful 

 a fabric as not to be acted upon by a menstruum, 

 which a gum, apparently of a resinous nature, 

 is unable to resist ! This fact can only be ex- 

 plained by the analogous insensibility of the 

 stomach to the gastric juice, which can dissolve 

 bone ; and it is equally worthy of admiration. In 

 both cases, the vitality of the membranous or fleshy 

 receptacle secures it from the action of the in- 

 cluded fluid ; but how, who shall explain ?" 



The naturalist, Huber, the patient historian 

 of the ants, gives us a very interesting account of 

 the proceedings of these wonderful insects, in 

 actually assisting the young out of their silken 

 cases. These pupae are enclosed in a tissue 

 of silk, of so compact a texture, and formed of 

 so strong a silk, as to render it impossible for 

 the prisoner within to rupture the fibres, and get 

 out of prison. The worker ants, therefore, are 



* Now-a-days the chemist might also answer, Gutta Percha ; 

 for it is a singular fact that strong acids have no action upon 

 that curious substance. 



