304 THE LIFE OF AN INSECT. 



out of the pupa ease, they may be easily made to 

 fasten upon a piece of a branch, by simply pressing 

 the feet against it very lightly. In order to 

 watch the changes of this insect Reaumur once, 

 whilst staying in the country, collected a large 

 number of the pupae, and placed them on a piece 

 of cotton-print tapestry, where they soon felt at 

 home, and fixed themselves in preparation for 

 their change, without moving far from the spot 

 where they had been placed. At few periods of 

 the day could a visit be paid to the room where 

 this tapestry was hung without seeing a spectacle 

 at once diverting and extraordinary. Previous to 

 its changes the pupa becomes more transparent, 

 and the large and beautiful eyes of the insect it 

 encloses grow increasingly brilliant. These signs 

 always indicate that the transformation is nigh at 

 hand. 



It comes to pass in the following manner: Some 

 movements of a struggling kind take place inside 

 the pupa case ; and at length the case splits at the 

 upper part, near the head: through this rent the body 

 of the dragon-fly appears and tears it open, acting like 

 a wedge, until the slit extends along the head across 

 to the two eyes. The latter transverse slit is pro- 



