310 THE LIFE OF AN INSECT. 



with brilliant wings from the dull and grovel- 

 ling form of the pupa, flutters in the blaze of day, 

 roams on untiring wings through the genial air, 

 and enjoys the use of faculties so new and strange 

 to it, when contrasted with those of the pupa 

 state, so was it imagined that the soul's arising 

 from amid the corruption of this vile body would 

 prove a deliverance from the bondage of mortality, 

 and the countless infirmities to which it is heir. 

 And surely there was much poetry in the con- 

 ception ; but we, who must not leave the path of 

 true insect history for any poetical fancies, have 

 now to remind the reader that the simile is in 

 many respects inaccurate, and in so doing we shall 

 merely bring to his recollection what was said as 

 to the contents of the pupa-case at p. 231. From 

 this it appears that the pupa state, far from being 

 a state of death, is one in which new parts are 

 added to the insect ; in which the insect is actually 

 not only alive, but in some instances capable of 

 moving about, as well as before or after; and, lastly, 

 in which the various organs of the perfect insect 

 all exist previous to the disclosure of the latter. 

 Thus, if we were to slit open a pupa-case just 

 before the insect bursts from it, we should find 



