DEFORMED WINGS. 323 



insect only rests for this brief period on the surface 

 of the water, previous to taking flight from its 

 apparently somewhat dangerous position. 



Some observations of Mr. Rennie show, in a sin- 

 gular manner, the fact before mentioned, that if 

 the wings, while yet wet and soft, are in any way 

 pressed upon, or otherwise injured, they will never 

 assume their proper appearance. " The thread by 

 which a chrysalis is suspended may sometimes 

 snap asunder ; when this happens, and the chry- 

 salis is allowed to remain, it will not usually pro- 

 duce an insect complete in all its parts ; for the 

 side upon which it lies being pressed against an 

 unyielding substance by its own weight, instead of 

 hanging lightly suspended by a silken cord, is pre- 

 vented from becoming duly expanded, and when 

 the insect is excluded, it is found to be deformed. 

 A colony of the brown-tail moth, which we reared 

 during the summer of 1829, spun in the corner of 

 a nurse-box, a common web of several chambers 

 for containing the pupae. One of these chambers 

 being accidentally torn, a pupa fell upon the earth 

 in the bottom of the box, and in due time, a female 

 moth was produced from it; but she never succeeded 

 in expanding her wings, which remained till her 



