82 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 



example, the caterpillar figured below sheds its skin but 

 once : it produces the privet-moth. 



These various facts, so simple, so obvious, so plain, so 

 completely within the reach of the most cursory observer, 

 proclaim that each variation in the number or manner of 

 ecdysis is but another mode of metamorphosis ; proclaim 

 that metamorphosis, though in insects a complete and oft- 

 repeated ecdysis, is but another instance of that constant 

 loss and reparation of substance which is incident to all 

 organized beings; proclaim the existence of a general 

 uniformity of plan, with which the widest differences, the 

 greatest discrepancies, are not only compatible, but are 

 essential to perfect harmony, are the surest and safest 

 guides to natural arrangement, and serve, like the key- 

 stone of an arch, to unite objects previously devoid of con- 

 tinuity ; proclaim finally the greatness of Him whose will 

 shapes the whole into perfection. 



