PROVISIONS OF CREATURES FOR THEIR YOUNG. 293 



their cases : drawing a web, like that supplied by 

 the spider, from an interior receptacle, they weave 

 it up into a rough mantle, wrapped in which they 

 undergo their change, and finally assume a perfect 

 state. The hairless ones abrade particles of wood 

 and other matters, and, by aid of a peculiar gluten, 

 compose a case impenetrable to moisture, and not 

 injured by the severities of the winter season. 



It is very pleasing to observe the provisions that 

 are made by creatures for the security, and, in many 

 cases, comfort of their young: we see the land-birds 

 collect a variety of materials, and, where requisite, 

 of warm substances, to shelter their broods. Others 

 require no such provision. The water birds pro- 

 vide down from their bodies to line their nests : 

 vegetable matters would soon become damp, but 

 this plumage contracts little moisture, and hence 

 the eggs are kept dry in humid situations. The 

 stop, or nest of a rabbit, is a very conspicuous in- 

 stance of maternal care : the mother, plucking off 

 nearly all .the hair and fur from her stomach, and 

 mingling it with short dry grass, forms a mass of 

 materials for the comfort of her young ones, securing 

 them in it with great art, and visiting them with 

 the utmost vigilance and caution. The insect 

 weaves up the hair of its skin to form a covering, 

 a web of cotton or of silk impervious to the contin- 

 gencies of the weather all tending to the security 

 and well-being of its young ; manifesting the deep 

 and settled affection for its offspring impressed .by 

 the Creator upon the parent, in whatever grade or 



