CHAPTER II. 



ON THE METAMOKPHOSES OF BUTTERFLIES AND 

 MOTHS. 



EVERY butterfly and moth that we see was at one time 

 contained within an egg; from that egg there came 

 forth a worm-like creature termed a caterpillar ; this 

 caterpillar, which was at first very small, fed voraciously 

 and grew rapidly so rapidly that from time to time it 

 cast its skin, the better to accommodate its rapid 

 growth. When this caterpillar had attained its full 

 growth, it again (after making certain preliminary 

 preparations, varying according to the different species) 

 cast its skin and assumed a totally different appearance. 

 Hitherto, however much it might have altered in its 

 external appearance at successive moultings (and in 

 some species these changes are very striking), it had 

 always remained a caterpillar endowed with legs, and 

 therefore capable of walking, endowed with a mouth, 

 and therefore capable of eating ; but when the cater- 

 pillar skin is thrown off for the last time, the creature 

 which remains has neither mouth nor legs, it eats not, 

 walks not, but is a helpless mummy : this we term a 

 chrysalis or pupa. 



