72 



stance which covers them, but the hairs 

 of the belly iof the mother stick at the 

 same time so numerous to them, that 

 each egg is kept very warm, and co- 

 vered as with a smooth fur, so that 

 rain or cold cannot easily hurt it. A 

 stout female will lay four hundred or 

 more such eggs, near one another in one 

 place. 



In the beginning of the month of July 

 most of the caterpillars are spun up, and 

 the moths creep out of the chrysalis 

 in the same month. But the young ones 

 fi:om the eggs only come out the next 

 year, at the time when the leaves are 

 pretty much out. 



Though this caterpillar is common in 

 gardens and woods, where it does con- 

 siderable damage, yet I believe its history 

 has hitherto been but imperfectly known. 



