226 



XV. 



JULY 1st. 



Transformations of Insects — local Habits. — Baltimore Fritillary. — Large 

 Sphinx. — Silver-spot Fritillary. — Tawny-edged Skipper. — Moths — 

 rearing winter Pupae. — Mould — Puff-balls. — Curious Beetles. — He- 

 merobius. — Dragon-flies. — Day-flies ; — other Insects. — Giant Wa- 

 terfly. — Buprsetis. — Raspberry. — Wild Strawberry. — Poke. — 

 Sandpiper. — Blue Iris. — Redtop Grass. — White-throated Sparrow. 

 — Large Moth. 



Charles. — Perhaps one of the chief pleasures of natural 

 history, especially entomology, is the perpetual novelty and 

 variety we find in it : we are meeting at every turn with 

 new and interesting facts : the endless diversity of habits, 

 locality, structure, form, colour, to be found in insects, is 

 such a source of pleasure, as effectually prevents us from 

 feeling weariness or melancholy. It seems almost a con- 

 tradiction in terms, for a naturalist to be in low spirits : 

 everything he sees tends to enrapture and delight him. 

 Among these things, one of the most pleasing is the observ- 

 ation of the various transformations to which insects are 

 subject : the same individual, Proteus-like, taking new forms 

 and presenting new objects of examination to our admiring 

 eye. — The caterpillars of the Forked and Orange Comma 

 Butterflies, which I took a few weeks ago, have both become 

 pupse, and the chrysalis of the Banded Purple (Limenitis 

 Arthemis) has produced the butterfly, an insect of remark- 

 able beauty : the contrast of the white, orange, and deep 



