52 HISTORY OF 



tion to its size, and it seems to make no great 

 consumption : but as it increases in magnitude it 

 improves in its appetites j so that, in its adult 

 caterpillar state, it is the most ravenous of all ani- 

 mals whatsoever. A single caterpillar will eat 

 double its own weight of leaves in a day, and yet 

 seems no way disordered by the meal. rWhat 

 would mankind do if their oxen or their horses 

 were so voracious ? 



These voracious habits, with its slow crawling 

 motion, but still more a stinging like that of 

 nettles, which follows upon handling the greatest 

 number of them, make these insects not the most 

 agreeable objects of human curiosity. However, 

 there are many philosophers who have spent years 

 in their contemplation, and who have not only 

 attended to their habits and labours, but minutely 

 examined their structure and internal conforma- 

 tion. 



The body of the caterpillar, when anatomically 

 considered, is found composed of rings, whose 

 circumference is pretty near circular or oval. 

 They are generally twelve in number, and are all 

 membranaceous, by which caterpillars may be dis- 

 ^nguished from many other insects that nearly 

 resemble them in form. The head of the cater- 

 pillar is connected to the first ring by the neck, 

 that is generally so short and contracted that it 

 is scarcely visible. All the covering of the head 

 in caterpillars seems to consist of a shell ; and 

 they have neither upper nor under jaw, for they 

 are both placed rather vertically, and each jaw 

 armed with a large thick tooth, which is singly 



