90 HISTORY OF 



be found about three hundred yards long, and 

 so very fine, that eight or ten of them are gene- 

 rally rolled off' into one by the manufacturers. 

 The cone, when completed, is in form like a 

 pigeon's egg, and more pointed at one end than 

 the other : at the smaller end, the head of the au- 

 relia is generally found ; and this is the place that 

 the insect, when converted into a moth, is gene- 

 rally seen to burst through. 



It is generally a fortnight or three weeks before 

 the aurelia is changed into a moth ; but no sooner 

 is the winged insect completely formed, than, 

 having divested itself of its aurelia skin, it pre- 

 pares to burst through its cone, or outward prison : 

 for this purpose it extends its head towards the 

 point of the cone, butts with its eyes, which are 

 rough, against the lining of its cell, wears it away, 

 and at last pushes forward, through a passage 

 which is small at first, but which enlarges as the 

 animal increases its efforts for emancipation, while 

 the tattered remnants of its aurelia skin lie in 

 confusion within the cone, like a bundle of dirty 

 linen. 



The animal, when thus set free from its double 

 confinement, appears exhausted with fatigue, and 

 seems produced for no other purpose but to trans- 

 mit a future brood. It neither flies nor eats ; the 

 male only seeking the female, whose eggs he im- 

 pregnates ; and their union continues for four 

 days without interruption. The male dies im- 

 mediately after separation from his mate ; and she 

 survives him only till she has laid her eggs, which 

 are not hatched into worms till the ensuing spring. 



