LIFE IN THE INSECT WOULD. 59 



lored, and the insect acquires new life the 

 caterpillar is changed into the butterfly. 



When it is prepared to make its escape from 

 its confinement, it destroys the end of the cocoon 

 with an acid with which it is provided, or bursts 

 it open in its struggles to release itself, and comes 

 forth in all its beauty. 



Renet. I thought butterflies gnawed off the 

 end of the cocoon. 



Jiunt M. No ; they have nothing to gnaw 

 with. Caterpillars have jaws, or mandibles, as 

 they are called, with which they chew their 

 food ; but as butterflies live altogether upon 

 fluids, they have no need of these. In some 

 cases, where the cocoon is made entirely of silk, 

 the butterfly or moth pushes aside the elastic 

 threads on the end, and works its way out. 



I have told you that the down upon the wings 

 and body of the butterfly is composed of beau- 

 tiful feathery scales. The forms of these scales 

 or feathers differ in the different species, and 

 even in different parts of the same insect. They 

 are attached, like the feathers of birds, by very 

 minute quills, and lie folded one over the other, 

 like the scales of a fish. It is the color of these 



