TRANSFORMATIONS. 51 



out food and without motion for three years longer, should at the 

 end of that period burst its silken cerements, struggle through 

 its earthly covering, and start into day a winged bird, what, 

 think you, would be the sensation excited by this strange piece 

 of intelligence ?" What indeed ? And yet the supposed case 

 differs but in matters of detail from the actual history of by 

 far the larger proportion of the members of the insect world. 



In some of the tribes the metamorphosis is only partial, and 

 the insects which belong to them exhibit pretty much the same 

 appearance, and lead an almost identical mode of life throughout 

 the entire period of their existence. Amongst other tribes, the 

 Moths and Butterflies especially, the reverse of this obtains ; 

 and no degree of familiarity with the subject is sufficient to 

 destroy in the mind of a thoughtful person the feeling of wonder, 

 and almost awe, to which the observation of the extraordinary 

 changes which these creatures undergo gives rise. The interest 

 of entomology as a study consists, to a great extent, in noting 

 the endless variety of procedure amongst insects while preparing 

 for, or actually undergoing, these transformations. The history of 

 every individual insect, from the moment when the little cater- 

 pillar or grub makes its escape from the egg, through each 

 subsequent incident and stage in its career, till it finally comes 

 forth from the pupa, a winged denizen of air, is replete 

 with interest to the curious observer, and could hardly fail to 

 impress a devout mind with the sentiment expressed by 

 Bonnet : " It seems to me that I am at a spectacle where 

 the Supreme Artist is hid behind the curtain." 



Much misapprehension prevails as to the precise character 

 of these insect transformations. And strangely enough, an 

 error which was not altogether unnatural when the general 

 subject of the embryonic development of animals was less per- 

 fectly understood than it is at present, is still propagated by 

 some of the leaders in entomological science. The error to 

 which we refer is thus stated by Kirby and Spence : " A 

 caterpillar is not, in fact, a simple but a compound animal, con- 

 taining within it the germ of the future Butterfly, enclosed in 

 what will be the case of the pupa, which is itself included in 

 three or four more skins, one over the other, that will succes- 

 sively cover the larva." According to this notion, which is 

 supported by several great names amongst the naturalists of 



