BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



the same smile of placid superiority that I am 

 now regarding the heroes of Troy and Greece. 

 It is perfectly right that it should be so. What 

 were the use of study if improvement were 

 forbidden ! 



Every one now knows that a butterfly was 

 not always a butterfly ; probably every one 

 then knew it, but there is little trace of that 

 knowledge in the standard works of Linnaeus 

 and Fabricius, or in that of our own venerated 

 Haworth. Every butterfly comes from an 

 egg ; from that egg emerges a caterpillar (a) ; 

 that caterpillar sheds its skin some four, five, 

 or half-a-dozen times, and then changes to 

 a chrysalis (6) ; and in course of time that 

 chry sails bursts open and forthwith issues a 

 butterfly (c). (See figure on preceding page.) 



This seems agreat mystery : and the learned 

 in all ages I mean, in all entomological ages 

 have availed themselves of the mystery as a 

 plea for exhibiting their erudition, their pro- 

 found knowledge : some of them demonstrate 

 to their own entire satisfaction that the outer 

 covering, or skin, has the power of evolving, 

 from its inner surface, a second skin, destined 

 to take the place of the first, as soon as that is 

 done with, and cast off ; that this second skin 

 evolves a third ; this third a fourth, and so on 

 until the last skin evolves a chrysalis, and the 

 chrysalis a butterfly, with which event the 

 power of evolution ceases, and the life of the 

 in dividual is consummated and completed on 

 its acquiring the new power of continuing its 

 kind. Another set of philosophers contend 

 that, from the very first, the egg contains all 

 the parts and all the coverings of the future 

 caterpillar, chrysalis, and butterfly; which last 

 only awaits the escape from these in order to 

 exhibit and enjoy its final and matured con- 

 dition. 



This view of the case is in accordance with 

 my own theory : theory, you will please to 

 remember, is an inference based on facts ; it is 

 perfectly distinct from hypothesis, an inference 

 founded on conjecture. When I was very 

 much younger I recollect being struck with an 

 exhibition which may be a common one, but 

 it is one I have only witnessed once : it was at 

 a, travelling circus, and at this strange place I 



saw an apt illustration of my theory of butter- 

 fly development. A horse was led into the 

 circle carrying on its back what looked to me 

 like a tar-barrel : at first the pace was very 

 slow, but gradually increased. As the perfor- 

 mance proceeded, the head of the ban-el was 

 forced out by some internal agency ; then a 

 head appeared, and then arms, and then the 

 barrel fell to pieces, and a rough looking coun- 

 tryman abundantly muffled up in coats stood 

 on the horse's back ; the whip was cracked, 

 the "pace quickened, and the rider threw off 

 his upper coat; faster still, he threw off a 

 second coat, a third, a fourth ; faster and faster, 

 more and more coats. He seemed to wear 

 enough coats to stock an old clothes shop, and 

 to be very regardless of their value, as he 

 threw them into the middle of the circle. The 

 audience screamed with delight as the fun 

 grew "fast and furious," until the rider ap- 

 peared as an elegant female in short, pink, 

 spangled skirt, a striking lack of clothing 

 about the legs, and wearing a pair of glitter- 

 ing wings, possibly intended to resemble those 

 of a butterfly. The pace slackened, the horse 

 panted with the exertion, the audience ap- 

 plauded, and the lady bowed her thanks for 

 the applause. 



Now, just in the same manner as that ele- 

 gant horsewoman must have been contained in 

 the barrel and in the coats, so I suppose the 

 butterfly to be confined in the egg, and the 

 various skins or envelopes to have covered it 

 from the very first, although perfectly con- 

 cealed from human observation ; the chief 

 difference between the two being the gradual 

 enlargement of the insect and the diminution 

 of the rider : for as she cast off one garment 

 after another, she seemed to "grow small by 

 degrees and beautifully less " ; whereas the 

 butterfly after throwing off each of its gar- 

 ments seems to increase in size as thougli by 

 natural expansion : with this exception the 

 simile is perfect. 



Such is the life-history of every butterfly ; 

 and if not a mystery or a miracle, it is still a 

 history worthy the study of every rational 

 being. How wonderful is the change of the 

 same creature from a crawling caterpillar to a 



