THE EGG. 



FIG. 1.-: 



of 



Thorybes Pylades, 

 X28. 



stages of the butterfly : the egg, the caterpillar, 

 and the chrysalis. 



The eggs laid by these fairy-like creatures are 

 composed externally of a thin elastic p'ellicle ; 

 they are no larger than a pin's 

 head ; indeed I know of only one 

 whose diameter is a twentieth of 

 an inch, or a little more than a 

 millimetre. Yet when examined 

 under a lens we may look far 

 before discovering objects more 

 graceful in form or delicate in marking. Their 

 vaulted summits might give useful hints to the 

 architect ; indeed, chancing to study some of our 

 New England forms during a winter spent in 

 Egypt, I was greatly 

 struck by their sin- 

 gular resemblance to 

 the traceried domes 

 of the Cairo mosques 

 [Fig. 1]. The ex- 

 treme summit is al- 

 ways covered by a 

 little rosette of cells 

 of the most exquisite 



FIG. 2. Micropyle of egg of Basilarchici 



delicacy, often re- Archi PP u 8 , x 



quiring some of the higher powers of the micro- 

 scope to discern, but arranged in such definite 

 patterns, that, in looking at them, we seem to be 



