THE CATERPILLAR. 33 



caterpillar not possessed by the adult are those 

 which it has brought with it from the egg, and 

 which are lost when its skin is first cast. We 

 should, therefore, naturally suppose these peculi- 

 arities to have some reference to its condition in 

 the egg ; but this view cannot be maintained for a 

 moment, for certainly the most appropriate condi- 

 tion for a caterpillar in the egg would be entire ab- 

 sence of clothing or a uniform covering of silky 

 hairs, conditions which are exactly the ones which 

 do not occur. On the contrary, in every instance 

 we can find, caterpillars which at maturity are 

 naked or nearly so, or clothed uniformly with 

 hair, when newly hatched bristle with tubercles or 

 are supplied with cumbrous serrated or spiculif- 

 erous hairs. Some other explanation must there- 

 fore be sought, but we are not yet prepared to 

 discuss it. 



A caterpillar, then, is a cylindrical jointed crea- 

 ture, having several of the front segments consol- 

 idated to form a horny head, with numerous 

 mouth-parts, eyes, and antennae all crowded to- 

 gether at the bottom ; three other segments suc- 

 ceeding it bearing horny legs ; and most of the 

 remainder supported by fleshy legs furnished 

 with microscopic hooks ; all the body segments 

 are furnished with special appendages, which, 

 during some stage of its development, are 

 arranged in definite series. 



