THE PUPA OR CHRYSALIS 51 



in life till, failing to get a foothold in the air itself, it falls to the 

 ground and has to retrace its steps. 



I once thought I would like to test the perseverance of a large 

 moth in performing its first upward journey ; and as it was one 

 from a chrysalis to be found in nature at the foot of a tree that 

 attains some considerable height, I was, of course, prepared to 

 exercise a little patience myself. 



As soon as the moth had emerged, I placed it at the bottom of 

 a window curtain that hung from about eight feet high to the 

 floor. In less than half a minute it had reached the top, and was 

 struggling hard to get still higher. I took it down, and again 

 placed it at the bottom. Up it went as fast as before ; and this 

 was repeated nine times with exactly the same result. For the 

 tenth time I placed the persevering creature at the bottom of 

 the curtain ; and, after it had walked about halfway up, it suddenly 

 stopped, apparently quite satisfied with having travelled a distance 

 of over seventy feet in an upward direction. Its six legs were 

 immediately arranged symmetrically in a business-like manner, 

 and there it settled quite still, as if it had some definite object in 

 stopping just exactly in that spot. 



But we must now return to our own insect, which has by this 

 time settled itself in a similar manner on the stick we provided 

 for it. The peculiar organs which represent the wings, though so 

 very small, show distinctly, in miniature, the colour and pattern of 

 the fully developed wings of the species. An interesting change is 

 just now commencing. These wings are apparently growing larger, 

 but the development is very unequal, so that they become curled and 

 crumpled till they are even more unsightly than before. All seems 

 to be going amiss. But this lasts only for a short time. The 

 fluid from the body steadily rushes into the nervures, causing the 

 wings to expand, and in a few minutes the beautiful pinions are 

 stretched to the full extent, assume their normal shape, and expose 

 the full glory of their brilliant colours. 



It may be interesting if I give an example showing the exact 

 time taken for the full development of the wings of a certain 

 insect. So I will here quote an entry from my note book ; and, by 

 the way, let me strongly advise all my young readers who follow 

 up this subject to habitually enter in a book kept specially for the 

 purpose all facts which strike them as they pursue their study of 

 nature. The note to which I refer runs as follows : 



'Early on the evening of the 22nd [April] I selected a few 



2 



