THERE is an especial debt of gratitude] 

 we owe to Jean Henri Fabre. Not on 

 we to thank him for his great scienti 

 which has extraordinarily enriched man's 

 edge of the insect world, but we have to thai 

 foe making this precious store accessible 

 of us. 



Fabre is a phenomenon in the world of Science. 

 He has been called "the insect's Homer." He is a 

 great writer and his books are literary as well as 

 scientific masterpieces. Rarely is this happy 

 fusion attained. 



It is a pleasure therefore to add "The Life of the 

 Caterpillar" one of his most characteristic 

 works to the Modern Library. It tells the strange 

 story of the most crucial and adventurous period 

 in the life of our most beautiful flying insects the 

 caterpillar stage. 



