An Insect Virus 



frightened. A pretty Butterfly is the cause 

 of those blood-red stains, which have been 

 known to terrify country-folk. The moment 

 she is born, she casts out, in the form of a 

 red liquid, the remains of her old caterpillar 

 body, a body remodelled and reborn in a 

 beautiful shape. That is the whole secret." 



When my artless visitors have departed, I 

 resume my examination of the rain of blood 

 falling under the rover. Still clinging to the 

 shell of its chrysalis, each Tortoiseshell ejects 

 and sheds upon the paper a great red drop, 

 which, if left standing, deposits a powdery 

 pink sediment, composed of urates. The 

 liquid is now a deep crimson. 



When the whole thing is perfectly dry, I 

 cut out of the spotted paper some of the 

 richer stains and steep the bits in ether. The 

 spots on the paper remain as red as at the 

 outset; and the liquid assumes a light lemon 

 tint. When reduced by evaporation to a few 

 drops, this liquid provides me with what I 

 require to soak my square of blotting-paper. 



What shall I say to avoid repeating my- 

 self? The effects of the new caustic are pre- 

 cisely the same as those which I experienced 

 when I used the droppings of the Proces- 



179 



