78 



or not at all. He turns from side to side, and oftefi 

 raises his beak, and gently depresses it again. He 

 frequently raises his head, and strikes it down rudely 

 against any thing he stands upon. Frequently the 

 fore-part of (he body is raised from the place, and 

 thrust very briskly backward and forward three or 

 four times together: there are likewise distinct motions 

 within every ring. These are severally inflated and 

 contracted alternately, by which the skin is loosened 

 from them ; till by this means, and its remaining 

 without food, the body is quite disengaged from its 

 covering. 



When this time approaches, all the colours of the 

 skin grow faint, and lose their beauty, receiving no 

 nourishment from the body ; and as the creature con. 

 tinues swelling and shrinking, the skin bdng no longer 

 supple, cracks along his back. The crack always be 

 gins at the seconder third ring from the head. As it 

 opens, the new skin is seen within; this opening he v 

 ^asily enlarges, thrusting his body like a wedge, out 

 of the slit, till he lengthens it through four rings, 

 then he has room to draw out the whole body. First, 

 the bead is by several motions loosened, drawn out of 

 the ok! skuM, and raised through the crack ; this is 

 then laid softly on the old skin of the part. By the 

 same motions the tail end is disengaged, drawn out, 

 and laid smoothly on the old skin* It takes the animal 

 several days to prepare for the last operation ; but 

 when the crack is once made, the whole remaining 

 work is done in less than a minute. 



The hairs found on the cast skins of the hairy cater- 

 pillars, seem at first like.the other part of the exuviae, 

 to be only the covering of the hairs enclosed ; but that 

 is not the case. They are solid things themselves, not 

 barely coverings. In truth, the creature when first 

 hatched has all its skins perfectly formed one under 

 another, each furnished with its hairs, so that the old 

 ones fall off with the old skins ; and probably the 

 erecting these is one great means of forcing off the old 

 skins. 



