80 



It is plain from hence that the change of a cater., 

 pillar into an aurelia, is^not the work of a moment, 

 but is carrying on from the very time of its hatching 

 from the egg ; but while the butterfly lies in the body 

 of the caterpillar, its wings are long and narrow, and 

 wound up into the form of a cord, and the feelers are 

 rolled up on the head. The trunk also is twisted up, 

 and laid on the head, but in a very different manner 

 from what it is in the perfect animal, or indeed in the 

 aurelia. 



A butterfly then in all its parts, is in the caterpillar 

 in all its states ; but it is more easily traced, as it 

 comes nearer the time of being changed into an aurelia* 

 The -very eggs hereafter to be laid by the butterfly, 

 are to be found not only in the aurelia, but even in the 

 caterpillar, all arranged in their natural regular order. 

 In the caterpillar, indeed, they are transparent, but 

 in the aurelia they have their proper colour. 



As soon as the limbs of the butterfly are fit to be 

 exposed to the more open air, they are thrown out 

 from the body of the caterpillar, surrounded only with 

 thin membranes; and as soon as they arrive at a pro- 

 per degree of strength and solidity, they break through 

 these, and appear in their perfe n. form. 



The animal then creeps a little on, and there rests; 

 the wings being quite folded up. But by degrees they 

 expand, and in less than half an hour appear in all 

 their beauty. 



In the beginning of May 1737, the cornel. trees, 

 near Monaghan, jn Ireland, appeared covered with 

 small caterpillars, employed partly in feeding on the 

 leaves, partly in crawling over the bark of the tree. 

 Each as it crawled Itft a fine thread sticking to the 

 bark. By the end of May, there was not a leaf on any 

 of the trees, except a few reserved for a curious pur- 

 pose. But instead of the green, a white cloathing 

 covered the whole bark, from the ground to the point 

 of the smallest twigs, and that so glossy, that it 

 shewed, in the sun, as if it was cased in burnish, 

 ed silver. Then they covered with the same all the 



