402 THE FUNCTION OF METAMORPHOSIS. 



which the Greeks designated by the same word as the soul, 

 ^vffl, springs, like every living creature, from an egg. But see 

 what a transformation this egg undergoes ! It becomes a 

 caterpillar a transitory form of animal life, remarkable for its 

 voracity ; this caterpillar is in its turn transformed ; it grows 

 into a chrysalis, a temporary tomb, and whence issues the 

 winged insect, alone adapted to the discharge of all the func- 

 tions of a perfect animal. Gluttonous and greedy of enjoy- 

 ment, the caterpillar lived for itself. So the caterpillar has 

 no sex ; while the butterfly hovers from flower to flower, has to 

 seek therein its own nourishment, there to find the companion 

 with whom its being is to be united. 



This metamorphosis impresses the observer; principally 

 because its periods are so distinct, and are so plainly 

 marked by stages, which have all the appearance of veritable 

 species. But he would greatly err if he thought it confined to 

 a certain class of insects. All insects, nay, more, all animals, 

 including man himself, undergo certain transformations in 

 the course of their lives. Metamorphosis plays an important 

 part in the unity of the general scheme of Creative Thought. 

 If it is not always recognised, the reason is, that its phases are 

 not boldly marked, that the periods blend into one another, 

 that the various stages are effaced in the continuousness of the 

 transformation. 



But let not this continuity prevent the observer from de- 

 tecting or discerning in that which is, that which is to come* 



