10 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



have been most accurately and laboriously chronicled 

 by the French naturalist, Keaumur ; but his memoirs 

 on the subject, which have been frequently quoted into 

 the larger entomological works, are too long for inser- 

 tion here in full, and any considerable abbreviation 

 would fail to convey a clear idea of the process, on 

 account of the intricacy of the operations described. 

 So I can only here allude to the difficult problems that 

 the creature has to solve, referring the reader to the 

 above-mentioned works for a detailed description of the 

 manner of doing so ; or, better still, I would recommend 

 the country resident to witness all this with his own 

 eyes. By keeping a number of the caterpillars of our 

 common butterflies, feeding them up, and attentively 

 watching them when full-grown, he will now and thei; 

 detect one in the transformation act, and have an oppor- 

 tunity of wondering at the curious manoeuvres of the 

 animal, as it triumphs over seeming impossibilities. 



By reference to the figures of chrysalides on Plate I. 

 it will be seen that there are two distinct modes of sus- 

 pension employed among them ; one, by the tail only, 

 the head hanging down freely in the air : in the other, 

 the tail is attached to the supporting object ; but the 

 head, instead of swinging loosely, is kept in an upright 

 position by being looped round the waist with a silken 

 girdle. 



To appreciate the difficulty of gaining either of the 

 above positions, we must bear in mind that, before 

 doing so, the caterpillar has to throw off its own skin, 

 carrying with it the whole of its legs, and the jaws too 

 leaving itself a mere limbless, and apparently help- 

 less mass its only prehensile organs being a few 

 minute, almost imperceptible hooks on the end of the 

 tail; and the required position of attachment and 

 security is accomplished by a series of movements so 

 dexterous and sleight-of-hand like, as to cause infinite 

 astonishment to the looker-on, and, as Eeaumur justly 

 observes, " It is impossible not to wonder, that an 

 insect, which executes them but cnce in its life, should 



