INTRODUCTION. 81 



by the contortions and annular contractions of trie 

 animal, while the hand is too loosely girt to form 

 any material hinderance to its being slipped down- 

 wards to the tail, where it is ultimately thrown off 

 altogether. 



When the chrysalis is first disclosed it is soft and 

 tender, and covered with a viscid transparent liquor, 

 through which many portions of the future butterfly 

 may be pretty distinctly discerned. As this liquor 

 dries, it acquires the consistency of an opaque mem- 

 brane, which envelopes all the parts, binding them 

 more firmly together, and forming a protection from 

 the weather. It so closely encases the different 

 limbs and organs, that the disposition of many of 

 them can be traced by the ridges and other promi- 

 nences they form on the surface. This will be seen 

 by the accompanying figures of the chrysalis of the 

 larger Tortoise-shell Butterfly ( V. polychloros ) ', 

 which may likewise serve to exemplify the general 

 appearance of the diurnal Lepidoptera in their pupa 

 state. Plate II. fig. 6, represents the natural size of 

 the chrysalis, which is one of those distinguished by 

 a kind of mask, in which some authors have had the 

 ingenuity to discover a striking resemblance to the 

 human countenance. Fig. 7, a magnified view of 

 its under side : a, a, the wing-cases (Ptero-theca, 

 Kirby) ; be, be, the antennae; de, the trunk or 

 sucker \ f,f> two trigonal pieces, forming the eye- 

 cases. In consequence of their being so completely 

 enclosed by this rigid integument, Linne termed these 



