THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 



127 



The grown insect differs so widely from the young that 

 one cannot in the least recognize the one in the other. The 

 Scarabseus, or sacred beetle, with its emerald elytra, which 

 was worshipped in ancient Egypt, does not in the least re- 

 semble the hideous subterranean worm which produces it ; 

 a singular metamorphosis, in which, according to M. Goury, 

 the nations on the banks of the Nile beheld the symbol of 

 the transmigration of souls. 



64. The Three States of an Insect, as seen in the Great Capricornis. 

 1. The Larva or Caterpillar. 2. The Nymph or Chrysalis. 3. The Perfect Insect or Imago. 



Aristotle, whose genius has thrown such a brilliant light 

 upon the history of animals, had only a suspicion of their 



ferent genera. The nymph of the dragon-fly has been taken by Rondelet for the 

 aquatic Cygala; by Mouffet for the water-flea or grasshopper ; and by Redi for 

 the aquatic scorpion. The three different states of certain Acridia have also been 

 described as three different insects. Lesser, Theologie des Insectes. Trad, de 

 Lyonet, Paris, 1745, p. 169. 



