32 CHRYSALIS STATE OF INSECTS. 



silently executing the directions of his superior to 



" Cut off the heads of too fast growing; sprays," 



the servant inquires — 



" Wliy should we in the compass of a pale 

 Keep law, and form, and due proportion, 

 Shewing, as in a model, our firm state ; 

 When our sea-walled garden, the whole land 

 Is full of weeds ; her fairest flowers choked up. 

 Her fruit trees all unpruned, her hedges ruiu'd, 

 Her knots disordered, and her wholesome herbs 

 Swarming with catei-pillars ? "—Act III. fie. IV. 



The next state of insects is the Pupa, or Chrysalis, 

 in which they assume very diiferent forms and diver- 

 sified habits. Some are lively and active, as the 

 crickets and cockroaches, which are found in our 

 kitchens. Others are enveloped in a peculiar cover- 

 ing, called a cocoon, formed for the occasion, and 

 composed of leaves, of wood, or of sUk. Now all 

 appearance of vitality is lost, until at its appointed 

 time the enclosed insect bursts its sepulchre, flings 

 off the vestments of the tomb, and, gifted with 

 beaut}' of form, and with powers unknown before, 

 enters on the enjoyment of a new state of existence. 

 To you I need not say anything of the classical asso- 

 ciations or the train of spiritual reflections which 

 such a change is calculated to excite. Without in- 

 dulging in either the one or the other, Shakspeare 

 has employed his knowledge of the fact to illustrate 



