374 TRANSACTIOJfS OF THE AMERICAN mSTITtJTE, 



will be lined with silk, composed, in a great measure, of the cord- 

 age she had used as an engineer. In a few days her limbs will 

 have fallen off, and she will have assumed the pupa or chrysalis 

 state, and appear dead ; and in a few more days she will be a but- 

 terfly that flies at night — one that your lamp-light " leads to be- 

 wilder." 



Once last summer, in crossing from Jersey to this city, a lady 

 came on board the boat, with one of these little Geometers on 

 her bonnet. The little thing seemed busy in measuring that 

 bonnet ; but it did not take long, and then it quietlj perched itself 

 upon the highest point. It was what is called a " love of a bon- 

 net," — ^very beautiful, but very small, — the lady herself was very 

 beautiful also, but very large, — a perfect Juno in her style, and 

 most elaborately clothed in silks. She cast a hasty glance at 

 her fellow passengers; but the silk- worms had done much more 

 for her than any of the rest of us. Thousands upon thousands 

 had spent their entire lives in her service. She evdently felt 

 how magnificent she was, but probadly did not ascribe it to the 

 little caterpillars that had made her silks. 



Probably, to show how gracefully she could do it, for one 

 moment she bowed down that beautiful head upon her beautiful 

 hand. That removed the obstruction from the little Geometer, 

 and, quick as wink, it was down opposite the Lady's eyes ; and 

 then there was a scream. We heard the word " mercy " sharply 

 and distinctly. Then there was a sensation, and a rush j but no 

 collisiam. A friend of the little insect took it out of harm's way, 

 and all became quiet. 



Napoleon said, on a memorable occasion, that it was but a step 

 from the sublime to the ridiculous. Napoleon was mistaken. It 

 is not quite so far. The distance is the first leap of the span- 

 worm from the topmost peak of a lady's bonnet of the present 

 fashion, exactly to her eyes. 



Those of you who are unable to study nature in the country, 

 may, if you choose, have some compensation here. Study this 

 little Geometer ; watch the various stages of its transformation 

 from the caterpillar to the butterfly ; examine the case in which 

 it is inclosed when in the chrysalis state ; then turn to your draw- 

 ings of the processes by which the ancient Egyptians embalmed 

 their dead ; place one of these little cases by the side of the sar- 

 cophagus, and see the similarity of the marks to the hieroglyphics 

 that were intended to tell the story of the dead. See, if you can 



