THE CATERPILLAR KIND. 173 



just thrown off. At first sight, the animal, just set free, and 

 permitted the future use of its wings, seems to want them en- 

 tirely ; they take up such little room, that one would wonder 

 where they were hidden. But soon after, they expand so rapidly, 

 that the eye can scarcely attend their unfolding. From reaching 

 scarcely half the length of the body, they acquire, in a most 

 wonderful manner, their full extent and bigness, so as to he each 

 five times larger than they Were before. Nor is it the wings 

 alone that are thus increased ; all their spots and paintings, be- 

 fore so minute as to be scarcely discernible, are proportionably 

 extended ; so that, what a few minutes before seemed only a 

 number of confused, unmeaning points, now become distinct and 

 most beautiful ornaments. Nor are the wings, when they are 

 thus expanded, unfolded in the manner in which earwigs and 

 grasshoppers display theirs, who unfurl them like a lady's fan ; 

 on the contrary, those of butterflies actually grow to their 

 natural size in this very short space. The wing, at the instant 

 it is freed from its late confinement, is considerably thicker than 

 afterwards; so that it spreads in all its dimensions, growing 

 thinner as it becomes broader. If one of the wings be plucked 

 from the animal just set free, it may be 'spread by the lingers, 

 and it will soon become as broad as the other which has been 

 left behind. As the wings extend themselves so suddenly, they 

 have not yet had time to dry, and accordingly appear like pieces 

 of wet paper, soft and full of wrinkles. In about half an hour 

 they are perfectly dry, their wrinkles entirely disappear, and the 

 little animal assumes all its splendour. The transmutation being 

 thus perfectly finished, the butterfly discharges three or four 

 drops of a blood-coloured liquid, which are the last remains of 

 its superfluous moisture. Those aurelias which are inclcsed 

 within a cone find their exit more difficult, as they have still an- 

 other prison to break through: this, however, they perform in a 

 short time; for the butterfly, freed from its aurelia skin, butts 

 with its head violently against the walls of its artificial prison ; 

 and probably with its eyes, that are rough and like a file, it rubs 

 the internal surface away, till it is at last seen bursting its way 

 into open light, and, in less than a quarter of an hour, the animal 

 acquires its full perfection. / 



Thus, to use the words of Swammerdam, we see a little insig- 

 nificant creature distinguished, in its last birth, with qualifications 

 and ornaments, which man, during his stay upon earth, can 

 never even hope to acquire. The butterfly, to enjoy life, needs no 

 other food but the dews of heaven, and the honied juices which 

 are distilled from every flower. The pageantry of princes can- 

 not equal the ornaments with which it is invested, nor the rich 

 colouring that embellishes its wings. The skies are the, butter- 

 17* P 2 



