280 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



be perfectly intact, and to exhibit no signs that an insect had 

 broken through the walls. Concluding, however, that the moth 

 might have crept into the box without my knowledge, or might 

 have been placed there by some kind friend, I set it, and watched 

 the cocoon as usual. After a whole year had passed, I thought 

 that there must be something wrong, and so took out the cocoon 

 and carefully cut it open. 



The mystery was at once explained. Within were the cast 

 shell of the chrysalis, and the dried shrivelled skin of the cater- 

 pillar, crushed up into a very small space, but recognizable by 

 the hairy tufts. The manner in which the moth had escaped 

 was also evident. Taking as our model a common Florence oil 

 flask, from which three-fourths of the neck have been removed, 

 we shall obtain a clear notion of the method by which the cocoon 

 is made, so as to allow the egress of the moth, and at the same 

 time to show no aperture through which the creature had 

 emerged. 



Let us suppose the material to be stiff, bristle-like hair, and 

 that the body of the flask is made stiff and firm by cement- 

 ing the hairs together, while they project loosely at the neck. 

 Now, let us further suppose that these projecting hairs are all 

 bent inwards, so as to cross each other slightly, and we shall 

 have a tolerably correct idea of the mauner in which the cocoon 

 of the Emperor Moth is made. It will be seen, that if a creature 

 try to push its way out from the inside, the hairs will yield and 

 allow it to pass, but that if any insect tries to push its way in 

 from the outside, the converging hairs are pressed tighter together, 

 and effectually debar it from gaining admission. 



This beautiful structure is not visible until the observer strips 

 away a thick, loose coating of yellow-white silk which covers 

 the cocoon, and probably acts as a non-conductor of heat as well 

 as a protection from the weather. This cocoon may be found 

 upon the plant on which the insect feeds, but the best method 

 of procuring perfect specimens is by searching for the caterpillars 

 and feeding them imtQ they change. 



On the right hand of the accompanying illustration may be 

 seen a large moth flying downwards, and just above it are a 

 couple of oval objects attached to a slender bough. This moth 

 is that magnificent insect the Atlas Moth {Satumia Atlas), 



