A YOUNG NATURALIST. 



129 



These were of a brilliant red, terminating in shoots the same 

 colour as the animal's body. 



"What a curious creature!" cried Lucien; "it looks as if it 

 carried a garden on its back ; — what use are all these bushes 1 " 



" It is not known, and it is a curious fact that the butterfly, 

 which springs from this caterpillar, shows no trace of all this 

 strangely-arranged hair." 



"Will a butterfly come from this caterpillar 1 " 



"Yes, certainly; all butterflies lay eggs, from which proceed 

 caterpillars, which generally destroy the plants on which they 

 are hatched. When arrived at maturity, the caterpillar spins a 



cocoon of silk, more or less fine, in the centre of which it encloses 

 itself. It is then called a chrysalis. In this cocoon the but- 

 terfly is formed, either white or black, yellow or green, and there 

 it remains inactive and imprisoned, like a baby in swaddling 

 clothes. In spring, it perforates its silken prison, and soon 

 makes its escape a splendid butterfly, subsisting upon the juices 

 of the flowers obtained through its proboscis. Surely you were 

 not ignorant of all these transformations ? " 



" I thought that they only took place in silkworms." 



" Well, now you are undeceived ; all caterpillars and all but- 



