THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 



143 



and yet not one of them is lost when it escapes through 

 the narrow opening of its prison. The Pavonia, with its 

 great Argus-eyes upon its robes, emerges from its horny 



84, The Three States of an Insect, as seen in the Great Capricornis. The Larva or 

 Caterpillar. Tlie Nymph or Chrysalis. The Perfect Insect or Imago. 



sarcophagus without catching a hair of its velvet wings 

 against it I 



Many insects do even more to protect their metamor- 

 phosis; they envelop themselves in a mantle of silk which 

 preserves them from the assaults of the rain and cold. In 

 certain butterflies it is evident that this covering is so 

 arranged as to fulfil this double task ; a dense external tegu- 

 ment, similar to the straw thatch of our houses in the 

 country, alloAvs the storm to pass over Avithout penetrating; 

 another, internal and softer, defies the cold of Avinter. 

 Buried at autumn tide in this double shelter, the butter- 



