THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 



145 



which it is to take on in succession. The genius of the 

 anatomist discovers in it three creatures, one encased witli- 

 in the otlier, the last of which, enveloped in a double 

 winding-sheet, finally throws it off to appear in all its 

 beauty. 



Some insects, however, show neither the immobility nor 

 the complete transformation we have been sj)eaking of 

 The passage from one life to another takes place by means 



86. Larva and Nyniph of the Panorpis, much enlarged, showing in this Fly the passage 

 from one state to another. 



of a successive development. Some even maintain a con- 

 stantly active existence in every stage. We only recog- 



this thread to be only from 70fl to 900 feet long. This naturalist ad.ls, that if we 

 suppose, as some savants have done, that the thread of a cocoon is 390 feet lonij, 

 and weighs 2 grains and a half, we shall find that to make up a pound of silk will 

 require a thread 3,428,3.52 feet long, which, supposing these to be feet of the old 

 measure (pied de roi= 12'7693 inches English), would make more than 228 leagues 

 per hour, computing each league at 1.5,000 feet, or 3000 geometrical paces.— Lesser, 

 Theologie des Insectes, p. 164. 



19 



