SUSPENDED COCOONS. 558 



by the reaction is jerked upward, while the projecting points 

 of the thorax and the sheath of the spine serve to steady the 

 whole body. 



So brilliant is the light of these creatures, that even one 

 moved over the print of a book will enable a person to read 

 by it, while eight or ten placed in a clear glass bottle serve 

 the purpose of a lamp. The Brazilian ladies ornament their 

 dresses with these tire-beetles, by securing them so as not to 

 injure the creatures ; while they frequently wear several in 

 the braids of their dark hair, which, when they walk abroad 

 in the evening, has a curious and beautiful effect.* 



Prescott relates that when the Spaniards first invaded 

 America, on seeing the air filled with cocujas during the 

 darkness of nioht, their excited imaginations converted them 

 into an army with matchlocks, and they waited, expecting to 

 be attacked by an overwhelming force. A similar story is 

 told of the British, when first landing in the West Indies, 

 being induced to hastily re-embark on seeing at night in- 

 numerable lights moving about, which they supy>osed were 

 Spaniards approaching to defend the shore. 



SUSPENDED COCOONS. 



The forests of Brazil exhibit numerous beautiful examples 

 of insect workmanship. Among others is the work of a cater- 

 pillar — a cocoon about the size of a sparrow's egg, woven in 

 broad meshes of either buff or rose-coloured silk, and seen 

 suspended from the tip of an outstanding leaf by a strong 

 thread, five or six inches in length. It forms a conspicuous 

 object hung thus in mid-air. The glossy threads with which 

 it is knitted are stout, and the structure is not likely there- 



* Gossc ami Darwin. 



