METAMORPHOSES. 61 



ter are replaced by others of a form and structure en- 

 tirely different. Nearly the whole body of the cater- 

 pillar is occupied by a capacious stomach. In the but- 

 terfly this has become converted into an almost imper- 

 ceptible thread-like viscus; and the abdomen is now 

 filled by two large packets of eggs, or other organs not 

 visible in the first state. In the former, two spirally- 

 convoluted tubes were filled with a silky gum ; in the 

 latter^ both tubes and silk have almost totally vanished ; 

 and changes equally great have taken place in the eco- 

 nomy and structure of the nerves and other organs. 



What a surprising transformation ! Nor was this all. 

 The change from one form to the other was not direct. 

 An intermediate state not less singular intervened. After 

 casting its skin even to its very jaws several times, and 

 attaining its full growth, the caterpillar attached itself to 

 a leaf by a silken girth. Its body greatly contracted : 

 its skin once more split asunder, and disclosed an ovi- 

 form mass, without exterior mouth, eyes, or limbs, and 

 exhibiting no other symptom of life than a slight motion 

 when touched. In this state of death-like torpor, and 

 without tasting food, the insect existed for several months, 

 until at length the tomb burst, and out of a case not 

 more than an inch long, and a quarter of an inch in dia- 

 meter, proceeded the butterfly before you, which covers 

 a surface of nearly four inches square. 



Almost every insect which you see has undergone a 

 transformation as singular and surprising, though varied 

 in many of its circumstances. That active little fly, now 

 an unbidden guest at your table \ whose delicate palate 



* " Ccenis etiam non vocatus ut Musca advolo." Aristophon in 



Pythagorista apud Athensum, (Mouftet, 56.) 



