17G THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. 



Having put in a layer of pieces of broken pots, 

 to secure sufficient general drainage, the pot was 

 nearly filled with light garden mould, and the insect 

 having been placed at about the mid-depth, a piece 

 of strong canvas was then tied tightly over the pot, 

 when the pot was plunged up to its rim in a shel- 

 tered part of the garden. 



About a fortnight afterwards I carefully re- 

 moved a portion of the mould in the pot, and had 

 the satisfaction of discovering near the bottom a 

 well-formed chrysalis, nearly three inches in length, 

 which moved briskly on being touched. I covered 

 it up quickly, hoping very shortly to be gratified by 

 the sight of the .perfect insect issuing from the 

 earth; for this singular species is said to emerge 

 from the pupa almost immediately, that is to say, 

 within a few weeks, instead of remaining during the 

 winter in its chrysalis state, like others of the 

 Sphinx family, and, indeed, nearly all our large 

 native Moths. Week after week went by, however, 

 without any sign; at length, after three months 

 and more had passed, I again uncovered the chry- 

 salis, fully expecting to find it rigid and dead ; but, 

 to my surprise, it was still alive, which leads me to 

 suppose that the early broods of this insect may 

 undergo their metamorphoses the same season, 



