THE BUTTERFLY. 



161 



each furnished with a pair of legs (Figs. 135). These 

 are the caterpillar's true legs, and they stand by him 

 throughout his whole life, except when he is changing 

 his suit ; then the legs seem to skip over two rings, and 

 we find the next four rings each giving off a pair of 

 legs ; then, again, the legs skip two rings ; and now we 

 come to the last ring, which gives off the last pair of 

 legs. These five pairs are the caterpillar's prolegs (Fig. 

 135), and he uses them to fasten himself while he is 

 eating. The last segment, or ring, sometimes ends in 

 a two-forked tail. The head, too, may have two horny- 

 looking appendages (Fig. 135). When the caterpillar 

 eats, he fastens himself by his prolegs, and then guides 

 the edge of the leaf between his real legs. Thus fixed, 

 he stretches his head as far as possible, and begins to 

 eat backward toward his legs, one row of the leaf after 

 another, till he reaches the midrib ; then he fastens 

 himself to another part of the leaf, and so on till it is all 

 gone except the stalk. So much for what you see out- 

 side of the caterpillar ! Now, I wonder what he has 

 inside % From the amount that he eats, you might think 

 he had no room inside for any thing but a stomach. 

 But he is not as low-minded as he seems ; his internal 

 arrangements show that he has " great expectations," 

 and that he is thoroughly preparing himself for a 

 higher state of existence. His mouth opens into a 



