Woods : On the Reasoning Powers of Caterpillars. 103 



which it generally feeds. A remarkable variety occasionally appears in 

 which the front segments are cream-colour, and the rest of the body 

 variegated with shades of brown, while the stripes are so arranged as 

 to give the insect an almost viperine appearance. One of these 

 " sporting " caterpillars was brought to me some years since, and I can 

 therefore corroborate the description given of similar varieties in some 

 entomological works. It is singular that no traceable difference exists 

 in the colouring or appearance of the perfect insect. 



It is a matter of general observation that the lower animals seem to 

 be endowed with some power, or faculty, the nature and extent of 

 which we can neither fully appreciate nor properly define, but we may 

 speak of it as a sixth sense, denied to man. What is it that enables 

 the bloodhound to track with unfailing accuracy the man on whom he 

 has been set in pursuit 1 By what faculty do so many animals find 

 their way home after being conveyed away for many, even hundreds 

 of miles 1 By what power does a newly-hatched moth attract to its 

 side the male insects ^ — throwing into the shade the marvels of mes- 

 merism and clairvoyance '? 



I have seen an interesting experiment tried with a newly-hatched 

 female of the common emperor moth [Saturnia Pavonia-minor). The 

 moth was put into a box with a muslin lid, was carried to a tract of 

 heath land at three o'clock on a sunny afternoon, and hidden in a 

 patch of heather. Before many minutes had elapsed, up there came, 

 from as far as the eye could follow it, one of the male insects, which 

 are very strong and rapid flyers, and dashing backwards and forwards 

 at gradually lessening distances and narrowing circles, suddenly 

 dropped down upon the exact spot where, hidden in the vegetation, 

 was the box containing the female insect ! Before he was captured, 

 another insect appeared, and the process was repeated with the same 

 results. This is a very successful plan for obtaining specimens for 

 entomological purposes, and the experiment is very astonishing when 

 seen for the first time. 



This power, or at all events the latent power, must surely exist in 

 the brain system of the caterpillar, as the brain of the infant contains 

 the latent power of intellection, which growth develops into the brain- 

 power of the mature man. In like manner I imagine the instincts of 

 caterpillar must lie dormant in the brain system of the butterfly or 

 moth, and become in this way hereditary. 



I have now only to recapitulate in detail what are those mental 

 qualities that seem to be possessed by the caterpillar in addition to its 



