THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 
215 
and waits for the time when its change shall 
come. In this state of expectancy the embryo 
beauty remains sometimes for months; the ac¬ 
tive and greedy worm has become a dull mass 
of almost lifeless matter, passive, motionless, 
taking no nourishment, and shut out from the 
very atmosphere in which the coming life is to 
find its chief vitality and display. Swinging by 
its silken cord or wrapped in downy swaddlings, 
the allotted time is passed, but finally and sure¬ 
ly the hour of happy deliverance comes. The 
shell of the chrysalis opens on the back, and 
soon there emerges the new creature, seeming¬ 
ly astonished at its strange surroundings of life 
and sunshine. The wings are at first moist and 
somewhat crumpled, but they soon expand and 
dry, and the young blossom of the air is ready 
for its short and beautiful life. The false legs 
are gone, with bristles and mandible jaws, and 
in their place the glorious investiture of wings, 
antennae, and long proboscis are given; from 
gnawing leaves and wood, and dieting on cab¬ 
bage or poisonous nettles, the insect now be¬ 
gins its banqueting on honey from roses and 
clover. A wonderful transition both in form 
and modes of life! 
