260 
LET I DOF TER A. 
are cemented by a kind of varnish. Some chrysalids arc 
angular, or furnished with little protuberances ; but most 
of them are smooth, rounded at one end, and tapering at 
the other extremity. While in the pupa state these insects 
take no food, and remain perfectly at rest, or only move 
the hinder extremity of the body when touched. After a 
while, however, the chrysalis begins to swell and contract, 
till the skin is rent over the back, and from the fissure 
there issues the head, antennas, and body of a butterfly or 
moth. When it first emerges from its pupa-skin the in- 
sect is soft, moist, and weak, and its wings are small and 
shrivelled ; soon, however, the wings stretch out to their 
full dimensions, the superfluous moisture of the body passes 
off', and the limbs acquire their proper firmness and elas- 
ticity. 
The conversion of a caterpillar to a moth or butterfly 
is a transformation of the most complete kind. The form 
of the body is altered, some of the legs disappear, the others 
and the antennae become much longer than before, and four 
wings are acquired. Moreover, the mouth and digestive 
organs undergo a total change ; for the insect, after its final 
transformation, is no longer fitted to subsist upon the same 
gross aliment as it did in the caterpillar state • its pow- 
erful jaws have disappeared, and instead thereof we find a 
slender tongue, by means of which liquid nourishment is 
conveyed to the mouth of the insect, and its stomach be- 
comes capable of digesting only water and the honeyed juice 
of flowers. 
Ceasing to increase in size, and destined to live but a 
short time after their final transformation, butterflies and 
moths spend this brief period of their existence in flitting 
from flower to flower and regaling themselves with their 
sweets, or in slaking their thirst with dew or with the 
water left standing in puddles after showers, in pairing with 
their mates, and in laying their eggs ; after which they die 
a natural death, or fall a prey to their numerous enemies. 
