THE BUTTERFLY. 
By Emily C. Thompson. 
IN THE western part of England 
if the first Butterfly you see in 
the spring is white and if you 
succeed in killing this Butter- 
fly, good luck will surely come 
to you. Some gentlemen on their way 
to church one day saw a friend dashing 
down the road wildly brandishing a 
cane. He could not stop to explain. 
He was as a rule a sedate, calm man, 
so this excitement alarmed them. As 
nothing could be done, they went on 
their way and soon met the father of 
their friend, an old man who usually 
hobbled painfully along on two canes. 
He too was excited and was doing his 
best to make his way down the road 
with only one cane. His first words 
were, " I'm afraid he has missed it." 
"Missed what?" thought the gentlemen, 
and finally after many efforts to quiet 
him enough for conversation learned 
from the old man that his son had 
seen his first butterfly, that it was 
white and that without more ado he 
had snatched his old father's cane and 
set off in pursuit. Still the old man 
was perfectly willing to hobble along 
as best he could, if only good luck and 
prosperity could be procured by the 
slaughter of the pretty little insect. 
The color of its wings is due to what 
seems to us a fine dust scattered 
over them, but in reality this dust is 
made up of little discs fastened by 
stalks to the wings, arranged usually 
in rows somewhat like the shingles on 
a house. 
Notice its two great round eyes and 
remember that each of these is com- 
posed of thousands of perfect little 
eyes. Its trunk you will find coiled 
up under its head and sometimes this 
Butterfly of ours completes its toilet 
by opening its trunk and cleaning it. 
By the antennae of the Butterfly you 
can tell it from the Moth, for those of 
the former are immovable and fur- 
nished with knobs, while those of the 
other have not the knobs and can be 
stowed away under the wings. If you 
wish to distinguish the Butterfly from 
the Moth, remember this fact, and also 
that Butterflies fly only in the daytime 
and always rest with the wings erect. 
These facts are trustworthy, for no 
Moth has ever been found to possess 
all three of these characteristics, 
though some do possess one or two. 
Though curious in itself, its life 
history is still more curious. Man, in 
passing through his seven ages never 
loses the distinguishing characteristics 
which make him a man, but our But- 
terfly as it passes through its three 
ages changes so much that we seem, 
while studying it to be studying three 
distinct creatures — the Caterpillar, the 
Chrysalis, and the Butterfly. 
In the Caterpillar our dainty little 
fairy presents itself as it appears in 
its first stage, having just spent a few 
days, or a month, or perhaps the whole 
winter in the egg. It changes its old 
skin many times during its Caterpillar 
life of twenty or thirty days, at each 
change gaining in weight and bril- 
liancy, until with the last it appears as 
a Chrysalis "a legless, mummy-like 
creature," which maintains its sus- 
pended position by means of the hooks 
on its tail or by a silken girth around 
its body. A few days before the But- 
terfly comes forth, it can be seen 
through the thin cases. Finally the 
skin on the back bursts open and the 
little insect is free. For a few min- 
utes it stands with drooping wings.. 
Gradually the wings distend and in a 
short while reach four times their 
original size. Then our Butterfly 
hastens away to carry its joyful 
greeting to man and flower. So the 
cycle of Butterfly life can thus be 
142 
