THE ESCAPE OF THE MOTH. 
113 
We will begin with the silken cocoon, in the 
meshes of which the moth might struggle a long 
time, and yet not be able to free herself. And 
how she did free herself was once a mystery: 
and it was thought she must use her large promi¬ 
nent eyes as a file, to cut through the silken 
threads. 
It is not very clearly determined now how she 
manages to make her exit; but one thing is cer¬ 
tain, that to help her, the moth is provided with 
an acid, as you heard in the last chapter, that 
she can eject from her mouth, and so dissolve the 
gum or any hard material of which the cocoon 
is made. This is how the puss moth forces her 
way through the cocoon made of bark, and that 
is so hard, a knife will scarcely cut it. 
But besides the acid, there is another aid given 
to the moth. When the chrysalis case bursts, 
there is a small quantity of the fluid that once 
filled it, still remaining; and this flowing into the 
cocoon, helps to soften and dissolve it. One end 
of the cocoon is observed to be wet, for an hour 
or two, before the moth appears ; and in the pro¬ 
cess of making her way through, she so breaks 
and spoils the silk, that when it is intended to 
wind it, she is never allowed to come out at all; 
but is killed within her cocoon by having it 
plunged into hot water. 
