LETTERS ON ENTOMOLOGY. 51 
LETTER V. 
I shall nowj my dear Harriet, give you some 
account of an insect which is in general only 
known by the mischief it causes, yet is worthy 
of attention on other accounts. We admire, and 
with reason, the ingenuity which has produced 
such variety and beauty in our clothing, and the 
means by which it is done ; but there is an insect 
which performs the same thing for itself without 
any help, and in the most beautiful manner. I 
mean the larvae of the moth, which are so destruc- 
tive to woollen cloths, furs, &c. These cater- 
pillars have too tender and delicate a skin to live 
without clothing : the habits they make are of a 
simple form, like a long tube, to fit their round 
bodies, and are made with great art. The insect 
chooses the woolly hairs proper for the purpose, 
and interweaves them with silken threads (for 
they are spinning caterpillars) ; the inside of this 
tube is lined with the same silk, and is exquisitely 
soft. They begin their work very soon after 
they are born, and are consequently obliged to 
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