I20 
likewife expand afterwards as it were into a 
fecond Nymph ; though in the mean time 
they do not ceafe to move and eat, nor do 
they ever at any period of their lives lofe their 
motion; fo on the contrary the matter is 
quite otherwife in thofe which are fubje@ to 
our third order of tranfmutation ; for as foon 
as thefe which firt iffued imperfect out of 
their egg or former Nymph, and increafed in 
their parts as they have grown under the fkin, 
like a flower in a tender flower cup, and after- 
wards caft this {kin by the force of the protu- 
berant parts; under this other transfor- 
mation they entirely lofe all their motion, ex- 
cept that of the tailonly; for this is not fwollen 
with moifture in a great many, and only changes 
its skin. 
The infects which undergo this third order 
of change, are produced imperfect out of their 
egg, and want at that time a great many of 
their parts: but they by degrees acquire them 
under the cover of their skin, where they are 
gradually perfected and enlarged. The legs, 
wing, horns, and the reft of their parts are 
by this means increafed to their due fize with 
the body: this is performed infenfibly by ab- 
folute growth or addition of parts. Finally 
when the limbs are come to the full period of 
their increafe, they raife the skin with a vifible 
{welling and render it fomewhat prominent in 
different parts; and under thefe protuberances 
of the skin, we can plainly difcern the feveral 
limbs and other parts which lie difpofed in a 
wonderful manner under that covering, like a 
flower growing flowly in its cup; until, after 
the skin is at length caft, all thefe parts very 
clearly and diftinctly prefent themfelves to our 
view : at that time the veil, if I may be allow- 
ed the expreffion, is at length removed, and 
all the impediments which till then obftruéted 
the fight, and which have produced fo many 
errors amongftall the naturalifts without excep- 
tion, is removed, and all is made plagn and 
eafy. Hence it is, that we can very eafily 
exhibit to the eye all the parts which before 
lay under the skin; as I have actually done in 
the prefence of Thevenot and Magallotti, who 
accompanied me in thefe experiments, and 
whofe teftimony is fufficient to put the matter 
beyond doubt. 
We call this change with Ariftotle, Pliny, 
and others, the Nymph ; becaufe we fee iffu- 
ing out of it a perfect infect, fit for propaga- 
ting its {pecies, and adorned in all the {plen- 
dour and beauty of its kind, as a virgin in a 
very rich nuptial garment: the creature hav- 
ing thus paffed the infantine years of a Worm 
or Caterpillar, comes forth without delay to 
meet its fellow of the other fex in the fpacious 
and beautiful tapeftry of the fields, {pread for 
its ufe by nature. 
On thefe principles our third order of natu- 
ral tranfmutations confifts; the Worm, after 
it has caft off the form of a Nymph, in which 
it lay without food in its egg, is afterwards 
increafed by degrees, and acquires more parts 
The) BO: OF. of: NABI UCROE 5 or! 
by the help of the food it is fupplied with, 
until at length it cafts its skin, and attains 
the form of a fecond Nymph, which clearly 
and diftin@ily exhibits all the limbs perfect in 
all their parts, and is once again deprived of all 
motion as it was before in the ego: this motion 
is again reftored afterwards in a few days by the 
evaporation of the fuperfluous moifture. 
Thefe infects are therefore twice held in 
the ftate of a Nymph ; that is, firft in the 
egg, which is their firtt Nymph; then in the 
lait change or fecond Nymph. But there is 
this confiderable difference in the two, that 
when they are in their firft Nymph or in the 
egg, their limbs cannot only be lefs diftinaly 
feen, than in the fecond, the reafon of which 
we fhall affign hereafter; but alfo that before 
they are changed into the firft Nymph or ego, 
they have no remarkable motion preceding, 
“nor are they increafed in their limbs in any 
manner different from other infeGts, or from 
the feeds of plants. On the other hand, be- 
fore they are changed by accretion into the 
fecond Nymph, they do not only evidently 
move themfelves from place to place, but alfo 
increafe in the fame manner as other infeGs 
during their growth, which have the power of 
moving or going where they pleafe, and take 
their food in at their mouths. This being 
well underftood, the difference between the 
firft change which is called an egg, and the 
fecond which we call a Nymph, is very evi- 
dent; though each of them is only an accre- 
tion continued in the limbs though in different 
manners, We beg the reader will attentively 
regard what has been hitherto faid, becaufe 
it is of the higheft ufe, and eradicates entirely 
the falfe notion of a metamorphofis or change 
of one creature into another, that univerfal 
chimera of erring opinions, and totally deftroys 
and fubverts the monftrous opinion of a for- 
tuitous generation of creatures. 
As the parts of the future infect are feen 
much more plainly and diftin@ly in fome of 
thefe Nymphs than in others, as Ariftotle, 
though not perfectly right in this matter; has 
likewife obferved ; we {hall therefore divide 
them into two kinds, in order to make the 
underftanding of them more diftiné: that is, 
we {hall call one of thefe a Nymph fimply; 
and the other the Nymph Chryfalis. _ Nor 
fhall we regard that the word Nymph Chry- 
falis does not perfectly or exactly exprefs the 
thing itfelf ; and that all the Nymphs, which 
we call Chryfallides, are not of that gold co- 
lour, whence the name: for we have not judged 
it proper to depart from the received appella- 
tions, or to make profeffed innovations in the 
terms: fo far are we from. this intent, that 
our great induftry and ftudy .are employed to 
find out truth, and, when found, to explain 
her fimply and in her natural ornaments. 
Hence we have refolved to perfuade no body 
to believe more than what may be {hewn plainly 
to the eye, and with due attention obferved by 
every one, as well as by us, in nature herfelf. 
A cata- 
