BOOK of 
T hall likewife give the feveral methods 
whereby the wings of infects may be varioufly 
expanded and difplayed, in a form perfe@lly 
agreeable to that they have in nature. Upon 
this occafion, I fhall alfo teach by what means 
the wings of infects, which are as yet hidden 
in their original folds, may be produced to 
light; and, when expanded, may ‘be dried 
and preferved at pleafure. 
_ If I further have leifure and opportunity, 
I propofe to defcribe an art or management, 
fo fhew in what manner monftrous and de- 
formed wings are made to grow; and {halk 
propofe, with thefe things, various operations, 
relating not only to the accretion of thefe 
wings, but to the motion of the humours, 
which are conveyed through their. vefiels. 
Finally, I fhall alfo thew in what manner 
puftules, tubercles, pimples, and the like irre- 
eularities, may be raifed in thefe kinds of 
wings. I fhall likewife fubjoin many other, 
hitherto unheard of, curious experiments, 
which I hope will be ufeful to natural philo+ 
fophy, and to medicine. All thefe [am now 
obliged to pafs over with this flight mention, 
fince they cannot here be treated of at large. 
Whether or not the accurate Fabius Colum- 
na found out, with certainty, from the exami- 
nation of the aliments, on which the Cater- 
pillars, that are to be changed into Butterflies, 
live. What plants are like each other, in re- 
{pect to their virtues? Is a queftion worthy the 
inquiry. He tells us, that whatever different 
plants the fame Caterpillar eats, are of the 
fame nature and virtue. Other naturalifts alfo 
affirm, that each {pecies of Caterpillars has 
only one kind of nourifhment fuited to it; fo 
that hence its own peculiar Caterpillar feems 
to be affigned to every plant on which we fee 
them feed. From this, if it be fo, it necef- 
farily follows, that the different plants, which 
one and the fame Caterpillar eats, muft cer- 
tainly agree in regard to their virtues; and 
many fpecies of plants may by this means be 
confidered, fo far as medicine is concerned, 
as one. Others, on the contrary, deny the 
fact: nay, and experience itfelf teaches, as 
Mouftet very well obferves, «« That there are 
* a fort of ftrolling Caterpillars, which do not 
s¢ fuffer themfelves to be tied down to any 
‘« particular leaves or flowers ; but boldly run 
“ over and tafte all plants or trees, and feed 
*¢ thereon at pleafure.” I have myfelf {een 
a Caterpillar, which eat the Braflica, or Cab- 
bage: likewife feed upon the leaves of a Mul- 
berry-tree. I found it feeding on both, of its 
own accord. I ftill preferve alfo the egg of 
the Butterfly, into which this Caterpillar was 
changed. It is grooved or channelled, like an 
elegant piece of workmanfhip, and furrounded 
with a purple circle. 
We fee Aldrovandus has defcribed one hun- 
dred and eighteen {pecies of Butterflies, of the 
nocturnal and digrnal kind. Mouffet exhibits 
eighty-fix.. In the figures of Hoefnagel are 
found fifty. And the ingenious Goedaert, has 
given us defigns of feventy-feven nocturnal, and 
2 The 
N‘A T UPR E; or, 
eight diurnal butterflies. ‘However, there is 
nothing to be found relating to thefe infects in 
thofe authors, befide the fimmple metamorphofis. 
Nay, Hoefnagel has given ws only the figures. 
Goedaert has indeed defcribed the Fly, hatched 
from the maggot found in cheefe ; but he ex- 
plains it no further, than bya figure of the Worm, 
Nymph, and Fly ; and he has given an inac- 
curate figure of the Worm. 
But, what illuftrious, what prodigious, what 
ineffable miracles of nature, prefent themfelves 
to the careful obferver in the changes of thefe 
feveral infects! It would have been much 
more ufeful, to have exactly, and according to 
nature, defcribed only one transformation of 
any Nymph, for an example to be applied to 
all the reft, than to have delineated the changes 
of all thefe Caterpillars, with their various co- 
lours, and their Nymphs: for, according to 
the other practice, the things which were moft 
ufeful and necefiary; remain untouched and 
neglected. I have, however, fome reafon to 
know, from my own peculiar obfervations be- 
fore related, what may be done in this ftudy ; 
in thefe I have laid open, in fome degree, the 
myfteries of nature, and clearly exhibited to 
view the adorable wifdom obfervable in them. 
Indeed, if we ferioufly confider what admira- 
ble phenomena remain to be further invefti- 
gated, and obferved ; and with what {plendor, 
clearnefs, and beauty, nature exhibits herfelf in 
thefe infects; and how {wiftly, yet how re- 
gularly fhe performs thefe great operations, 
we muft own, certainly, that fhe appears, as it 
were, to have expended the utmoft ftrength of 
her wifdom on them, and to have no where fo 
liberally, and clearly prefented her impenetra- 
ble and inexplicable miracles, to be viewed by 
thofe who worthily ftudy her works. 
Whilft the preceding fheets were at the prefs, 
the incomparable anatomical obfervations of 
Dr. Marcellus Malpighius, profeffor of phyfic 
and philofophy, in Bologne, on the Silk-Worm, 
and its Butterfly, which the Royal Society of 
London, inftituted to promote natural know- 
ledge, caufed to be publifhed this year, 166y, 
were kindly fent to me by the noble Theve- 
not, whofe merit and zeal to promote natural 
knowledge, are fufficiently known to all who 
happened to be at Paris, and prefent at the 
weekly difputations inftituted by him. And 
as the celebrated phyfician, juft mentioned, 
feems to have attained, by his extraordinary ac- 
curacy, the end he propofed to himfelf in thefe 
celebrated obfervations ; we may particularly 
remark, -that after that exact obferver, An= | 
drew Libavius, he is the only perfon who ex- 
cludes the fancied metamorphofis from the na- 
tural courfe of the changes, which the Silk- 
Worms undergo; and has publifhed feveral 
things agreeable to truth: thefe, he confefles, 
became known to him by chance. I {hall in- 
fert his words, as being moft true, and worthy 
of perufal. <“ And at length, within four 
‘¢ days,” fayshe, ‘‘ in which time the heart of 
“ the Silk-Worm continues moving flowly, 
“ and the body is growing bigger, having 
; thrown 
