14 
T proceed any further in fhewing how it throws 
this fkin off; for it is neceflary to know thefe 
particulars, in order to acquire a true and juft 
idea of the nature of the Aurelia. ‘This, in- 
deed, is no more than a beautiful and orderly 
external reprefentation of fuch limbs of the 
Caterpillar as have grown under its fkin: for 
though the limbs, now mentioned, may be feen 
under the ‘infeét’s fkin, at the ‘time it crawls 
and eats in the form of a Caterpillar, neverthe- 
lefs it is, in this ftate, on account of their ex- 
treme tendernefs and delicacy, a very difficult 
matter to have a fatisfactory view of them. 
They are, in a manner, as fluid as water; and 
they lie folded up in many very tender mem- 
branes, interwoven with pulmonary tubes. The 
beft time to obtain an elegant view of them, is 
when the Caterpillar is juft about throwing off 
its {kin, and exhibiting to open view the mira- 
culous operations of nature, which it hitherto 
concealed. 
By {tripping the Caterpillar of its fkin at this 
period, we may perfectly gratify our curiofity 
in this refpect: we may then plainly perceive, 
that it has two antennz or horns, Tab. XXXV, 
Fig. 11. aa, and the two thanks of a trunk, 44. 
There are alfo vifible two fharp protuberances, 
cc, which may be very well called the forks, 
or furcille of the future infe¢t, on account of 
their great refemblance to thofe parts. The 
eyes, dd, thew themfelves alfo, under thefe pro- 
tuberances; and a little backwards, in the tho-. 
rax, are four wings, e@. ‘Thefe lie in folds 
under the fkin, like all the other parts, fo that 
they may be confiderably extended. Near 
thefe wings there appear fix legs, {pringing 
from the thorax: thefe have changed their 
fkins. All the other ten legs, with their inte- 
guments, have now been thrown off, with the 
common fkin; of which, as already obferved, 
it is neceflary, upon this occafion, to ftrip the 
infect. The fame happens to the fharp-pointed 
hairs that grow on the Caterpillar’s back ; but 
thefe laft leave very confiderable marks behind 
them. Laftly, the other rings of the body, 
ify and the tail, g, fhew themfelves in their 
proper places. 
Having duly attended to the foregoing par- 
ticulars, and fixed them deeply in our memory, 
as the foundation on which it is intended we 
fhould build all our future inquiries; the next 
bufinefs is to obferve, how wonderfully all thefe 
parts are placed and diftributed under the fkin. 
But here I muft obferve, that they do not na- 
turally lie in the fame order and manner in 
which, for the fake of perfpicuity, I have re- 
prefented them ; fo far from it, that the extre- 
mities of the four wings are enclofed in the 
fame {kin with the four hinder legs of the firft 
feries; and the horns, trunk, and furcille, 
are folded and laid up within the fkull in a 
mott furprifing manner. 
Thefe little horns, or antennz, are fixed by 
an articulation, Fig. m1. @@, to the forepart, at 
the bafe of the head, where they form fome 
windings and turnings under the fkull near the 
eyes, and againft the bafe of the trunk; to all 
The B OOK of Ni ARTO Rp) of 
which parts they are faftened, by means of 4 
great many membranes full of ligaments. This 
is their natural fituation; from which I have 
been obliged to deviate in my delineations, the 
better to exhibit the other parts which they 
cover, and likewife becaufe I cannot now {pare 
the time requifite to make two drawings, 
which it would be otherwife neceffary to give. 
The probofcis, or trunk, Tab. XXXV. Fig. 111. 
6b, is folded up alfo in a furprifing manner, 
and placed in the forepart of the fkull; but 
here I reprefent it as drawn out a little. The 
forks, or furcille, likewife, cc, are plaited and 
folded up. Under thefe forks lie the eyes, dd. 
We may perceive, in the middle of the head, 
that portion of the fkin which lies under the 
middle of the fkull, e, and there joins the root 
of the trunk or probofcis, ff Between the 
foldings of the probofcis appear two {mall 
parts, lying againft each other, g. ‘Thefe are 
called furcille in the Butterfly, becaufe the 
trunk, when curled, hides itfelf between them, 
as between the two tines of a fork. All thefe 
things are fo wonderful, that I have thought it 
beft to reprefent them larger than the life. 
The particulars here named, being rightly 
underftood, the change, or, to exprefs myfelf 
more properly, the growth of the creature from 
the Caterpillar-ftate into an Aurelia, cannot 
but appear plain and intelligible; for the whole 
operation confifts in this, that the Caterpillar 
cafts its {kin, and fhews the parts which hither= 
to lay concealed; unfolds its limbs, and ar- 
ranges each in its right place with great regu- 
larity and order. ‘This is the whole operation, 
to which fo many authors have fubftituted a 
monftrous metamorphofis, or abfolute change 
of one creature into another, not to be found. 
any where but in their own mifguided imagi- 
nations. What wonder then, if, in their vain 
and idle attempts for fome hundred years paft 
to explain this metamorphofis, they fhould 
have met with no fuccefs? Thus it is, that we 
are apt to err, when, depending too much on 
our own reafon and imaginations, we fit down 
contentedly in our ftudies, and feed ourfelves 
with our own weak fancies, inftead of looking 
for truth into the magnificent works of the 
Creator, though fuch in{fpection alone can give 
us juft notions of what we defire to know. 
There is no difference between the Chryfalis 
and the Caterpillar, but that the former lets us 
fee more plainly the limbs and parts of the 
future Butterfly, notwithftanding the {kin, 
which yet enclofes them. For as foon as the 
Caterpillar has finifhed its web, Tab. XXXV. | 
Fig. 1. a, and has fixed in it, by means of its 
crooked claws, the hinder part of its body, it 
lets itfelf loofe, and hangs head downwards, 
as already mentioned, contracting itfelf almoft 
into a femi-circular form. In this condition 
the creature grows fhorter, and {maller, by 
degrees; and this indeed fo fenfibly, that the 
eye may eafily trace its progrefs: for the third 
and fourth annular divifions of the body, 4, are 
fo remarkably {welled and expanded at this 
time, by the blood and air that dilute the en- 
: 5 clofed 
