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‘Then the inward parts of the Worm’s tail in- 
fenfibly feparate from the outmoft fkin, and be- 
come greatly contracted: and this perhaps does 
not happen without pain to the creature: for this 
external fkin is then commonly gathered into 
three, and fometimes into four windings, ‘Tab. 
XLI. Fig. 1. aaa, and its extremity is left like 
an empty fpace, into which the air penetrates, 
and foon fills the place which the body had be- 
fore occupied, but has now left vacant by con- 
tracting itfelf. If this void {pace be not filled 
up by the fucceeding air, the {kin of the tail be- 
comes curled inte itfelf: but this I obferved only 
once. 
Thus this infect is by degrees changed within 
its own fkin, nor does it before this time caft it, 
or is it outwardly altered into a confpicuous 
Nvmph; fo that this order of tranfmutations is 
entirely different from that obferved in filk 
Worms, and other innumerable fpecies of in- 
fects. 
I have often feen this Worm, in the fpace of 
twelve hours, that is from fix in the evening to 
feven in the morning changed, into a Nymph, 
And all thefe things are performed in.a hidden, 
obfcure, and unknown manner, inwardly within 
the fkin, which lock them up, as it were, from 
our view. For this reafon, this fpecies of me- 
tamorphofis has been tortured, as a thing fo mon- 
ftrous and incomprehenfible by thofe, who, like 
the dog in Egypt, look only in a flight aud cur- 
fory manner into nature *, 
When the Worm, which is thus to be changed, 
has a foft fkin; that fkin neceflarily accommo- 
dates itfelf to the changes and contractions of the 
internal and invifible body of the Nymph. And 
hence it happened, that even the moft learned, 
who have wrote on this fubject, have not {crupled 
to give thefe infects the name of eggs: in which 
indeed they have committed a very great error, 
and corrupted the natural miracles and truths of 
God. ‘Thus they think and infert, that one in- 
fect is changed in this inftance into another; nay, 
that it again becomes an egg ; and that the eggis 
afterwards changed into aFly, by a rafhly imagin- 
ed abfolute metamorphofis: others add, that all 
thefe things are produced by chance, and from 
putrefaction: and this indeed is the fhort path to 
atheifm. For, if the generations of things be fo 
fabject to chance, what prevents man from be- 
ing thus as eafily produced in the fame manner ? 
‘This alfo fome have not fcrupled to declare in 
their writings. God is certainly as admirable in 
the ftructure of infects, asin that of man. The 
body of a beaft deferves as great admiration as 
the human body, if we confider both in their 
kind and nature. Both far furpafs the {phere of 
our inquiry: both are incomprehenfible and im- 
penetrable ; fince innumerable divine miracles 
are contained therein, 
Whilft this Worm therefore is changing with- 
in its fkin, the body, head and tail infenfibly fe- 
* "The hardnefs of the exterior fkin, in this and many of the other Worms which change into Nymphs, under a covering of their 
op? NA URE. lor 
parate from the outmoft invefting fkin. The 
legs alfo about that time, and their cartilaginous 
bones, are, by reafon of the joints, drawn back 
from them, left intirely empty within; and 
hence they are drawn backward or inward to the 
orifice of the mouth, and there they Jie unmov- 
ed. ‘The Worm at that time alfo lofes all its 
fkull, and the beak, together with the horny 
bones belonging thereto; for all thefe remain 
fixed in the {kin of the head. From thence it 
afterwards draws its horns, its trunk, and other 
parts, which are there inwardly increafed, and are 
afterwards to be feen in the Nymph. — 
A matter worthy of great notice here, is this: | 
the optic nerves feparate alfo from the eyes, and 
no more perform their former office. The 
mufcles of the rings alfo in like manner, anda 
great part of the pulmonary points of refpiration 
are feparated from the external skin. Thus the 
whole body contraéts itfelf by degrees, into a 
{mall compact mafs. 
But the greateft change is obferved in the hin- 
der part about the tail: for there the body, hav- 
ing quitted, Tab. XLI. Fig. 4, c, d, its three ex- 
treme rings together, rifes up into the fourth, e, 
and fometimes even to the fifth ring, ‘There- 
fore, if you view, in the light, the Worm, which 
hath been for fome time changed ; you will very 
diftincily, and without the aid of diffection per- 
ceive, that its hindmoft rings are empty, or are 
only filled with air: this is likewife, though 
more obfcurely, obferved between the head, and 
the fecond ring f’ Bur the place which the 
Nymph, enclofed within poffeffes, then appears 
black, g; becaufe it does not tranfmit a fuffici- 
ent quantity of the rays of light. | 
At this time the gullet too, the inteftines, and 
the pulmonary tubes in a manner caft a coat 
within the {kin: this indeed is alfo very fingular, 
and amazingly fhews the miracles of God; teach- 
ing at the fame time, how the former body is 
entirely caft off and renewed. In order to make 
this evident, it is neceflary to open the fkin of 
the abdomen ;: after this the Nymph, Fig, 11. a, 
and its parts, together with the caft, pulmonary 
pipes, 24, will manifeftly prefent themfelves to 
view: nay, it will likewife be feen, how the 
Worm hath caft off, c, all the parts of its head 
and beak, and is became entirely immoveable, 
except in the tail; by means of which it ftrongly 
moves, agitates, and draws itfelf back even to 
the fifth ring of the body. 
The whole Afpera arteria about that time cafts 
its {kin on each fide. For, as this confifts of two 
remarkable tubes; therefore they are firft turned 
out of the body, whilft the Worm is contracting 
its tail, and are left fticking in the empty fkin, as 
I fhall more clearly defcribe, when I come to ex- 
plain the method whereby the Worm, when 
changed into a Fly, breaks forth out of its {kin ; 
for it then draws the exuviz: from the other pul- 
monary pipes. 
own outer fkin, which forms a kind of fhell, makes it appear ftrange, that fo feeble a creature as the young Fly can get out. But 
nature has provided for this. ‘There is always a weak part of this fhell, where the head of the Fly lies: there are certain futures, 
at which it may eafily be burft open: and the means ordained for thefe, are the fwelling and fubfiding of the creature’s head, ‘This 
becomes inflated like a blown bladder, and then fhrinks down again at repeated intervals; and thefe motions burft the fhell. 
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