esses by which various caterpillars
assume the chrysalis form, and suspend themselves securely in their proper
attitudes, have been most accurately and laboriously chronicled by the
French naturalist, Reaumur; but his memoirs on the subject, which have been
frequently quoted into the larger entomological works, are too long for
insertion here in full, and any considerable abbreviation would fail to
convey a clear idea of the process, on account of the intricacy of the
operations described. So I can only here allude to the difficult problems
that the creature has to solve, referring the reader to the above-mentioned
works for a detailed description of the manner of doing so; or, better
still, I would recommend the country resident to witness all this with his
own eyes. By keeping a number of the caterpillars of our common
butterflies, feeding them up, and attentively watching them when
full-grown, he will now and then detect one in the transformation act, and
have an opportunity of wondering at the curious manoeuvres of the animal,
as it triumphs over seeming impossibilities.

By reference to the figures of chrysalides on Plate I. it will be seen that
there are two distinct modes of suspension employed among them; one, by the
tail only, the head hanging down freely in the air:--in the other, the tail
is attached to the supporting object; but the head, instead of swinging
loosely, is kept in an upright position by being looped round the waist
with a silken girdle.

To appreciate the difficulty of gaining either of the above positions, we
must bear in mind that, before doing so, the caterpillar has to throw off
its own skin, carrying with it the whole of its legs, and the jaws {14}
too--leaving itself a mere limbless, and apparently helpless mass--its only
prehensile organs being a few minute, almost imperceptible hooks on the end
of the tail; and the required position of attachment and security is
accomplished by a series of movements so dexterous and sleight-of-hand
like, as to cause infinite astonishment to the looker-on, and, as Reaumur
justly observes, "It is impossible not to wonder, that an insect, which
executes them but once in its life, should execute them so well. We must
necessarily conclude that it has been instructed by a GREAT MASTER; for He
who has rendered it necessary for the insect to undergo this change, has
likewise given it all the requisite means for accomplishing it in safety."

If we examine a chr