The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1886-10-16


centre. Through this opening I push
the end of branch until it is several
inches in the water; and then put the
caterpillar on the leaves, and let it eat
away until it has eaten all the leaves but
one or two or until the leaves begin to
wither. In this way, have to change
the leaves only once day, and sometimes
not SO often"
"See," she continued, he has chosen
the apple leaves, SO we will know which
to feed him." And she pushed the twig
down through the gauze over the water.
II lost magnificent caterpillar once by
not having the gauze over the water. 1t
fell in, and was drowned"
"Hark' exclaimed Nellie. "What is
that noise?'
"He has begun to eat" answered
Cousin Jennie. "See him raise his head,
and bring it down with crunch OF the
fresh, green leaf. They eat more than
twice their own weight OF food in twenty
four hours. Just think how much that
it You weigh about ninety pounds. If
you ate as much In proportion as this
caterpillar doee, you would eat more than
one hundred and eighty pounds of food
OF food in day, and, OF course, still more
as you continued to grow"
'Now come down to my room, and /
will show you the Crecopia moth"
"Oh, how beautiful exclaimed Nellie,
as she saw the magnificent creature lying
in the case. 'Isn't it butterfly? But I
never saw SO large one before"
"No, it is not butterfly. Moths nearly
always fly at night. They have thick
bodies and feathered OF knobbed anten-
nae; while butterflies love the sunlight,
their waists are slender, and their anten-
nae threads terminated by one knob. AS
we will raise both butterflies and moths,
you will soon learn to tell them at
glance My little brother and sister
know many by name, by pe,uliarities of
habit, and by different modes of trans
formation. ! want you to learn by expe-
rimenting for yourself. This moth Ihave
just shown you has wings measuring
from tip to tip, when expanded as you see,
at least five inches and half. They are
covered with dusky brown feathered
scales, and adorned with kidney-shaped
red spot, and reddish-white band, with
blank spot like an eye on it's upper or
fore wings. The soft shading colors
around the edges OF the wings, the irreg-
ular dark bands near the body, the feath-
cred edges where the wings rest against
the body, the stripes on the body itself,
and the beautiful feathered antenn@.
Feed your caterpillar well, and next
April you will have moth like this to
reward you for your care"
"Must wait until then, and where will
1 get the leaves in winter?" asked Nellie
"Ycu must wait until then," said Cousin
Jennie, with a smile; "but you will not
have to feed him long. He looks as
though he was nearly ready to moult for
the last time; and about week after he
mouths, he will spin himself COCOON, and
go to sleep in his brown silk cradle until
next April, when he will spit from his
mouth an acrid secretion, which will burn
hole in the lower end of his cocoon, out
of which he will crawl. He will not look
like this, though. His wings will be all
crinkled and folded up like the leaves of
a rosebud. This fellow unfolded and
dried his wings on my fingers. I grew
very tired holding the restless fellow,
first on one hand and then on another,
for several hours; but I saw the whole
process of the change from the ugly, wet,
crawling thing that came out of the CO.
coon into this magnificent night-bloom-
ing flower"
30 Cousin Jennie, think I shall like
the ugly worm, after all, if it turns into
SO lovely moth as this"
II think you are only prejudiced when
You call caterpillar an ugly worm. In
my eyes, it is lovely, living jewel. Look
at it again. 1t is light Nile green,
adorned with bright coral-red spots; and
those near its head are branchei and
polished. See those range-colored spots
near its legs: they are surrounded with
pale purple rings. Those are called spir-
acles, and are breathing holes. They
breathe through these, and-but there
goes the tea-bell. will tell you more
another time."-E. W. B., IN the Layman.