“Second, the woolly bear will sometimes eat up his smooth-skinned friends. Now, get your glasses and have a peep at the beautiful eggs of the ‘large white’ or ‘cabbage’ butterfly.” “Why, they are not at all like eggs,” said Frank, as he closely looked at them with his glass. “What are they like, Frank?” “They are like little pieces of carved ivory all shaped alike,” Frank replied. “Yes, but that does not give us a very clear idea of their shape,” observed his uncle. “Come on, Tom.” “They are like little Indian clubs with the handles cut off, only they are beautifully marked with long, slender ridges and cross bars.” “That is really a very good account of them, Tom. They are arranged in patches. Count and let me know how many eggs are in each bunch.” The boys counted all the groups of eggs, and found that there were eight eggs in some, nine in others, but that most of them contained ten or more. “Now, how many egg patches are there?” asked Uncle George. “There are seven patches on my leaf,” said Frank. “And ten on mine,” added Tom. “That is about one hundred and fifty eggs altogether,” said Uncle George. “Has each of these bunches of eggs been laid by one butterfly?” asked Frank. “It is more than probable that one butterfly laid the whole lot,” his uncle replied; “for the white butterfly lays, as a rule, over two hundred eggs.” “That is about as many eggs as a hen lays in a year,” said Frank. “Yes,” said Uncle George, “a good hen and a white butterfly lay about the same number of eggs in a year; but the butterfly lays all her eggs in one day. “After laying her eggs, she dies. That is perhaps why she always lays them on the kind of plant which the young caterpillars can feed upon when they hatch out. “Let us look at the caterpillars now. We need not take them out, as we can easily see them through the glass side of the cage. “Notice that the body of the cabbage caterpillar consists of a round, dark coloured head and a number of broad, ring-like divisions. How many of these divisions are there?” “Twelve,” said Frank, after counting carefully. “Right!” said his uncle. “Now, about legs—how many are there?” “There are three pairs of legs on the first three divisions of its body, and a pair of shorter and stouter legs on each of the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth divisions, making seven pairs of legs altogether,” Frank answered. [Illustration: Caterpillars of Magpie Moth.] “That is quite correct, Frank, and I am glad you noticed the difference between the first three pairs and the others. The first three pairs are the creature’s real legs. The others are false or temporary legs.” “There is a row of black spots on the yellow band along its side,” observed Tom. “These are its breathing-holes, Tom. We breathe by our lungs only, but caterpillars and insects have breathing-tubes all over their bodies.”