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Nicholeto Chordiman Directory 02
Page 05
Many insects pass the winter in the quiescent or pupal stage; a state exceedingly well fitted for hibernating, requiring as it does, no food, and giving plenty of time for the marvellous changes which are then undergone. Some of these pupae are enclosed in dense silken cocoons, which are bound to the twigs of the plants upon which the larvae feed, and thus they swing securely in their silken hammocks through all the storms of winter. Perhaps the most common of these is that of the brown Cecropian moth, _Attacus cecropia_ L., the large oval cocoon of which is a conspicuous object in the winter on the twigs of our common shade and fruit trees. Many other pupae may be found beneath logs or on the under side of bark, and usually have the chrysalis surrounded by a thin covering of hairs, which are rather loosely arranged. A number pass the cold season in the earth with no protective covering whatever. Among these is a large brown chrysalis with a long tongue case bent over so as to resemble the handle of a jug. Every farm boy has ploughed or spaded it up in the spring, and is it but the pupa of a large sphinx moth, _Protoparce celeus_ Hub., the larva of which is the great green worm, with a "horn on its tail," so common on tomato plants in the late summer.
However, thanks to the great civility of the managers of the Booth Line at Manaos, and to the extreme thoughtfulness of the captain of the _Atahualpa_, I was made quite comfortable in the chart-room of the ship, which was as far away as possible from the noise. We were most of the time in mid-stream. The river was so wide that we could not see anything on either side. We steamed up day after day, occasionally passing islands of some beauty rising above the muddy waters of the Solimoes. Navigation of that river was difficult, as the navigable channels were constantly changing, islands disappearing and new islands forming all the time. Elich Island, in the Timbuctuba group, was fast disappearing, while another island was forming just below it.
Many were the wonderful things which had been found in digging near Cuzco; but most interesting of all to me were the deformed crania--some flattened to almost an incredible extent on the top, others elongated backward to an amazing degree, others still with the central part of the skull deeply depressed, so as to form two globular swellings at the sides. Others, again, had been squeezed so as to form an angular ridge longitudinally on the summit. One skull particularly interested me, which had a pronounced elongation backward, and a dent just above the forehead which must have been caused by tying the cranium while young and still in a soft condition. Most of the skulls were of gigantic size when compared with those of modern times. The lower part was under-developed. Many of them possessed magnificent teeth.
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