Repeatedly,
I have gone through the entire life process, from mating newly
emerged moths, the egg period, caterpillar life, with its
complicated moults and changes, the spinning of the cocoons,
the miraculous winter sleep, to the spring appearance; and with
my cameras recorded each stage of development. Then on platinum
paper, printed so lightly from these negatives as to give only
an exact reproduction of forms, and with water colour medium
copied each mark, line and colour gradation in most cases from
the living moth at its prime. Never was the study of birds so
interesting.
The illustration of every moth book I ever have seen, that
attempted coloured reproduction, proved by the shrivelled bodies
and unnatural position of the wings, that it had been painted from
objects mounted from weeks to years in private collections or
museums. A lifeless moth fades rapidly under the most favourable
conditions. A moth at eight days of age, in the last stages of
decline, is from four to six distinct shades lighter in colour
than at six hours from the cocoon, when it is dry, and ready
for flight.
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