In gathering the material used I think it is quite true that I have
lost as many good subjects as I have secured, in my efforts to
follow the teachings of scientific writers. My complaint against
them is that they neglect essential detail and are not always
rightly informed. They confuse one with a flood of scientific
terms describing minute anatomical parts and fail to explain the
simple yet absolutely essential points over which an amateur has
trouble, wheat often only a few words would suffice.
For example, any one of half a dozen writers tells us that when
a caterpillar finishes eating and is ready to go into winter
quarters it crawls rapidly around for a time, empties the
intestines, and transformation takes place. Why do not some
of them explain further that a caterpillar of, say, six inches in
length will shrink to THREE, its skin become loosened, the horns
drop limp, and the,creature appear dead and disintegrating?
Because no one mentioned these things, I concluded that the first
caterpillar I found in this state was lost to me and threw it away.
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