cocoons were found on limbs, inside stumps, among leaves when
gathering nuts, or queer shining pupae-cases came to light as
I lifted wild flowers in the fall. All these were carried to my
little conservatory, placed in as natural conditions as possible,
and studies were made from the moths that emerged the following
spring. I am not sure but that "Moths of Limberlost Cabin"
would be the most appropriate title for this book.

Sometimes, before I had finished with them, they paired, mated,
and dotted everything with fertile eggs, from which tiny
caterpillars soon would emerge. It became a matter of intense
interest to provide their natural foods and raise them. That
started me to watching for caterpillars and eggs out of doors,
and friends of my work began carrying them to me. 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