v CADDIS-WORMS 241 



I now begin the Natural History of the Caddis- 

 worms with some extracts from Reaumur. 



" One of the objects," says Reaumur, " which makes 

 most impression upon the common run of travellers, 

 is the variety of dresses put on by the inhabitants of 

 different countries. We may well wonder that men 

 who have only one end in view, viz. to protect them- 

 selves against the cold, should make use of so many 

 different means of attaining their object. What a 

 difference there is between the dress of men in civil- 

 ised and in barbarous countries ! How great a 

 variety in the dress of the different civilised countries, 

 and of the different savage countries ! The changes 

 of fashion show clearly that the form of our dress is 

 not always founded upon use or convenience. Insects, 

 like men, form coverings for themselves out of very 

 various materials, but the covering of each species is 

 invariable. Nature has taught each what is best 

 suited for its own use. Insect larvae made use long 

 before us of skins, wool, cotton and silk ; but besides 

 these, they employ other materials which never enter 

 into our own clothing. Some of these larvae make 

 themselves coarse clothes, which might be compared 

 to those of savages ; others display a higher degree 

 of skill. We shall give some examples of both 

 kinds. 



" Belon tells us that the old French name for these 

 aquatic larvae is charrces [carts, or anything dragged 

 along]. They are found in small streams and brooks, 

 in ponds and lakes, in a word in any piece of water 

 which has plants living in or around it. Vallisnieri 

 observed them carefully, and was the first to give an 



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