CH. ix DRAGON-FLIES 329 



of Learning. During the course of the eighteenth 

 century, the discoveries of Swammerdam and 

 Reaumur slowly made their way into the thoughts 

 of the people, and some acquaintance with the life- 

 history of Insects is now to be counted upon in every 

 reader. The death-like repose of the chrysalis and 

 the emergence of the Butterfly, the short life of the 

 winged Ephemera, and the transformation of the 

 Dragon-fly from a sluggish larva lurking in pools to 

 a glorious winged creature flying swiftly through the 

 air, are now among the every-day illustrations of the 

 preacher and moralist, and form a highly character- 

 istic feature of modern literature. 



It is easy to see how the Dragon-fly in particular 

 came to strike the imagination. Its size and beauty* 

 its singular form, its swiftness and strength, are con- 

 spicuous, to every observing eye. In its habits and 

 life-history we find the most emphatic contrasts. 

 There is the contrast between a sordid life in a 

 muddy pool and the animated life of a creature 

 strong in flight. The graceful form and lovely 

 colours of the winged Insect are combined with 

 fiercely carnivorous tastes. The slender body, 

 adorned with rare and pure colours, the delicate 

 gauzy wings, and the great eyes with the play of 

 light in them, should be associated, we fancy, with 

 the sweet juices of flowers or some other delicate 

 food. But when we capture a Dragon-fly on the 

 wing, and open its mouth, we find it filled with a 

 black mass of small Insects, held over for mastica- 

 tion at a time of repose. 



In the days when as school-boys we found the 



