MAY-FLY CHANGES. 51 



is heir to, is nevertheless only a partial one. It represents the 

 creature's condition merely in the last and brightest stage of its 

 existence, and gives, therefore, both a mistaken notion as to 

 the duration of its entire life, and an unjust one as to its being 

 made up of pains and perils. In the form of a brilliant flutterer 

 sporting on the morning or the evening sunbeam, and also for 

 ever on the brink of danger, it is true that the infancy, middle 

 life, and old age of an Ephemeral Fly are all comprehended in 

 less than the compass of a day; yet by each one of the 

 myriads which rise, born as it were anew, from their native 

 streamlet, the boon of existence has been possessed, and, 

 without doubt, enjoyed for the space of two previous years. 



Maternal instinct, wonderfully guided by Paternal Providence, 

 directs each parent May-fly (heedless sporter as she seems) to 

 drop her eggs into the water while she hovers above its surface. 

 From each of these issues, in due time, a wingless six-legged 

 grub"*, which bears no resemblance to the perfect insect, except, 

 perhaps, in the triple appendage of bristles issuing from the 

 tail. This little animal is provided with a set of breathing 

 tubes running along each side of its body, adapted for the 

 extraction of air from water; also, on each side, eight fins, 

 which by aid of a microscope are clearly discernible. The 

 first care and labour of the larva's life is to excavate for its 

 habitation, within the soft bank of the river, a hole or burrow, 

 proportioned to its size, and below the level of the water, of 



* Vignette. 



