">(' STRAY MINUTES. 



seemed as if a shower of snow had fallen in the night, their 

 wings being white, and about the size of a broad snow-flake/' 



The remarkable brevity of the Ephemera's life seems to have 

 attracted the notice of the ancients, Aristotle speaking of little 

 animals on the river Ilyparis which live but for a day : those 

 (he observes) among them which die at eight in the morning 

 die in their youth ; those which live to see five in the afternoon, 

 in their old age. 



With one more application to ourselves let us now review 

 the history, as, in the beginning, we examined the structure of 

 our little Day-fly : for in the former, no less than in the latter, is 

 contained a lesson written in characters Divine. What precious 

 time, made up of stray minutes and odd half hours, do we not 

 daily throw away, because " it is not worth while " to employ 

 them? How inanv useful works do we deem it not "worth 



tt 



while" attempting, because life may probably be too short for 

 their completion ! How much of mind do we consider it not 

 " worth while " to cultivate, because hopeless perhaps of living 

 to reap the fruits of our mental labour, forgetting creatures of 

 a dav, as we strive to make ourselves that we are sowing not 



/ ' D 



for time, but for Eternity ! In all these things an Ephemeral 

 Ely may teach us wisdom. Although a few summer hours con- 

 stitute his all of life, not a moment of those hours is thrown 

 away : with him all is ceaseless activity and consequent en- 

 joyment ; and, early as he dies, it is not until he has performed 

 the purpose of his creation. 



* Insect Transformations, p. 310. 



