32<> REMARKS ON INSECTS. 



ftw.iy. A tipula, or crane-fly, loses hg after leg, by mere accident, 

 without its evolutions being at all affected thereby ; and cock- 

 chafers may be often seen moving about with only their head and 

 elytra, having had their abdomen devoured by some bird. The 

 flies that Dr. Franklin found in a bottle of wine that had crossed 

 the Atlantic, and which, though apparently dead, revived in the sun, 

 are well known. But a much more extraordinary circumstance is 

 stated in Rennie's " Field Naturalist," of a quantity of bees import- 

 ed in some hives from Holland, which are stated to have revived 

 and flown about, after having been well boiled in a furnace ! Not 

 having witnessed the operation myself, I would not pledge myself 

 as to the degree of temperature attained by the water in the 

 furnace 5 such a power of enduring heat seems more than can be 

 possible, even to insects, unless future observation should confirm 

 it ; — and we all know it is certain death to the poor fly who, anxious 

 for a drop of savoury cream, slips down the glazed porcelain into 

 the scalding tea. Such accounts recal the caustic language of 

 Cowper : — 



** ' Can this be true 1 * an arch observer cries ; 



* True, Sir, it is, — 1 saw it with these eyes 1 * 



* Sir, I believe it — on that ground alone : 



I could not, had I seen it with my own ! ' " 



Yet it is possible to be too sceptical. Mr. Spence, one of the most 

 eminent entomologists of the day, relates that a beetle he once 

 immersed in hot water, so that it seemed dead, afterwards came to 

 life again ; and Kirby and Spence aftirm that bees will revive after 

 being submersed in water for nine hours;* so that they have a better 

 chance than Gray's cat, which — 



" Three times emerging from the wat'ry flood," 



mewed in vain for a deliverer.t I shall here mention an instance 

 of insect vitality that fell under my own observation a few years 

 ago. Having purchased a second-hand microscope, with various 

 objects fitted up for observation, I noticed that among them was a 

 group of aphides, (plant-lice,) with eggs, glued down to the glass 

 upon which they were placed. These I had several times looked 

 at without observing anything extraordinary. But one evening, 

 some visitors wishing to view the microscope, I brought it for 

 some time within the powerful influence of a gas-light, when, to 

 our astonishment, while gazing at the aphides, they actually 

 assumed motion, and crawled away from the glass beyond the 

 range of vision. At that time the microscope had been for some 

 njonths in my possession j and on inquiring of the optician from 

 whom I had purchased it, he was of opinion that the aphides had 



* " Introduction to Entomology." By Kirby & Spence, 4 vols. 8vo. 



t A curious instance is mentioned by the Rev. Revetl Shepherd, of a spider, which 

 gets a comfortable subsistence by rowing about in a raft among drowning insects, 

 and rescuing from a watery grave such as he could lay his fangs upon. 



