CAREFUL MOTHERS 



Sacco Sao Francisco. The Paulista might start on his excursion 

 from Ypiranga or S. Anna, and the inhabitant of Recife from the 

 fine park of Dois Irmaos, going through the woods to Macacos 

 station; while the Bahian has the coastal landscape at his disposal. 

 Such a budding naturalist will wander slowly on his way. He will 

 examine the path he is treading, and stand still if a bee flies out of 

 a little hole in the ground ; he will take note of the nature of the 

 burden with which it returns, and will excavate other holes, to find 

 larvae of singular form lying in wait for their prey. On the leaves 

 of the bushes there is much to be seen, particularly on the under- 

 side. He should hold an open umbrella under a bush and beat the 

 boughs with a stick, and examine all the creatures that fall into this 

 receptacle. If he closely examines the bark of a tree, he will find 

 insects whose bodies so exactly imitate the markings of the bark 

 that a passing glance would never detect them. Lastly, it is a fas- 

 cinating pastime to lift the stones at the bottom of a brook, and 

 examine their undersides, and brush off the little worms and insect 

 larvae adhering to them into a glass jar. 



How richly rewarded, how full of interest, one returns from such 

 an excursion ! Even if the man of business has but a few hours in 

 the evenings at his disposal, he can still occupy himself with the 

 things to be seen, and endeavour to understand their meaning. May 

 this book help him to do so! for then all that he has learned will 

 order itself into a harmonious whole, and this alone is an enduring 

 gain. Such knowledge brings the learner, step by step, to a higher 

 plane; he will rise higher and higher above the commonplace of 

 everyday Ufe ; the harmony of Nature will enter into his personality, 

 and he will be freer and happier. 



We will now begin our study of the means which the insects take 

 to ensure the survival of their brood, and we will begin with the 

 simplest forms ; though it must be confessed at once that the laying 

 of eggs is never a matter of complete simplicity. To begin with, 

 there is the instinct which always impels the insect to lay its eggs 

 where the emerging larvae can find their food, quite apart from the 

 devices which are intended to protect the eggs, such as laying them 

 on the underside of leaves, where their enemies are not so likely to 

 see them, or closely adhering to the midrib, or even piled up into 

 little pointed heaps so that they look like the buds or shoots of the 

 plant on which they are laid. 



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