CONTENTS. 



SECTION I.— EGGS OF INSECTS. 



CHAPTER I.— Intkoductory. 



Page 



All insects come from eggs 1 



Curious experiment of Kircher ...... 2 



Virjjil's receipt for making a swarm of bees ... 3 



Origin of these ancient errors 4 



Bees in Samson's lion accounted for .... T 



Fancies of Robinet and Darwin ...... 9 



Theory of spontaneous generation 10 



Popular errors respecting blight . , . . . .11 



Dr. Good's account of blight 12 



No insect eggs float in the air 14 



Specific gravity of insect eggs 15 



Theoretical accounts of honey-dew ..... 16 



Accounted for by experiments ...... 18 



Instantaneous appearance of insects ..... 19 



Tlie " worm i' the bud " traced to its egg .... 20 



Insectiferous winds ........ 22 



Supposed showers of frogs, snails, &c 23 



Diffusion of the seeds of plants ....•« 24 



Insects jet out their eggs from fear 25 



Origin of mosses on walls 27 



Origin of mould in the heart of an apple .... 30 



CHAPTER II. 



Physiology of insects' eggs 33 



Theory of colours meant for concealment . . . , ib. 



Disproved in the case of the eggs of birds .... 34 



Illustrated from insect eggs ....... 35 



Cause of the colours in eggs 36 



Structure of insects' eggs ....... 38 



Eggs of ants, spiders, and glow-worms .... 39 



Form of insect eggs , . 40 



Cause of the oval form in birds' eggs .... 41 



Sculpture of the eggs of insects ib. 



Curious appendages to eggs 43 



Eggs with foot-stalks • ^^ 



Number of insect eggs, and their fecundity, compared with 



other animals ....... 46 



a3 



