LEAVES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK. 147 



earth which were riddled with holes, and placed them in a large 

 bucket of water. . . . The sides of the clods exhibited larvae 

 partly or completely exposed. At length the sun set. At that 

 time Ephemera were to be seen flying here and there over the 

 Seine. ... I crossed over to the Marne, where there seemed 

 still fewer. At about eight o'clock, the coming on of evening and 

 the flashes of an approaching thunderstorm caused me to return 

 into an arm of the Marne which washes my own garden. . . . 

 Soon the man cried out that a prodigious number of Ephemerce 

 were coming. I seized one of the lanterns with which they had 

 come to meet me, and ran to see what was going on. ... I 

 saw a sight beyond all expectation. The Ephemerce filled the air 

 like the snow-flakes in a dense snow-storm. The steps in my 

 garden were covered to a depth of two, three, or even four inches. 

 A tract of water five or six feet across was completely hidden, and 

 as the floating insects slowly drifted past others took their place. 

 Several times I was obliged to retreat to the top of the stairs from 

 the annoyance caused by the Ephemerce, which dashed in my face, 

 and got into my mouth, eyes, and nose. ... In about half- 

 an hour, or less, the swarms were less dense, and by ten o'clock 

 only a few scattered Ephemerce could be seen on the river. Next 

 day they appeared in undiminished numbers, and in diminishing 

 quantities for four or five days longer." Reaumur speaks of 

 changes of weather and of temperature, and says, " It appears 

 that whatever the weather on the day of emergence — warm or 

 cold — the Ephemerce quit the water at a fixed hour. 



"What becomes of the prodigious swarms of insects when 

 they no longer fly through the air ? They are for the most part 

 already dead or dying. The fishes "enjoy a feast, and the French 

 anglers speak of the Ephetnerce as manna — e.g., they say the manna 

 has begun to appear ; there was a good fall of manna last night ! 

 Whether devoured by fishes or not, those that fall into the water 

 soon perish. More lingering, but not less certain, is the fate of 

 those which descend upon the banks in the neighbouring fields. 

 Heaped one upon another, and unable to move, they die by 

 inches." He speaks of the extraordinary rapidity of the act of 

 emergence. As the wings are not provided with muscles, they 

 are probably expanded by sudden injection of blood from the 



