2 TRANSFORMATIONS OF INSECTS. 



Insects fly, crawl, and hum in the forest, along the fields, and 

 about the marsh; and they swim, fight, and devour in the tran- 

 quil glassy pools hour after hour and without ceasing. They 

 embody the very principles of vitality, activity, and destruction. 



Myriads dance in airy flight over the frozen sea, and alight on 

 the ice-bound coasts, where life appears to be impossible, and wliere 

 a few Esquimaux lead a desolate and adventurous existence. They 

 tease the reindeer, and drive them to the region of bitter frost ; 

 and they live upon the offal left by the hunters, or cast up by the 

 tide. 



Many a wandering butterfly has been welcomed by the Alpine 

 climber in his solitude, and vast columns of them have clothed the 

 rigging and sails of ships far out at sea with their painted wings. 

 In the tropics, Avhere Nature revels in an excess of gorgeous 

 splendour, the beetles and the flies compete with the floral world in 

 numbers and in magnificence of colouring. The fire-flies illuminate 

 the shades in the short twilight, and move in graceful curves 

 through the dense woods ; and until night sets in the insect war 

 continues. 



In our temperate climates, where tlie sun is not so fierce and so 

 constantly shining, the decorations of insects are not so intensely 

 beautiful, but they are immensely appreciated ; and the study of 

 the anatomical details of all the kinds, and the examination of 

 their habits and peculiarities, afford endless delight. 



During one part of the year the activity displayed by the little 

 world of insects is unequalled. The caterpillars, grubs, and larvae 

 eat with an incomparable appetite ; they nibble and devour their 

 food incessantly, and make haste to grow as fast as possible. 

 They change their skins over and over again, and sleep for a 

 while as nymphs, pupai, or chrysalides, and awake t9 a new life, 

 which has but a slight resemblance to the old. The wing*ed 

 insects pursue each other, and dance in great companies, urging 

 their short love chase amidst the pendant boughs and the gayest 

 flowers, and then seek restlessly and skilfully the proper places 

 for their eggs. 



Such industrious flies as the bees appear to live in order to 

 work, and are so preoccupied with their undertakings that they 

 seem never to have a moment to lose. There they are, making 



