THE MANTIS.— THE NEST 101 



neighbour tormented by some refractory molar. ** Lend 

 me thy tigno : I am suffering martyrdom ! " begs the 

 owner of a swollen face. — '^ Don't on any account lose 

 it ! " says the lender : " I haven't another, and we aren't 

 at the right time of moon ! " 



We will not laugh at the credulous victim ; many a 

 remedy triumphantly puffed on the latter pages of the 

 newspapers and magazines is no more effectual. More- 

 over, this rural simplicit;y is surpassed by certain old 

 books which form the tomb of the science of a past age. 

 An English naturalist of the sixteenth century, the 

 well-known physician, Thomas Moffat, informs us that 

 children lost in the country would inquire their way 

 of the Mantis. The insect consulted would extend a 

 limb, indicating the direction to be taken, and, says the 

 author, scarcely ever was the insect mistaken. This 

 pretty story is told in Latin, with an adorable simplicity. 



