Clifton College Scientific Society. 99 



sufficiently sharp-sighted), than he hastily shovels loads of 

 sand on his head and vigorotisly throws them, up in quick 

 succession upon the escaping insect, which, attacked by such 

 a heavy shower from above, and treading on so unstable a 

 path, is almost inevitably carried to the bottom. . . . The 

 dry carcase he subseqiiently jerks out of his den, that it may 

 not encumber him in future contests, or betray the " horrid 

 secrets of his prison house," and if the sides of the pit have 

 received any damage, he leaves his concealment for a while 

 to repair it, which being done, he resumes his station.' 



Mr. Greene had hoped to have made observations upon 

 the ' injuries,' direct, indirect, personal, &c. inflicted by 

 insects, but the time having expired, he expressed a hope 

 that he might be able to do so on some future occasion, and 

 concluded his paper with an anecdote from Kirby and Spence 

 respecting a very famihar little insect. ' An amusing anec- 

 dote is told of one of these exhibitions (industrious fleas). 

 A sovereign of one of the petty German states having com- 

 manded the attendance of one of these exhibitions, the 

 performance commenced. Some were harnessed like horses, 

 others dressed up to represent celebrated characters, as 

 I^apoleon, Wellington, &c. But soon the exhibitor became 

 perturbed, looked here and there, searched his repository, 

 and at length stopped the performance, exclaiming, " Where 

 is my Napoleon ?" Search was made, but in vain. " Where 

 can he be gone?" asked the King. The exhibitor looked 

 uneasy, but said nothing. "Tell me," said His Majesty, 

 " what you suspect." " If I may be so bold," replied the 

 exhibitor, " I suspect that it has taken refuge with the 

 Princess H." " Then," said the King, " search shall be 

 made," and the Princess retired. After a while she appeared 

 with the captive, and it was put on the stage ; but, alas ! 

 the exhibitor suddenly exclaimed, '• It is not my Napoleon ! 

 it is a wild one ! " ' 



In the unavoidable absence of J. P. M. H. Stone, a Paper 

 by him on ' Dragons ' was read by J. Allen. 



DRAGONS. 



In endeavouring to investigate the history of Dragons, I find 

 myself limited in every source to which I have applied myself. 

 I have found some clue to their actual existence in those 

 fabulous accounts attributing so much of the ma.rvellous to 

 those real or imaginary monsters of sea and land which we 

 have been accustomed (happily exempted as we are from their 



