124 THE WATER CABINET, 
bottom; every time they descend they carry with them 
a minute bubble from the surface. Under a good lens 
the pretty creature changes its form considerably, and 
comes out in the pantomime style, with huge horns, 
goggle eyes, and starched frills of shaggy hair; but then 
the tail becomes the object of attraction, and we watch the 
breathing action of the curious funnel which breaks away 
at an angle from the last segment of the body. 
LARVA OF THE GNAT, NATURAL SIZE AND MAGNIFIED. 
Swammerdam first observed that the breathing tube 
and tail are both anointed with oil, and that if the larva 
is handled roughly the oil is removed, and the grub “ can 
no longer suspend itself on the surface of the water. I 
have, on these occasions, observed it put its tail in its 
