BY W. R. COLLEDGE. 119 



where the proboscis and attentife lie, and the lighter curvature 

 behind indicates the outline of the end of the wings, also of ths 

 legs, which pass into the lower part of the case. Before 

 dismissing his lordship, I must point out his swimming ap- 

 paratus. Instead of the four-bladed propeller, formerly possessed, 

 he has a new one on his latter end. In fact, by taking a couple 

 of palm-leaf fans and laying them side by side, one overlapping 

 a little the edge of the other, then you would get an accurate 

 representation of the double paddle of the pupa of the mosquito. 

 In swimming, these flippers are contracted towards the head and 

 thrust violently backwards, the force of the stroke driving the 

 body forward a considerable distance. Sometimes, if alarmed, 

 he gets into such a dreadful hurry, and lets out so suddenly, 

 that he turns a series of somersaults, going over and over, head 

 over heels, until he reaches a safe place. I have now another 

 slide of living things to show on the screen (which, unfortun- 

 ately, cannot be reproduced to the readers of this paper). Here 

 is a faaiily of pupi disporting themselves in the water. Their 

 m)tions a;nply prove all that I have been speaking to you of 

 them. Froin their sudden outshoots you might imagine they 

 were nitercolonial footballers, and that those chaps sucking air 

 at the top through their breathing horns were just taking a spell 

 after a supreme kick. 



Now comes the final change. I watched, often and long, 

 before I found one in the actual process of emerging into 

 mosquito life. One morning I had this pleasure. On the top 

 of some water lay a dark-coloured pupa, looking big about the 

 shoulders. Suspecting what was going on, I lifted him out on 

 to a glass side. Then I saw he had burst his coat between the 

 shoulders, and in another minute he was clear out. The old 

 papa-skin lay empty on the slide, and he stood beside it a 

 fully-fledged mosquito, perfect in every part. The whole process 

 did not take more than two minutes. I daresay I helped him 

 to get free by lifting him out and setting him on solid ground. 

 Since then I have often watched the process, and have noticed 

 that, when a little way out, he frees himself by bending forwards ; 

 this releases a little of the back and wings ; then bending 

 backwards a little, more of the legs are freed, and so he indulges 

 in a slow rocking motion. When the front pair of legs get out, 

 his progress is accelerated ; for these are set down, and the 

 leverage they give soon clears the rest of his body. Sometimes 



