love's meinie. 41 



winding and turning swiftly in lier chariot, but as being a 

 water-nymph by birth, — " Stagnis quae, fluminibnsque 

 sonoris, praesidet." How many different creatures in one 

 the swallow is by birth, as a Yii-gilian simile is many 

 thoughts in one, it would take many more lectures than 

 one to show you clearly ; but I will indicate them with 

 such rough sketch as is possible. 



45. It belongs, as most of j-ou know, to a family of 

 birds called Fissi-rostres, or, literally, split-beaks. Split 

 heads would be a better term, for it is the enormous 

 width of mouth and power of gaping which the epithet is 

 meant to express. A dull sermon, for instance, makes 

 half the congregation " fissi-rostres." The bird, however, 

 is most vigilant when its mouth is widest, for it opens as a 

 net to catch whatever comes in its way, — hence the 

 French, giving the whole family the more literal name, 

 "Gobble-fly "—Gobe-mouche, extend the term to the 

 open-mouthed and too acceptant appearance of a simple- 

 ton. 



46. Partly in order to provide for this width of mouth, 

 but more for the advantage in flight, the head of the swal- 

 low is rounded into a bullet shape, and sunk down on the 

 shoulders, with no neck whatever between, so as to give 

 nearly the aspect of a conical rifle bullet to the entire 

 front of the body ; and, indeed, the bird moves more like 

 a bullet than an arrow — dependent on a certain impetus 

 of weight rather than on sharp penetration of the air. I 

 say dependent on, but I have not yet been able to trace 



