TRANSFORMATIONS OF INSECTS. 
to 
Insects fly, crawl, and hum in the forest, along the fields, and 
about the marsh; and they swim, fight, and devour in the tran- 
quil glassy pools hour after hour and without ceasing. They 
embody the very principles of vitality, activity, and destruction. 
Myriads dance in airy flight over the frozen sea, and alight on 
the ice-bound coasts, where life appears to be impossible, and where 
a few Esquimaux lead a desolate and adventurous existence. They 
tease the reindeer, and drive them to the region of bitter frost ; 
and they live upon the offal left by the hunters, or cast up by the 
tide. 
Many a wandering butterfly has been welcomed by the Alpine 
climber in his solitude, and vast columns of them have clothed the 
rigging and sails of ships far out at sea with their painted wings. 
In the tropics, where Nature revels in an excess of gorgeous 
splendour, the beetles and the flies compete with the floral world in 
numbers and in magnificence of colouring. The fire-flies illuminate 
the shades in the short twilight, and move in graceful curves 
through the dense woods; and until night sets in the insect war 
continues. 
In our temperate climates, where the sun is not so fierce and so 
constantly shining, the decorations of insects are not so intensely 
beautiful, but they are immensely appreciated; and the study of 
the anatomical details of all the kinds, and the examination of 
their habits and peculiarities, afford endless delight. 
During one part of the year the activity displayed by the little 
world of insects is unequalled. The caterpillars, grubs, and larvae 
eat with an incomparable appetite; they nibble and devour their 
food incessantly, and make haste to grow as fast as possible. 
They change their skins over and over again, and sleep for a 
while as nymphs, pupe, or chrysalides, and awake to a new life, 
which has but a slight resemblance to the old. The winged 
insects pursue each other, and dance in great companies, urging 
their short love chase amidst the pendant boughs and the gayest 
flowers, and then seek restlessly and skilfully the proper places 
for their eggs. 
Such industrious flies as the bees appear to live in order to 
work, and are so preoccupied with their undertakings that they 
seem never to have a moment to lose. There they are, making 
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