motes of tbe 



cast but little light as they crawled through the 

 grass, and might readily be overlooked by the un- 

 observant pedestrian. Placed under a tumbler, the 

 same number of glow-worms gave about half the 

 amount of light thrown out by the common flash- 

 light fire-fly. The toad ate them, I noticed, but 

 did not illuminate his viscera by so doing. 



Night would indeed be a season of darkness 

 did it depend upon insects for illumination. Even 

 the stars, with not a cloud to veil their glory, give 

 little light, and so the moon is its real depend- 

 ence; and what more can be said of moonlight? 

 It figures in all poetry, and is prominent in all 

 prose. It has been sung until our ears are weary ; 

 it is the burden of many a bright essay and learned 

 dissertation. It is the most familiar of all condi- 

 tions of nature, except sunlight and rain. It is so 

 thoroughly known from every point of view that 

 he is overbold who more than incidentally refers to 

 it. And yet so full has been many a midnight 

 ramble when the moon shone at its best, and so 

 suggestive many an hour when floating on pond or 

 river, guided solely by its light, that I cannot pass 

 by these times in silence. Very different is this 

 same moonlight on the land and on water; and to 

 realize this, it is well to walk for miles over the 

 meadows or fields and then, coming suddenly to 

 the water's edge, take a boat and float aimlessly 

 about. Though you may have been familiar with 

 the locality by day for all your life, it is another 

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