134 NATURE'S TEACHINGS. 



mentioned as the weapon of a subaltern officer. Demmin states 

 that the last spontoons used in France were carried by the 

 French Guards in 1789. 



PERHAPS the Climbing-spur may be familiar to some of my 

 readers, and bring back a reminiscence of boyhood. There is 

 nothing more tantalising to a boy than to see a hawk or mag- 

 pie nest at the top of a tree which is too large to be climbed in 

 the ordinary way, and which has no branches within many feet 

 of the ground. However, boyish ingenuity has brought almost 

 any tree within the power of a bird's-nester by the invention of 

 the Climbing-irons. 



These are made so as to pass under the foot like a stirrup, 

 and can be secured to the leg by leathern straps, the hooks 

 being, of course, on the inside of the leg. The cut represents 

 the Climbing-iron of the right leg. By means of these instru- 

 ments, a very large tree can be mounted, the irons being struck 

 firmly into the bark, and the legs moved alternately, and not in 

 the usual manner of climbing. Sometimes the hook of the 

 Climbing-iron is terminated by a single instead of a double 

 point, but the principle is the same in all. 



WE will now look for similar examples in Nature. 



On the right of the left-hand group is shown the larva or 

 grub of the common Tiger-beetle, which is itself a curious 

 creature. 



It lives in perpendicular burrows, feeding upon those insects 

 which come within its reach. Its usual position is at the upper 

 part of the burrow, with its jaws widely extended, so as to 

 snap up any insect that may venture too near. 



When it has secured its prey, it seeks the bottom of its 

 burrow, makes its meal in quiet, and reascends. How it does 

 so we shall soon see. Towards the end of the body, one of the 

 segments is much enlarged, and has a bold prominence upon 

 the back. On the summit of this prominence there are two 

 horn-like hooks, shaped as seen in the illustration. These 

 hooks are used exactly like the boy's climbing-spurs, the 

 alternate elongation and contraction of the body answering the 

 same purpose as the movements of the boy's legs. When the 

 larva has seized its prey and wishes to retreat, all that it has to 



