WATER INSECTS. 49 



used formerly to see salmon ova, preserved in 

 salt, sold at the fishing-tackle shops for bait. 

 This mode of fishing is so deadly that it is 

 now made illegal. 



Then we have water insects innumerable. 

 The common water shrimp, for instance, 

 of which I now show specimens, finds out 

 the nests, and treats the eggs with as much 

 mercy as rats do the grain in a wheat 

 stack. These water shrimps will get into 

 hatching-boxes, and if ever we choose an 

 animal to lead a forlorn hope into a fortress, 

 let it be the water shrimp ; if he cannot 

 get in himself through the perforated wire, 

 he sends in the junior members of his 

 family, who, sharing the fate of Horace's 

 weasel, grow so fat and well that they 

 cannot get out again. 



