358 FALLACY EXPOSED. 



nomena which now and then have given rise to the fable 

 in question," says that gentleman, " we will instance one such. 

 It is ascertained that the larger dragon-flies (of the genera Li- 

 bellula and Aeschna) pass their larva-state in the mud of fresh- 

 water lakes and rivers ; and that the dark-coloured larvae of 

 some species are two to three inches in length, and as thick 

 as one's finger ; as also that when full-grown they creep up 

 to the surface of the water, and almost immediately after- 

 wards, and without passing through the chrysalis-state, are 

 transformed into flying insects. In case such larvae, which 

 already in the autumn have acquired their full proportions, 

 should he drawn up from the bottom, and carried into a warm 

 room, it is very possible that in consequence of the genial 

 temperature they should soon have undergone their transition, 

 and have flown about in the form of dragon-flies, which are 

 tolerably large insects. Now if it so happened that a child, 

 who as yet was not well acquainted with the dragon-fly, saw 

 this, and subsequently, and perhaps after the lapse of very 

 many years, recollected for the first time the circumstance, it 

 is very probable that this flying animal was set forth in his 

 imagination in the shape of a swallow ! The larva itself 

 may, in the same manner, very easily have been impressed 

 on his mind under the form of a hopkrumpen fogel that is, 

 a bird all in a heap. 



" Again : one often hears people say, that though it is true 

 swallows do not lie in the water, they, like other small birds, 

 pass the winter in large numbers, stiffened and huddled toge- 

 ther in the holes of trees. This is too palpable a mistake, 

 for it is quite clear that, instead of birds, people have seen 

 bats, which, as is generally known, pass that inclement 

 season in the manner just mentioned, and when taken into a 



