trrtw<''o&'s, like those of tortoises and rrpfil^s.-; other* ni$ 

 u'uiiaceous, as are those of birds. But whereas, in large 

 animals, the species comprised under these genera differ 

 only from each other by ja sjender variety ; among?!" in- 

 sects these varieties are so great, that or.e animal does 

 not di$er more from another, than one of their eggs 

 does from another; some of them are round, elliptical, 

 lenticular, cylindrical, pyranudieal, flat: some are quite 

 smnolh, others grooved or channelled. In short, what 

 is more extraordinary, there are some eggs that grow 

 after they are laid: we easily judge that they are en- 

 tirely membraneous. The suppleness of their membranes 

 admits of their extension ; they have pores that imbibe 

 the juices of the plant where they are deposited : these 

 are minute placcntlcc that transmit the nourishment t* 

 the-eijibtyo. 



5. The distinction of insect? into viitipaf0Q3 and ovi- 

 farous does not only take place in species of different 

 classesj but likewise in species of the same g*. rms: there 

 are some "two-winged flies that arc viviparous, and others 

 that are wiparcits. 



Add to this, that some species are viviparous at one 

 time, and oviparous st another: the vine-fretter fur- 

 nishes an example of this. 



AH great animals that are known to us, are distin- 

 guished into males and females, and -propagate the spe- 

 cies by copulation. The same order ]>revails amongst 

 insects, but all the species are not subject to it ; and* 

 of those that are, several afford us some verv relnark- 

 able singularities. In divers species, the male ft winged^ 

 and the female not: the glow-worm, which is sentenced 

 to crawl during its whole life-tune, is fecundated by an 

 insect having four wings. 



Sometimes, this striking singularity is joined \vith 

 others that are still more surprising : every where els 

 we observe a certain proportion betwixt the male and 

 female ; hero this proportion vanishes entirely: the fe- 

 male is a colossus, on which the male walks as on a 

 spacious s|M)t, The ardour aad agility of the male are 



