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ubuut the water, as if it was a sheet of glass. Let us lie 

 down aud watch the performances of this little insect. A 

 few seconds of close inspection will enable you to see that 

 the wee spider has a single filament of submerged web 

 attached to her. Presently she gives a frisk of her body ; 

 and you see an air bubble caught between her legs, and 

 down she goes, by the aid of the rope ; the air bubble 

 glistening like a diamond attached to her. She dives be- 

 neath a tiny web the size of a sixpence, attached to some 

 aquatic plant, and there loosing the air bubble, it expands 

 her net, like a small umbrella. Look closer, and you will 

 see that beneath this bell-tent are fastened a clustering ball 

 of eggs, upon the safe keeping of which the fond mother 

 expends all her time, returning only to the surface either to 

 obtain food, in the shape of minute insects, or else to re- 

 plenish her stock of fresh air. How she catches those 

 bubbles with her legs, and conveys them unbroken to her 

 nest, for the sustenance of herself and her young, and how 

 she occasionally takes down with her a small midge as well, 

 are details worthy of the close study of a minute philoso- 

 pher, and you will assuredly rise from such a study with the 

 humbled conviction that you have yet much to learn. 



But there are trout waiting to be caught, and I have 

 vowed either to go home with six brace, or else never to go 

 home again. There are some fine timber trees away up 

 yonder meadow — chiefl}" horse chestnuts, overhanging the 

 stream — and these generally shelter a few good fish ; but 

 the water is very deep, making it impossible to wade, so I 

 doubt whether we can tempt these " whoppers " to their 

 destruction. At this place, another change of fly, you see, 

 is necessary ; because that little crowd of insects flitting to 

 and fro in the shade are grey gnats, and there are a couple 

 of good fish sucking them in whenever they touch the water 

 to deposit their eggs on the surface. All the water-flies lay 

 their eggs in that manner, and the egg, sinking to the 

 river's bed, hatches in due course, producing a minute 

 maggot, which, when fully fed, spins about itself a shell- 

 like cocoon, in which it develops into a perfect fly, and only 

 waits until a fitting state of the atmosphere causes it to rise 



