LOVES OF THE INSECTS." od^) 



tliey may ho seen hovering over tlie lucid pools, or 

 rej^osing on tlic leaf of the water-lily, or on the 

 forget-me-nots on the Lank of the stream or pool. 



When the female lays her eggs, — and this fact 

 is an extraordinary one, as eggs generally are a 

 scquiter to bliss, — the two dragon-flies thus happily 

 conjoined may be seen hovering over a spot above 

 the still water, using their powers of flight in 

 unison, the male kindly consenting to a continuance 

 of dips at the water to enable the tail of the female 

 to touch and drop her eggs upon the surface, when, 

 by the laws of gravity, they sink to the bottom. 

 There is no rudeness, no persecution, in this, — no 

 abrupt seizure or forcible detention. In truths such 

 a method of love-making as that described would, 

 according to any experience of mine, be ''espe- 

 cially tmcomnion among men." So for the laity, 

 as well as for the poor dear insects, I repudiate in 

 gentle, 1)ut firm terms, the allegations of the reverend 

 Mr» Wood, and his friend, Al2:)honse Karr. 



Now, kind reader, — as it is the fashion to call 

 every " reader," though some of them sit down to 

 the work they are perusing with bitter wishes and 

 a gibing pen, — come with me, not for " a Avalk round 

 my garden," but for a walk with me ''round the 



VOL. II. X 



