viii CONTENTS. 



TITLE-VIGNETTE. 



Page 



" So issue forth the Seasons." First we have WINTER in his mer- 

 riest mood, represented by the Cricket, bedecked Avith Christmas 

 holly, and alive with fun and jollitj'. By his right hand he holds 

 the Brimstone Butterfly, emblem of SPRING, primrose of papilionsin 

 habits and in hue. Beneath, the jocund Grasshopper, linked to the 

 above by a vernal wreath, figures the bright SUMMER, and in the 

 glowing Peacock Butterfly, rich in her velvet train as the autumnal 

 flowers she frequents, we welcome AUTUMN, bearing the ripe sheaf, 

 and presenting her merry associate with the fruit cf the vine. 



JANUARY. 



1. THE CRICKET. INTRODUCTORY . . ... . 1 



"Episodes, then, they shall be called/' Symbolic portrait of the 

 author in his character of the Cricket, Acheta domestica, selecting a 

 title for his lucubrations 7 



2. THE POINTS OF OUR HOBBY 8 



"To the end of tijne this will carry ws." Emblems of riches, rank, 

 and the, pomps and vanities of life outweighed in the balance by the 

 author's hobby of Entomology under the figure of a May-Fly . 1 5 



3. FLIES IN WINTER, AND A FLY LEAF 16 



" Try Lightness, friend Poet ." A leaf of the Poet's epic failure, 

 exposed to the critical scrutiny of a fly on its return to the author 

 from a butter-shop ......... 23 



4. THE GNAT. A LIFE OF BUOYANCY 24 



" Let us strive to he p up our buoyancy." The buoyant Gnat Pupa, [J 



and the winged Gnat, which half flies, half walks upon the water, 

 figuring the light spirits which dance upon the stream of life, and 

 are unsubmerged by the missiles of care . . . . .29 



5. THE WOOD-ANT AND THE APHIDES 30 



"No one took notice of our poor dripping traveller." The luxuriant 

 and well-fed Aphis, in fashionable attire and sheltered from the 

 storm by her acorn-cup parasol, passes disdainfully by the starving 

 but industrious Ant, seated unsheltered, naked, and solitary, on a 

 toad -stool 3.5 



