302 THE GLOWWORM. 



shew how hopeless any attempt must be to pene- 

 trate the secrets of infinity, a conviction, if we 

 " dwell deep in the valley of humility," that will in 

 no manner discourage our pursuits, but rather incite 

 our ardour to investigate so exhaustless a store, 

 which will lead us, from contemplation, to admira- 

 tion, to devotion. 



That pretty sparkler of our summer evenings, 

 so often made the ploughboy's prize, the only bril- 

 liant that glitters in the rustic's hat, the glowworm 

 (lampyris noctiluca), is not found in such numbers 

 with us, as in many other places, where these 

 signal tapers glimmer upon every grassy bank ; 

 yet, in some seasons, we have a reasonable sprink- 

 ling of them. Every body probably knows, that 

 the male glowworm is a winged, erratic animal, yet 

 may not have seen him. He has ever been a 

 scarce creature to me, meeting perhaps with one or 

 two in a year ; and, when found, always a subject 

 of admiration. Most creatures have their eyes so 

 placed as to be enabled to see about them ; or, as 

 Hook says of the house fly, to be " circumspect 

 animals;" but this male glowworm has a contri- 

 vance by which any vipward or side vision is 

 prevented. Viewed when at rest, no portion of his 

 eyes is visible, but the head is margined with a 

 horny band, or plate, being a character of one of 

 the genera of the order coleoptera, under which the 

 eyes are situate. This prevents all upward vision ; 



