248 THE MICROSCOPE AND ITS LESSONS. 



time be drawn out into extended threads, by detaching a 

 few of the eggs from the mass." 



The reference here to spider's eggs will bring to your 

 remembrance my former story of the nest made of spider's 

 silk in ^h'ch 240 eggs were found, and which also 

 enclosed a big bluebottle ; from it we learned one of the 

 very best "lessons" the microscope can teach, namely, 

 that of unselfishness. 



But this illustration of maternal love, as exhibited in 

 this humble inhabitant of the invisible world, would never 

 have been discovered without the aid of the microscope. 

 It has afforded much merriment to the young and 

 astonishment to the old, as one egg after another, artifi- 

 cially hatched, liberated its prisoner. One night I had 

 a lecture to deliver, entitled " Life amongst the Insects." 

 It was at the West End of London, and as I had made a 

 diagram of the mussel-shaped covering, and had drawn a 

 portrait from the life of one of the little creatures, I 

 thought, however, that an object illustration would be a 

 useful addition to my picture ; so, finding an old woman 

 sitting at a stall, I proceeded to purchase a penny orange. 

 I turned one after another of the fruit over and over 

 without finding a single coccus, and the old Irish lady 

 began to wonder what in the world I was after, and she 

 looked suspiciously at what I was doing, till I thought 

 it would be kind to gratify her curiosity, and at last, 

 finding one, " You see," I began, " this little speck ? " 



" Sure, and I do/' she said. 



" Well, mother, do you know this is the body of 

 another mother, which has become a cradle, in which are 

 a number of sleeping babies, all waiting the light of the 

 world to bring them to life ? " 



I gave her the penny, which she looked at suspiciously, 

 1 verily believe that she thought I was an escaped 



