THE GLOW-WORM 135 



a great descent to speak of such a thing as a glow- 

 worm, that poor grub -like, wingless, dull - coloured 

 crawler on the ground, as little attractive to the eye 

 as the centipede, or earwig, or the wood-louse which it 

 resembles. Nor is the glow-worm a southern species, 

 since it is no more abundant in the warmest district of 

 Hampshire than in many other parts of the country. 

 Nevertheless, when treating of the Insect Notables of 

 these parts, this species which we call a " worm " can- 

 not be omitted, since it produces a loveliness surpass- 

 ing that of all other kinds. 



Here it may be remarked that all the most beauti- 

 ful living things, from insect to man, like all the 

 highest productions of human genius, produce in us 

 a sense of the supernatural. If any reader should say 

 in his heart that I am wrong, that it is not so, that 

 he experiences no such feeling, I can but remind him 

 that not all men possess all human senses and faculties. 

 Some of us many of us lack this or that sense 

 which others have. I have even met a man who was 

 without the sense of humour. In the case of our 

 "worm," unbeautiful in itself, yet the begetter of so 

 great a beauty, the sense of something outside of nature 

 which shines on us through nature, even as the sun 

 shines hi the stained glass of a church window, is 

 more distinctly felt than in the case of any other 

 insect in our country, because of the rarity of such a 

 phenomenon. It is, with us, unique ; but many of us 

 know the winged luminous insects of other lands. 



