EGGS OF INSECTS 127 



which resists fairly strong acids. They differ from 

 those of birds in that they contain no carbonate of 

 lime. There is another circumstance connected with 

 their history which deserves especial notice. The 

 vitality of the eggs of butterflies and moths is not 

 impaired by exposure to extreme cold. 



They may be frozen in a block of ice, and in due 

 time they are hatched, as if nothing unusual had 

 occurred. Were it otherwise, a severe winter would 

 bring about the destruction and extinction of hosts of 

 some of these most beautiful creatures. 



Although these eggs are microscopic, yet the same 

 protecting care is bestowed upon them that is extended 

 to the eggs of the guillemots of the cliffs for their 

 protection, though in a different manner. This bird 

 lays but one egg in the season, and as it is placed on 

 a narrow ledge of rock at a considerable height, if 

 shaped like a hen's egg, it would roll off, and the 

 guillemots would soon become extinct ; but these eggs 

 are tapered to a point, so that when they are disturbed 

 by the birds themselves, or by the wind, they rotate 

 around the narrow end, and cannot wobble off. In- 

 stances of protecting care like this are continually 

 making themselves apparent, and we are not justified 

 in attributing all to the work of a blind chance. 

 Hosts of tiny creatures, glittering in the sunshine, were 

 born this morning at sunrise. At noon they will 

 attain to middle life, at sunset they will die of old age. 

 Do they not teach us a lesson ? 



