THE BEASOX WHY. 331 



"Let him that gloueth r'ory in this that he understandeth and knoweth me, 



tnat I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness 



in the earth : for in these things I delight, saith the Lord." JEE. ix. 



1300. Why do insects multiply so numerously ? 



Because they form the food of larger animals, and especially of 

 birds. A single pair of sparrows and a nest of young ones have 

 been estimated to consume upwards of three thousand insects in a 

 week, 



1301. Why does the " death-watch" maJce a ticking noise? 

 Because the insect is one of the beetle tribe, having a horny case 



upon its head, with which it taps upon any hard substance, the 

 ticking is the call of the insect to its species, just as the noise made 

 by the cricket is a note of communication \vith other crickets. 



There is a superstition connected with the death-watch, which, like most super- 

 stitions, is based upon the theory of probabilities. The death-watch is usually 

 heard in the spring of the year, and a superstition runs to the effect that some 

 one in the house will die before the year has ended. Persons who are super- 

 stitious are never very strict in the interpretation of their predictions ; and 

 therefore, whether a person dies in the house or out of it, in the same room 

 where the death-watch was heard, or across the wide Atlantic, so that there 

 be some kind of relationship, or even acquaintance, between the person who 

 hears the omen, and the person dying, the event is sure to be connected with 

 the prophetic sounds of the death-watch. Little weens the small timber- 

 boring beetle, when he is tapping gently to call his mate, and perhaps peeping 

 into every corner and crevice to find her, that he is sending dismay into the 

 heart of some superstitious listener, who, in ignorance of a simple fact, over- 

 whelms herself with an imaginary grief. 



1302. Why are insects in the first stage, after leaving the 

 egg, said to be in the " larva " state ? 



Because the term larva is derived from the Latin larvated, 

 meaning masked, clothed as with a mask ; the term is meant to 

 express that the future insect is disguised in its first form. 



1303. Why are insects in the second state said to be in 

 the "pupa" state ? 



Because the term is derived from the Latin pupa, from a slight 

 resemblance in the manner in which the insects are enclosed, to 

 that in which it was the fashion of the ancients to bandage their 

 infants. 



130-1. Why are insects in the "pupa " stage, also called 

 '' chrysalides f 



Because, as the Latin term implies, it is adorned with gems. 

 Many chrysalides are ttudded with golden and fearl-UJce spots. 



