118 . THE UNIVERSE. 



produce 746,496 young in three months ; and Linnaeus, 

 basing his computations on the voracity of the hungry 

 offspring of the fly, stated that three flies destroy the dead 

 body of a horse as quickly as a lion. 



The Termites display a still more extraordinary fecun- 

 dity; and, according to Professor Owen, a single Aphis in the 

 tenth generation has produced 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 

 young. 



The eggs of insects, of which our eye only perceives the 

 general shape and color, appear like so many masterpieces 

 of art when the magnifying-glass reveals their delicate chis- 

 ellings and mechanism. They generally approach the form 

 of a sphere or an ovoid. Some butterflies lay cylindrical 

 eggs, and those of the gnat look like charming microscop- 

 ical amphorae. There are some, the extremity of which is 

 surmounted by a crown of points ; others exactly represent 

 a delicate miniature saucepan, the young inhabitant of 

 which, in order to be born, has only to lift up the lid. 



The egg of the louse, which disgusts us so much, presents 

 this curious structure, but, in addition, its opening is embel- 

 lished by a little projecting rim, and a groove into which 

 the edge of the cover enters in such a manner as to close it 

 hermetically. A still more ingenious mechanism is seen in 

 some of the wood-bugs. The young insect does not even 

 require to lift the lid ; there is within a spring on which 

 this office devolves ; at the moment of birth the occupant 

 has only to emerge, and one may say with justice of him 

 that he does not even take the trouble to be born. 



The surface of these eggs is often remarkable on account 

 of the exquisite fineness of the entwining ornamentation. 



