28 ORIGIN OF THE SILVER EEL. 



CHAPTER III. 



1. These practical experiments shew the 

 wisdom of the great Creator, and his kind- 

 ness, in making this small land-insect to 

 produce millions of eels a thousand times 

 larger than itself every year thus stock- 

 ing our rivers, bogs, and mires with a fish, 

 which, after a visit to the sea, is so 

 well fitted to form a part of the food of 

 man. 



2. The parent beetle is small and black, 

 and lurks about stones in marshy places 

 and river banks. It is less than the work- 

 ing bee of the hive. It has a couple of 

 hard wing cases. It seldom uses its wings, 

 although I have seen them on the wing in 

 a hot day in July. It breeds in the ordinary 

 way of insects. I have seen both the male 

 and female sitting beside their nest, which 

 was a small hole below a stone. There 

 would be ten to twelve eggs beside them, 



