Lif] AND SYMBOLS. 195 



the canopy formed by the outgrowth of a solitary tree will 

 frequently overshadow an area of seventeen hundred square 

 yards. D. 



The Mirage of Life. 



The ardent imagination of youth, and the eager desire of 

 hopeful men, often produce to the eye of faith glorious and 

 glowing visions of a bright future, which, alas ! are like a mirage. 

 We know that the mirage for the most part occurs in exten- 

 sive plains when the weather is calm and heated by the sun. 

 The plains of Asia and Africa have become celebrated in this 

 respect ; thus during the expedition in Egypt, the French army 

 frequently experienced cruel deceptions. The ground of Egypt 

 forms a plain perfectly horizontal ; the villages are situated on 

 small eminences. In the morning and evening they appear in 

 their proper places, and at their real distances ; but when the 

 ground is highly heated, the country resembles a lake, and the 

 villages appear to be built on islands, and reflected in the water. 

 As we approach, the lake disappears, and the traveller, devoured 

 by thirst, is deceived by his hope. ON. 



Independence in Higher Stages of Life. 



Many people fancy that a little fly is only little because it is 

 young, and that it will grow up in process of time to be as big 

 as a blue-bottle. Now this idea is entirely wrong ; for when 

 an insect has once attained to its winged state, it grows no 

 more. All the growing, and most part of the eating, is done in 

 its previous states of life ; and indeed there are many insects, 

 such as the silk-worm moth, which do not eat at all from the 

 time that they assume the chrysalis state to the time when they 

 die. o. o. 



Infinitesimal Life. 



The genus vibris is the type of a tribe of animalcules commonly 

 known as microscopic eels, remarkable for their extraordinary 

 minuteness. One species is parasitic upon wheat, and when 

 full grown attains a quarter of an inch in length; but the 

 young are so microscopically small that 30,000 might be con- 

 tained in a single grain of wheat. D. 



