Tra] AND SYMBOLS. 355 



its degraded origin. The preacher looks over his congregation, 

 and as he sees those who have become noble and virtuous, he is 

 able to take heart for new work ; for. as he remembers in their 

 presence the debased and the wicked who are yet to be trans- 

 formed, he says, " And such were some of you ; but you are 

 regenerated by the higher Power," and those others may be 

 changed likewise. IN. 



Transformative Forces. 



Every butterfly begins life as a grub developed from an egg ; 

 then it becomes a " chrysalis ; " only in its third and last stage 

 is it a winged creature. Not that the grub is metamorphosed : 

 it contains within its soft little body the whole of the future 

 butterfly, and when the chrysalid condition is assumed, the 

 butterfly often shows as plainly in it as a flower while wrapped 

 in its calyx. In other words, the transition from the grub to 

 the butterfly is not a "transmogrification," but a simple casting- 

 away of outer vestments, and a growth of the immature creature 

 within to full and royal ripeness. What a marvellous thing it is 

 that an insignificant dot of an egg should contain wrapped up 

 within itself all this transformative force ! Does man possess 

 such a power ? A possible " yes " suggests an explanation of 

 many grand problems affecting futurity. LI. 



A Series of Marvellous Transformations. 



The genus CEstrus, the gadflies, are formidable insects, which 

 attack the horse, the sheep, and the ox. The (Estrus equi is 

 found in France, in Italy, and also in the East, especially in 

 Persia. During the months of July and August it frequents 

 pastures and deposits its eggs chiefly on the shoulders and 

 knees of horses. In order to do this, the female suspends her- 

 self in the air for some seconds over the place she has chosen, 

 falls upon it, and sticks her eggs to the horse's hair by means of 

 a glutinous liquid with which they are provided, and which 

 soon dries. This is repeated at very short intervals. It often 

 happens that from four to five hundred eggs are thus deposited 

 upon the same horse. Guided by a marvellous instinct the female 



