146 GNATS. 



several times, and then seeking out some con- 

 cealed place, either in walls, or under ground. It 

 then loses its caterpillar form, and becomes a chry- 

 salis, that is, an egg-shaped case, enclosing a living 

 creature : and now it has neither mouth, nor eyes, 

 nor legs, nor wings ; it eats nothing, and lies tor- 

 pid. In this state it continues for several months, 

 and then escaping from its confinement, it comes 

 forth a butterfly, furnished with beautiful wings, 

 and with six legs : it has now no jaws, but a curled 

 trunk or proboscis for sipping honey, and has two 

 long horns springing from its head, and only two 

 eyes. Can any thing make us feel more sensibly 

 the power, the wisdom, and the wonderful ways 

 of our Creator ? 



Gnats undergo very singular changes. The 

 female gnat lays her eggs on the surface of the 

 water, and to prevent them sinking, covers them 

 with a kind of glue, at the same time fastening 

 them by a thread to the bottom, that they may 

 not be driven away from a place which she knows 

 to be suited for them. As these eggs grow, they 

 keep sinking deeper and deeper, and at last the 

 young gnats leave them in the form of worms, and 

 burrow in the mud, making themselves a coating 

 of cement. After this they again change their 

 form, before appearing as gnats, and may be seen 

 in stagnant pools, hanging with their head down- 

 wards and their tails on the surface of the water, 

 at which part there is a sort of funnel for breathing. 

 The head is now covered with little hooks, by 



