MAY-FLY CHANCES. 51 



is heir to, is nevertheless only a partial one. It represents the 

 creature's condition merely in the last and brightest stage of its 

 existence, and gives, therefore, both a mistaken notion as to 

 the duration of its entire life, and an unjust one as to its being 

 made up of pains and perils. In the form of a brilliant flutterer 

 sporting on the morning or the evening sunbeam, and also for 

 ever on the brink of danger, it is true that the infancy, middle 

 life, and old age of an Ephemeral Fly are all comprehended in 

 less than the compass of a day ; yet by each one of the myriads 

 which rise, born as it were anew, from their native streamlet, 

 the boon of existence has been possessed, and, without doubt, 

 enjoyed for the space of two previous years. 



Maternal instinct, wonderfully guided by Paternal Provi- 

 dence, directs each parent May-fly (heedless sporter as she 

 seems) to drop her eggs into the water while she hovers above 

 its surface. From each of these issues, in due time, a wingless 

 six-legged grub,* which bears no resemblance to the perfect in- 

 sect, except, perhaps, in the triple appendage of bristles issuing 

 from the tail. This little animal is provided with a set of breath- 

 ing tubes running along each side of its body, adapted for the 

 extraction of air from water ; also, on each side, eight fins, 

 which by aid of a microscope are clearly discernible. The 

 first care and labour of the larva's life is to excavate for its 

 habitation, within the soft bank of the river, a hole or burrow, 

 proportioned to its size, and below the level of the water, of 



* Vignette. 



