146 DISAPPEARANCE OF REMAINS. 



their foliage : and of these countless myriads we are told, truly, 

 that even of those among them permitted to reach their good 

 old age, scarce a single gnat survives a week ; not half the 

 beetles, nor any of the Tipulce, nor grasshoppers, a month ; while 

 few are the butterflies or moths which over-live a fortnight. 

 What has become of them ? may naturally be queried by those 

 who bestow upon the subject a mere passing thought ; and 

 though with those who have learnt something of insect history 

 the marvel is greatly diminished, it still remains matter of some 

 surprise, that of the myriads which die daily round and about 

 our paths, so few " mortal remains" should meet our eye. 

 Something, in short, of the same sort of mystery is attached 

 to their entire disappearance as that which seems to have been 

 noticed by some of old Fuller's " worthies," with regard to 

 the disappearance of pins, which caused them to admire "that 

 so many millions of these useful and neat little articles made, 

 sold, used, and lost in England, should vanish away invisible;" 

 to the which remark, our excellent divine, with gravity becom- 

 ing his profession, and quaintness belonging to his style and 

 character, appends this serious reflection : that " such per- 

 sons may rather wonder how so many that wear them, being 

 no more than pins in the hand of their Maker, do decay, die, 

 and slip down in the dust in silence and obscurity." 



The duration of insect life varies greatly : but there is one 

 remark respecting it of very general application : Its last and 

 most perfect stage is usually the most brief, often immensely 



