88 EVENINGS AT THE MICROSCOPE 



about the carriage, or described zigzag lines in its flight. 

 The aerial movements of the Hive- bee are more distinct 

 and leisurely. ' ' 1 



You have doubtless often admired the noble Dragon- 

 fly*, with its four ample and wide-spread wings of gauze, 

 hawking in a green lane, or over a pool in the noon of 

 summer. It sails, or rather shoots with arrowy fleetness 

 hither and thither, now forward, now backward, now to 

 the right, now to the left, without turning its body, but 

 simply by the action of its powerful and elegant wings. 

 Leeuwenhoek once saw an insect of this tribe chased by 

 a swallow in a menagerie a hundred feet long. The Dra- 

 gon-fly shot along with such astonishing power of wing, 

 to the right, to the left, and in all directions, that this 

 bird of rapid flight and ready evolution was unable to 

 overtake and capture it, the insect eluding every attempt, 

 and being in general fully six feet in advance of the bird. 

 AJDragon-fly has been known to fly on board a ship at 

 sea, the nearest land being the coast of Africa, five hun- 

 dred miles distant, a fact highly illustrative of its power 

 of wing. 



It is a point of interest to know the structure of the 

 organs by which such results are accomplished, and there- 

 fore we will devote an hour to the microscopical examina- 

 tion of the wings of one or two Insects. Let us begin 

 with the common Fly, one of which, a fine blue-bottle, is 

 somewhat noisily buzzing in the window 



"The blue-fly sung i' the pane" 



as if to invite our attention to him. Well, we will bor- 

 row one of his wings for the lesson: and putting it into 



1 "Intr. to Entom.," Lett. xxii. 



