3IO NATURAL HISTORY OF AQUATIC INSECTS CH. 



19th I received warning from my angler, and the 

 same day, three hours before sunset, I took his boat 

 to examine the banks of the Marne and Seine. Where 

 the shore was level and sheltered from the wind, 

 heaps of dead Ephemer?e could be seen. During this 

 excursion by water I removed some clods of earth 

 which were riddled with holes, and placed them in a 

 large bucket of water as near as possible in their 

 original position. The sides of the clods exhibited 

 larvcE partly or completely exposed. At length the 

 sun set. At that time Ephemera; were to be seen ji 

 flying here and there over the Seine, but at half past jj 

 seven the number showed no important increase. I ^| 

 crossed over into the Marne, where there seemed to ji 

 be still fewer. At about eight o'clock the coming on jj 

 of evening and the flashes of an approaching thunder- «{ 

 storm caused me to return into an arm of the Marne, 

 which washes the stairs leading from my own garden. 

 I had the bucket containing the Ephemcra-larvai 

 carried into the garden, but as soon as the men had 

 reached the top step they cried out that a prodigious j| 

 number of Ephemerae were emerging. I seized one ! 

 of the lanterns with which they had come to meet I 

 me, and ran to see what was going on. All those \ 

 clods which stood out of the water were covered with 1 

 the flies, some beginning to cast their skin, others |j 

 nearly free, others ready to take flight, while in the i 

 water beneath were larvje whose transformation was 

 less advanced. While I was examining the contents 

 of the bucket the storm broke, and forced me to take 

 refuge in the house. Before leaving the bucket I 

 threw over it a cloth, to prevent the Ephemera; from 



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