A WALK. THROUGH AN ENGLISH LANE. 103 



can cut clean through the top of your finger if he gets 

 a fair bite at it and see how wonderfully he is made. 

 The two fore-feet are swollen into circular cushion-like 

 pads, which, if examined under the microscope, are seen 

 to be set close with suckers of various sizes. Then his 

 spiracles, or breathing-holes, are arranged under his 

 convex wing-covers, which fit so truly against each 

 other that they enclose a large quantity of air, which 

 the beetle respires while he is below the water. It is 

 to obtain a fresh supply of air that he comes to the 

 surface, cocks up his tail, and dives perpendicularly 

 downwards. 



It will be of no use to take him home, for he must 

 be kept by himself, or he would kill all other inhabitants 

 of the aquarium in a few days ; and he is so voracious 

 that he requires nearly as much looking after as a young 

 nestling. He will not even endure the company of his 

 own species ; and if another water-beetle be introduced, 

 they will fight to the death. Even if you give him a 

 companion of the gentler sex, his character loses none 

 of its fierceness ; and the two not only begin matrimony 

 with a little aversion, but end it with the same the 

 conqueror always killing and eating the vanquished. 

 How often have I not warned recent possessors of aquaria 

 to beware the water-beetle ; and how often have I not 

 witnessed their despair at the death of all their stock, 

 and the escape of the murderer, who has just taken to 

 his wings and flown out of the window ! The grub of 

 the water-beetle is also aquatic, and one of the most 



