CONTENTS 



SECTION I. — EGGS OF INSECTS. 



CHAPTER I. — Introductory. 



Page 



All insects come from eggs, 1 



Curious experiment of Kircher, 2 



Virgil's receipt for making a swarm of bees, 3 



Origin of these ancient errors, 4 



Bees in Sampson's lion accounted for, 7 



Fancies of Robinet and Darwin, 9 



Theory of spontaneous generation, 10 



Popular errors respecting blight, 11 



Dr Good's account of blight, 12 



No insect eggs afloat in the air, 1* 



Specific gravity of insect eggs, 15 



Theoretical accounts of honey-dew, 16 



Accounted for by experiments, 18 



Instantaneous appearance of insects, 19 



The ' worm i' the bud' traced to its egg, 20 



Insectiferous winds, 22 



Supposed shower of frogs, snails, &c, 23 



Diffusion of the seeds of plants, 2+ 



Insects jet out their eggs from fear, 25 



Origin of mosses on walls, 27 



Origin of mould in the heart of an apple, SO 



CHAPTER II. 



Physiology of insects" eggs, 33 



Theory of colours meant for concealment, »b. 



Disproved in the case of the eggs of birds, 34 



Illustrated from insect eggs, 35 



Cause of the colours hi eggs, 36 



Structure of insects' eggs, 38 



Eggs of ants, spiders, and glow-worms, 39 



Form nf insect eggs, 40 



Cause of the oval form in birds' eggs, 41 



Sculpture of the eggs of insects, ib. 



Curious appendages to eggs, 43 



Eggs with foot stalks, 45 

 Number of insect eggs, and their fecundity, compared 



with other animals, 46 

 CHAPTER III. 



Maternal care of insects respecting their eggs, 49 



Instanced in a carpenter bee (Chelosioma), 50 



Ichneumons compared to tlie cuckoo, 52 



Proceedings nf a solitary bee (Halictus), 53 



Stratagems of a solitary wasp (Cercerit), 54 



