118 



EVENINGS AT THE MICROSCOPE. 



little boys who bathe hold in such salutary awe under the 

 name of Toe-biter. We have turned the tables upon the 

 warrior, and have bitten his toe — off, and here it is. This 

 is the tarsus of one of the fore limbs. 



The peculiarity that first strikes us is that the first 

 three joints are as it were fused into one, and spread out 

 so as to make a large roundish plate. The under surface 

 of this broad plate is covered with a remarkable array of 



FOOT OF WATER-BEETLE. 



a. Large Sucker, hb. Two smaller suckers, 

 c. Small crowded suckers. 



2. One of the last more 

 enlarged. 



sucking-disks, of which one is very large, occupying about 

 a fourth part of the whole area. It is circular, and its 

 face is strongly marked with numerous fibres radiating 

 from the centre. Near this you perceive two others of 

 similar form of structure, but not more than one-tenth 



