96 THIS bbb-kbeper's guidb ; 



upon these wondrous beauties and marvels of God's own 

 handiwork — Nature's grand exposition ? Father, why would 

 not a set of dissecting instruments be a most suitable gift to 

 your son 7 You might thus sow the seed which would germi- 

 nate into a Swammerdam, and that on your own hearth-stone. 

 Messrs. Editors, why do not you keep boxes of these instru- 

 ments for sale, and thus aid to light the torch of genius, and 

 hasten apiarian research ? 



TRANSFORMATION OF INSECTS. 



What in all the realm of nature is so worthy to awaken 

 delight and admiration as the astonishing changes which 

 insects undergo ? Just think of the sluggish, repulsive cater- 

 pillar, dragging its heavy form over clod or bush, or mining 

 in dirt and filth, changed, by the wand of Nature's great 

 magician,' first into the motionless chrysalis, decked with 

 green and gold, and beautiful as the gem that glitters on the 

 finger of beauty, then bursting forth as the graceful, gorgeous 

 butterfly ; which, by its brilliant tints and elegant poise, out- 

 rivals even the birds among the life-jewels of Nature, and is 

 made fit to revel in all her decorative wealth. The little fly, 

 too, with wings dyed in rainbow hues, flitting like a fairy 

 from leaf to flower, was but yesterday the repulsive maggot, 

 reveling in the veriest filth of decaying Nature. The grub 

 to-day drags its slimy shape through the slums of earth, on 

 which it fattens ; to-morrow it will glitter as the brillant set- 

 ting in the bracelet and ear-drops of the gay and thoughtless 

 belle. 



There are four separate stages in the development of 

 insects : The egg, the larva, the pupa, and the imago. 



The egg. 



This is not unlike the same in higher animals. It has its 

 yolk, the real egg, and its surrounding white or albumen, like 

 the eggs of all mammals, and farther, the delicate shell, which 

 is familiar in the eggs of birds and reptiles. Eggs of insects 

 are often beautiful in form and color, and not infrequently 

 ribbed and fluted (Fig. 41), as by a master hand. The form of 

 eggs is very various — spherical, oval, cylindrical, oblong, 



