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METAMORPHOSIS 



It is pretty generally known in these advanced 

 days that all insects undergo striking changes 

 during their lives. Growth is with them not 

 so much a mere increasing of stature as a develop- 

 ment of parts, a gradual change from a fitness for 

 one existence to that of another. 



Thus the gorgeous dragonfly, the most perfect 

 master of aerial navigation, spends the earlier 

 part of its life crawling in the gloomy depths of 

 a muddy pond in company with many other of the 

 familiar winged spirits of air, such as the caddis- 

 flies, the mayflies, etc. The beautiful butterflies 

 which sport among the flowers in the hey-day of 

 summer, live for a much longer period as mere 

 grovelling caterpillars, sometimes of the most 

 insignificant appearance. 



It is this infinite variety of habits, this extra- 

 ordinary change of life and occupation, which 

 makes insects such a fruitful field for study. The 

 marvel is, not that we never succeed in learning all 

 about them, but that we have managed to discover 



so much, and it is not surprising to learn that 



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