160 The Naturalist in Siluria. 



with my limited knowledge of entomology I was unable 

 to identify either. The new-comer was also light- 

 coloured ; and the two proceeding in opposite directions, 

 but along the exact same line, it was evident they must 

 meet head to head. This in point of fact they soon after 

 did, their heads coming in collision, both evidently 

 taken by surprise at the unexpected encounter. Bat 

 instantly recovering from it, they began a battle of the 

 fiercest. Though matched in size, the grub appeared to 

 be the more powerful and attacking party, its quick, 

 violent contortions seemingly meant to enfold and crush 

 the perfect insect, its adversary, while the latter looked 

 as though struggling to escape. At that moment I 

 would have given five shillings for five minutes' use of a 

 microscope; as a glance through one would no doubt 

 have revealed the varying attitudes of these miniature 

 combatants, engaged in a strife, no doubt deadly as 

 between lion and tiger, if on a smaller scale. I at first 

 supposed that the crawling insect was but endeavouring 

 to get out of the clutches of the jumping one, and ex- 

 pected soon to see it dead and devoured. Not so, how- 

 ever, was the result ; for, after more than a minute spent 

 in wriggling and wrestling, the antagonist somehow or 

 other got separated, and the crawler crawled away, 

 apparently unharmed. Then the behaviour of the grub 

 afforded me another spectacle, interesting as that which 

 had preceded, and further proving it the aggressor. It 

 turned to and fro on the velvet, darting out its head, first 

 to one side then to the other, in rapid succession, as a 

 hound trying to recover a lost scent, evidently in search 

 of the escaped enemy ! 



Were our eyes magnifying glasses, in the world of 

 Liliputian life we should, no doubt, often witness hostile 



