304 THE DRAGON-FLY. 
British Isles. It is thought that primitive abundance 
may be restored to their now exhausted rivers, and not 
many years hence an acre of water shall be made to 
produce as much food for man as an acre of land. In 
America many persons have engaged in pisciculture as an 
experiment, and some attempts have been made to carry 
it farther ; but as nothing has been done on a large scale, 
no great results have yet been attained. 
THE DRAGON-FLY. 
PLATE 9, 
BY A. S. PACKARD, JR., M. D. 
_ Were we to select from among the insects a type of all 
that is savage, relentless, and bloodthirsty, the Dragon- 
fly would be our choice. From the moment of its birth 
until its death, usually a twelve-month, it riots in blood- 
shed and carnage. Living beneath the waters perhaps 
eleven months of its life, in the larva and pupa states, it 
is literally a walking pitfall for luckless aquatic insects ; 
but when transformed into a fly, ever on the wing in pur- 
suit of its prey, it throws off all concealment, and reveals 
the more unblushingly its rapacious character. 
Not only does its horrid visage and ferocious bearing 
frighten children, who call it the “Devil’s Darning- 
needle,” but it even distresses older persons, so that its 
name has become a byword. Could we understand the 
language of: insects, what tales of horror would be re- 
vealed! What traditions, sagas, fables, and myths must 
adorn the annals of animal life regarding this Dragon 
—s insects ! 
