NATURAL HISTORY CALENDAR. 391 
THE EGGS oF THE DRAGON-FLY.—Since ~~ the article on the 
Dragon. in our last number we have had an oppo rtunity of seeing 
the eggs collected by a friend at Haverhill, July 3d, at the first field- 
meeting of the Essex Institute. The eggs are laid in immense num- 
bers in long ropy, gelatinous masses, nearly one-half an inch thick, 
attached to an aquatic grass. When folded together, the entire mass 
was nearly the size ofa hen’s egg. 
The new-born larve looked like small spiders swimming in the 
water, as the abdomen is very short, and the legs remarkably long, 
the hindermost pair being one-half longer than the body. The body 
is very transparent, and through the thin wall can be seen the blood 
coursing rapidly through the dorsal vessel or heart, and returning 
along the side of the body, as also the smaller currents thrown into 
and returning from the legs. The little creatures are very active, 
— by hundreds through the water, or crawling over the mass 
ofe 
shall Speak at another time of the changes the embryo un 
goes sena hatching. The eggs are only two and one-half oo 
of an inch long. It is probable that they are the young of Diplax, as 
they bear a close resemblance to the pupa (fig. 4) figured in our last 
number 
Rar CHANGE or COLOR IN Fısn.—I caught the other day in 
fishing for shells, a small ‘*horned-pout,” about two inches long, in- 
tensely black in color. I put him in a white bowl to examine him. In 
half an hour he had turned white, so clear and pretty in color, por 
you could wen the circulation under the skin of the body. Only 
“feelers” and eyes remained black, and he is now, three days ‘fale 
capture, eras: healthy, and well bleached. Do these fish usually 
change their color in this way?—E. C. BoLLEsS, Portland, Me. 
NATURAL HISTORY CALENDAR. 
—~1o0—— 
INSECTS IN SEPTEMBER. —Few new insects make their first appear- 
ance for the season during this month. Most of the species which 
in the early part of the month are the August forms, which 
live until they are killed by the frosts late in the month. From this 
Cause there is towards the end of the month a very sensible diminu- 
tion of the number of insects. 
The early frosts warn these delicate creatures of approaching cold. 
Hence the whole insect population is busied late in the month in look- 
= Out snug winter quarters, or providing for the continuance of the 
