336 



that's it; 



The glow-worm, 1145, is a de- 

 scription of beetle, remarkable 

 for the peculiar light emitted by 

 the female, occasionally by night. 

 The light is supposed to be a 

 description of phosphorescence, 

 emitted at the will of the insect. 



1145. 



The male insect possesses wings, 

 but the female is without those 

 organs ; as, therefore, she cannot 

 pursue her mate, she lights her 

 beacon to apprise him of her 

 whereabouts, and to invite his 

 presence. It has been doubted 

 whether the insect kindles this 

 light at will. The author re- 

 members walking in a woody 

 lane one autumnal evening, when 

 he found a number of glow- 

 worms upon a grassy bank, each 

 issuing an intense light. With 

 a view of observing them, he 

 caught several and placed them 

 upon his hat ; thus disturbed, 

 the insects gradually diminished 

 and soon extinguished their light, 

 so that they could not be seen 

 at all. 



Mr. Eennie describes a singu- 

 lar instrument attached to the 

 tail of the larva, capable of being 



protruded at pleasure, in the form 

 of a brush, which cleanses its 

 body of extraneous particles, and 

 improves the luminosity of the 

 lamp. He observed the larva to 

 bend back its tail, and suck up 

 into a sort of funnel-shaped ca- 

 vity, formed by the converging 

 rays, particles of dust or other 

 impurities, till the cavity could 

 hold no more ; then by a sort of 

 worm-like movement of Me rays, 

 the accumulated matter was re- 

 jected, so as to be out of the 

 insect's way. He also states that 

 snails constitute the food of the 

 larva of the glow-worm, and that 

 after the repast it cleanses itself 

 from slime by means of its caudal 

 apparatus. 



Let us not pass by that very 

 humble - looking creature, the 

 common snail, 1146, without mak- 

 ing acquaintance with its nature 



1146. 



and habits. Naturalists assign 

 snails and slugs to the order 

 gasteropoda, the name having al- 

 lusion to the character of their 

 Jocomotive organ — for the under- 

 surface of the body is converted 

 into a sort of foot, with a fleshy 

 disc beneath, on which they creep 

 along by means of the expansive 

 and contractile movements of 

 which it is composed. If we 



