166 



LIFE, IN ITS INTERMEDIATE FORMS. 



and the further the work proceeds the worse it appears to 

 grow. But bj and by, they begin to become smooth and 

 even again ; the distension and expansion have reached to 

 every part in an uniform ratio, and wings of full size and 

 perfect form are developed, still, however, soft, flaccid, 

 and pendent. A quarter of an hour more removes this 

 defect ; the elegant organs momentarily acquire rigidity ; 

 at length the insect can raise them to an erect position. 

 As soon as this is attained, the beautiful creature marches 

 to and fro, as if rejoicing in its new powers, and proud to 

 display them ; but in reality testing the capabilities of 

 its organs, and perhaps accustoming itself, by repeatedly 

 opening and shutting its wings, to the practice of those 

 muscular movements on the force and precision of which 

 its flight will depend. 



At length it launches into the air, and sails away 

 to the inciting flowers, a happy denizen of a new 

 e\ementrjf\~ 



Processes essentially parallel with those above described 

 take place in the history of all Insects, though the varieties 

 of habit produce a certain amount of variety in the de- 

 tails. Not a few, as the Insects of the orders Orthoptera 

 and Neuroptera, are active in the pupa state ; but, in 

 general, as in Beetles, Bees, and Flies, the creature in 

 this stage is motionless, swathed and helpless, like the 

 chrysalis of a Butterfly or Moth. Of the former condition 

 the Dragon-fly (Libellula) may afford us an example. The 

 early stages of this vigorous flier are passed beneath 

 the waters. The female, poising her body over the 

 surface of some pool, deposits her eggs, which sink to 



