APRIL 
81 
unknown to ninety-nine out of a hundred of mankind, yet 
not beneath the care of Him, who openeth His hand and 
satisfieth the desire of every living thing y — But we have 
not done with our Libellula^ the mouth is as singularly 
formed as the tail ; put in a few of the gnat-worrns^ and 
watch his motions. 
C. — He waits until they are at rest ; now he sees one, 
and creeps slowly towards it ; he has got it : but what 
great flap was that which suddenly flew out from his head 
and seized the prey ? 
F, — We will let him eat his morsel^ and then examine 
his face. Now, you see he has no apparent mouth, but the 
whole face is composed of a long flat kind of mask, ending in 
a rounded point, and divided in the middle (as you see when 
I separate it with a pin) by serratures, like the teeth of a saw, 
which fit into each other. These valves it throws open^ and 
darts out to a great length by means of a double fold, as you 
saw, on the approach of prey, to seize it, and carry it to the 
mouth which is concealed within, and the serrated teeth are 
said to hold it firmly while it is being devoured. Altogether 
it is a very formidable apparatus, and one well worth obser- 
vation and examination. 
C. — I did not think so ugly a creature could have afford- 
ed me half so much pleasure ! Concealed among the mud of 
a pond^ its curious formation seems thrown away, and hid- 
den from our observation. 
F, — Should not this very thing hide pride from man ?" 
So much care bestowed upon an animal altogether out of the 
pale of general observation, and evidently without any refer- 
ence to him ! It affords us, too, another instance of how 
admirably every creature is adapted for the situation in 
which it is placed, and that no situation is so barren but 
that it may be made to afford life and sustenance to some 
order of sentient beings. 
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