THE MANTIS RELIGIOSA. 
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tative, have inspired observers with some amount of veneration 
for them. People are often deceived by appearances, and nothing 
leads very well disposed persons astray so much as the belief 
that certain actions represent goodness of disposition. Persons 
EGG CAPSULES OF Mantis religiosa. 
A capsule attached to a twig and a section of a capsule. 
who want to deceive others have only to pretend to be very 
sanctified, and to pray in the corners of the streets, and act the 
hypocrite persistently. Success will attend them in an exact 
relation to their endeavours to deceive. All this holds good 
for insects, and there is no more respectable and saintly-looking 
preacher than the Mantis religiosa, or the praying Mantis . Any 
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