4 o 
REACTIVE LOCOMOTION. 
thefe delicate flotations and undulations, and in the low, 
foft, murmuring tones you hear, like elfin mufic from 
under molly flones—in all this, I fay, lies hidden and 
concealed the marvellous fecret of the air; the fecret for 
which man has fo vainly fearched, fo vainly toiled, fo 
vainly prayed for during all the life of man on earth ! 
But who would have thought to find it amid the 
clover and the bees ? Is it any wonder that mankind 
have not found it before ? They never thought of look¬ 
ing for it here! Nor would I, but for the dragon-fly . 
Men are heavy, heavier by far than birds, and if we 
knew of any flying creatures flill heavier we fhould natu¬ 
rally pafs by the birds. Naturally, in our attempts to 
folve the problem of lifting and floating heavy weights in 
the air, we fhould make the heaviefl flying creatures our 
fludy. This would be reafonable, and “ reafond But to 
go to the infeSl to find the folution of fluch a problem is 
not reafonable, nor u reafon; ” it is fomething lefs 
ox——fontetking more ! 
The movements of the dragon-fly difplay majefty and 
power, thofe of the bee gentlenefs and grace. Let us 
now confider a more humble member of the fame family: 
the fly that can fland flill in the air l Houfe-flies almofl 
do it, but this little creature does it to perfe&ion. It is 
a fpecies of fly to be feen in the country about farms, not 
larger than the common houfe-fly, but having longer 
wings; the colour of its body golden-green. A bevy of 
