NATURE STUDY. 
PUBLISHED UNDpR THK AUSPICPS OP THK 
Manchester Institute of Arts and Sciences. 
Vol. II. July, 1901 . No. 2 . 
Among the Dragonflies. 
BY PDWARD J. BURNHAM. 
To most people the Dragonfly is an object of aversion, if 
not of dread. In this, as in many other matters, the tradi¬ 
tions and prejudices of the past weigh more heavily than 
we are apt to admit upon the boys and girls and men and 
women of today. Dragonfly, Devil’s darning-needle, Ad- 
derfly, Snake Doctor, Horse-stinger are words of evil im¬ 
port. These harmless creatures have been given a bad re¬ 
putation, and through the years, with all their grace of mo¬ 
tion, beauty of color and service to man they have been 
unable to live it down. Some few peoples have dealt more 
kindly with the Dragonfly. In Germany it is the Water 
Maiden ( Wassernympfe , Wasserjungfer); in France it is 
the Damselfly ( Demoiselle )/ in Denmark, the Goldsmith 
(Goldsmed )/ but in Holland it is the sharp-sticking-fly 
(,Scherpstekendevlieg )/ in Portugal, the fly with the great 
stings ( Mo sea que da grandes picadas ); in Italy it is the 
Arrow ( Saetta ); and in Sweden it is Trollslanda , suggestive 
of hobgoblins and weird scenes in the deep wood at night¬ 
time. 
It follows that the Dragonflies, although differing great- 
